casino.
La Scala (Teatro alla Scala) is an opera house in Milan, which was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the Nuovo Regio Ducale Teatro alla Scala (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala).
Most of Italy's greatest operatic artists, and many of the finest singers from around the world, have appeared at La Scala. The theatre is regarded as one of the leading opera and ballet theatres in the world.
Still today is one of the most famous opera houses in the world.






The foyer ( no more gaming tables).

“Gambling
Between the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century, gambling at La Scala was practiced regularly in the foyer of the boxes, as an escape from the opera but also as a support for the season.
The Austrians had prohibited it everywhere except in opera houses, while the French, realizing the importance of this activity for the state coffers, legalized it. This explains the proliferation of gambling halls in Milan in the first decade of the 19th century. La Scala was certainly the place of choice for players belonging to the more affluent classes: the foyer housed gaming tables which soon became one of the major attractions of the Theater.
The verses of the abbot Giuseppe Parini, a poet critical of noble privileges, remained famous: “The execrable ridotto (foyer), where a rich man broke down, on a card that collapsed with a bang”. Alessandro Manzoni also attended the ridotto (foyer) for the passion of gambling, as the chronicles tell. It is said that it was the poet Vincenzo Monti who brought him back to the right path.
Initially the favorite game was la Tavola Reale (the Royal Table), then il Faraone (the Pharaoh) established himself, Cesare Beccaria also took care of it, in the magazine “Il Caffè”, with a study on the calculations of the probability of winnings. The manager of the activity, the contractor, was responsible for providing cards and dice, as well as collecting the proceeds to be turned over to the authorities. In 1805 the impresario Francesco Benedetto Ricci subcontracted the gaming tables to Domenico Barbaja, future impresario of La Scala and San Carlo of Naples. With the return of the Austrians, in 1815, the game was definitively suppressed.” ( translation from La Scala website)

“Nei ridotti della Scala era inoltre pratica comune il gioco d’azzardo. Un ospite illustre dei tavoli della roulette era Alessandro Manzoni” -- -
-Gambling was also common practice in la Scala. An illustrious guest of the roulette tables was Alessandro Manzoni". (Museo Teatrale alla Scala web site) NOTE: Alessandro Francesco Tommaso Antonio Manzoni(7 March 1785 – 22 May 1873) was an Italian poet, novelist and philosopher.

Resume and curiosities:
During the French occupation of Milan ( 1796 to 1815), the Austrian ban on gambling was lifted , and Barbaja won the very lucrative concession of roulette tables in the La Scala entrance foyer (The roulette game had came to Italy with Napoleon´s officers).
Before, after, and even during the performances on stage, spectators could slip out to the foyer and gamble.
Barbaja spread its gambling activities to other places and cities, and start opera management in Milan and Naples, using the gambling profits from roulette to contract the best singers to the opera.
Barbaja's seasons at La Scala and Naples were the times when opera and gambling had a successful mix.
In Naples, were he managed two opera houses, San Carlo and Teatro dei Forentini, Baraja contracted the famous Rossini, to write at least two operas a year. Rossini received a gross salary , at the time, and a share from the Barbaja roulette profit .
Barbaja used the profits from his gambling tables to commission operas from composers like Gluck, Rossini, and Donizetti and to organize productions at La Scala and Naples, which were acclaimed for the brilliance of their vocalists.

Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas ( L'italiana in Algeri, Il barbiere di Siviglia -known in English as The Barber of Seville ,Otello, Tancredi , Semiramide, etc.).
He also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music.

DOMENICO BARBAJA

“Domenico Barbaia was best known as an opera Italian impresario.
An energetic man, Barbaia, who was born in Milan, began his career by running a coffee shop. He made his first fortune by creating (or at least taking the credit for creating) a special kind of coffee with frothing milk, the "Barbajada", probably the first "cappuccino." This drink, became so popular in Milan that the erstwhile waiter was able to open a string of coffee houses in the city that all featured his novel concoction.
Barbaia made his second fortune by buying and selling munitions during the Napoleonic wars. Also, after the French re-allowed gambling as they advanced southwards in Italy, he became involved in the operations as a card dealer at the La Scala opera house, but quickly achieved the position of sub-contractor to run the entire gaming operation of the house in 1805. With his eyes on controlling gambling opportunities further south in Italy as the French armies advanced, taking over the concession in Naples quickly became his preoccupation. In 1806 he arrived in the city.
By 1809 he was successful enough to take over the royal Teatro San Carlo, the major opera house, as well as the second royal theatre, the Nuovo, and two additional ones until 1824, and lived in the Palazzo Barbaja in the quartiere San Ferdinando. From 1821 he was also the manager of two theatres in Vienna, the Theater am Kärntnertor and the Theater an der Wien. In 1826 he took over the running of La Scala before returning to Naples.” ( from Wikipedia).
Who knows jetons from those times. Mauro??