Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
For a relatively small city, New Orleans has a remarkably vibrant and varied performing-arts community. While there are many traditional performance venues around town, one of the most exciting movements in recent years is the fringe theater action along Saint Claude Avenue, in the Bywater neighborhood. The annual Fringe Theater Festival brings pop-up performances, but there are also some permanent venues as well.
Connected to the neighborhood's popular Broad Theater, this outdoor venue hosts music and film screenings several times throughout the week, with a concentrated number of shows on the weekend. You can enjoy snacks, cocktails, wine, and beer, all while taking in some of the most creative programming in the city just steps from Lafitte Greenway. Some events are free while others are ticketed.
An elegant, whitewashed building on a quiet residential street, this "Church of the Arts" has been hosting the Marigny Opera Ballet since 2014. Besides highly coveted private events and weddings, the House also hosts classical music productions, plays, and local music performances.
The excellent Loyola music department hosts regular performances at its Roussel Performance Hall, including guest appearances by internationally known performers and the occasional opera.
