Oh yes, that's one of the paneling textures that came with AL I think!

An architectural aesthetic I've kinda wanted to play around with for a long time is a kind of "Golden Age of Hollywood" or retro early-20th-century Broadway theater, kinda like the big studio in TS1 Superstar- but I'm not sure what actually makes sense to use as the functional basis for that kind of project. There's no actual movie theater functionality in TS2, it somehow doesn't feel right for a concert space rather than film or theater, and I do still want a venue of some sort as the centerpiece of the lot's interior... I want that kind of "glitz and glam" effect to actually be justified somehow!

A sim can perform on an empty stage. The more charisma points, the better the performance will be, and other sims will join the performance as well. An empty stage is functional in that way.

Soms shops which can be used unowned can also add to playability - a book shop makes sense in my head. I probably will not put a grocery in there myself, but even some clothes and jewelry could fit in.

Other things: a buffet could be enough to get sims interested, since they do enjoy eating with other sims (I would not put in a restaurant) - as well as coffee and a bar, perhaps some nice art for the arty ones to view (the ones who have Arts and Crafts as a hobby really love to do that). For a bit of extra fun, a photo booth perhaps, coffee and always enough seating.