It is 1936 in an outer suburb of Paris, workers are striking and the Great Depression is beginning to be felt. When the owner of the local theatre falls behind on a debt, the local mob boss takes over and promptly closes the theatre. For Pigoil (Gérard Jugnot), a stagehand, this is terrible news. His wife has left him, taking their child with her and now he faces unemployment.

Depressed and quickly running out of money, Pigoil and his friends Milou (Clovis Cornillac), a proud idealist, and Jacky (Kad Merad), a flawed comedian, decide to stand up to the mobster, by occupying the theatre and returning it to its glory days. However the second rate line-up proves to be a hinderance until Douce (Nora Arnezeder), a beautiful young girl from the city, walks into the auditions. Douce instantly charms the town with her beguiling looks and angelic voice. The theatre soon becomes famous all over Paris, but with love triangles, ongoing political tensions, the strain of the Depression and the mob boss's constant swindling, life isn't easy.