87 Best Performing Arts Venues in New York City, New York

Works by new and established playwrights anchor this theater's repertoire. Jonathan Larson's Rent got its start here before going to Broadway, and works by Tony Kushner (Homebody/Kabul), Caryl Churchill, Amy Herzog, and Paul Rudnick have also been staged here. Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me also ran here, as did an early version of Anaïs Mitchell's Hadestown.

This pristine, wood-lined theater on the NYU campus supports emerging artists, with interesting dance, music, and theater events, often in collaboration with international companies. Conferences and a speaker series featuring prominent cultural figures round out the calendar, which also includes many family-friendly events.

Founded in 1980 inside a 19th-century public school building, Performance Space 122 has helped launch the careers of many downtown musicians and artists, both on the fringe and otherwise. Familiar names that graced the marquee over the years include Spalding Gray, John Leguizamo, and Young Jean Lee. After a renovation, it reopened in 2018 with two new theaters and a modernized interior. Expect a schedule of interdisciplinary works that blend performance with installations and readings by different artists with varied visions.

Known for its support of new work by American playwrights, this off-Broadway theater was the first home for eventual Broadway hits such as Grey Gardens and Wendy Wasserstein's Heidi Chronicles.

Marionettes have been used to enact classic children's fairy tales like Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Puss in Boots, and Little Red Riding Hood at this storefront theater since 1990. A friendly puppeteer preps the young audience on theater etiquette before each show. Afterward, theater education continues with a Q&A. Public performances are given on weekends only; call or email for reservations.

The nonprofit theatrical company is known for its excellent revivals of classic musicals and plays. Its main stage, the American Airlines Theatre, is the former Selwyn—the venerable home to the works of Noël Coward, George S. Kaufman, and Cole Porter in their heyday. The Roundabout's other Broadway venues are Studio 54 and the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. The two off-Broadway stages at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre on West 46th Street show a mix of classics and works from up-and-coming playwrights.

New Yorkers come out of hibernation en masse at the end of April to witness the extremely popular annual Sakura Matsuri Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. In addition to the blooming cherry trees, there are Taiko drumming performances, Japanese pop bands, samurai swords, martial arts, tea ceremonies, and more.

Designed by architect Frank Gehry, the company's Pershing Square Signature Center houses three theater spaces. The Tony Award–winning, not-for-profit theater company provides a platform for both New York and world premieres, as well as revivals. Tickets tend to be affordable here, as low as $35 for some shows. A central space with a café is open before and after shows and during intermission; there's also a bookstore with limited hours.

Built for vaudeville in 1928, this classic theater is still going strong nearly a century later, with a mix of classic movie screenings, stand-up comedy, educational theater performances for kids and teens, and music concerts catering to the Gen X and older crowd—or anyone who enjoys the likes of Air Supply, Dionne Warwick, Queen, or The Smithereens. Without a performance, the building's interior design still dazzles; the theater is a mix of Spanish and Italian baroque styles, with paintings and murals throughout, as well as tiled fountains.

Over the first three Saturdays in August, you can join hundreds of thousands of locals to let loose on nearly 7 miles of pedestrianized arterials for Summer Streets. From the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park, along Park Avenue and connecting streets, New Yorkers hit the car-free streets to run, zip-line, dance, experience art, or just ramble along the city's streets in a new way—all for free.

Although Symphony Space runs an energetic roster of classical, jazz, international, and other kinds of music, it also excels with other kinds of arts programming. On the literary front, its two halls—the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre and the Leonard Nimoy Thalia—host a celebrated roster of events including Bloomsday on Broadway, the Thalia Book Club, and the famed Selected Shorts series (stories read by prominent actors and produced as a podcast and radio show on National Public Radio). There's also a popular comedy series, Uptown Showdown, as well as Performance in HD screenings—from the National Theatre Live, Royal Shakespeare Company, and Royal Opera House—and Secret Science Club North science talks. Plays, films, and "Thalia Docs" (usually true-to-their-roots art-house screenings) round out the programming. 

Vibrant original musicals for family audiences are performed by a cast of talented kids (ages 8–18). Most shows are on weekends, and children's tickets start at reasonable prices.

New York City's local public radio stations WNYC and WQXR invite the public into their intimate (125 seats) studio for live shows featuring classical, rock, jazz, and new music; audio theater; conversation; and interviews. It's a great place to get up close with writers and newsmakers, as well as musicians and actors who might be playing Carnegie Hall, Broadway, or the Met Opera a few days later.

Across from the Plaza Hotel stands the Paris Theatre—a rare, stately remnant of the single-screen era. Opened in 1948, the historic cinema was purchased by Netflix in 2019 and today serves as an elegant, wide-screen showcase for original Netflix productions, as well as arthouse and classic-film screenings. Tickets can be purchased online in advance, with the option to select seats, too.

Launched in 1966, the Poetry Project has been a source of sustenance for poets (and their audiences) ever since. This place has seen performances by Eric Bogosian, Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka, Sam Shepard, Patti Smith, Anne Waldman, Jim Carroll, Philip Glass, and many others. Current readings feature artists of a similar caliber.

Founded by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal to contribute to the long-term recovery of Lower Manhattan after 9/11, the Tribeca Film Festival has become one of the world's most prominent such events. There are upward of 250 films—with more than 1,000 screenings at multiple locations including the Tribeca Film Center (TFC 375 Greenwich St., 2nd fl.)—and plenty of buzz. It typically takes place late April to early May.

The center celebrates theater, including a clever children's series, as well as dance and concerts. But the TriBeCa PAC is primarily known for jazz. Lost Jazz Shrines and Highlights in Jazz are two of its special series, the latter marked its 50th anniversary in 2023.

Brookfield Place, an upscale shopping-and-dining complex across the street from the World Trade Center, provides a showcase for an entirely free program of performing and visual arts, including occasional live music, as well as site-specific installations (with an emphasis on commissioned works), poetry readings, film screenings, and more. Events are presented within Brookfield Place's spectacular, 10-story, glass-covered Winter Garden atrium or on its outdoor plaza overlooking the Hudson (weather permitting). In winter, there's an outdoor ice-skating rink, too.

Insight into the creative process is what the Works & Process program at the Guggenheim is all about. Often drawing on dance and theater works in progress, the live performances are complemented by illuminating discussions with their choreographers, playwrights, and directors. There are popular holiday concerts, too. Works & Process also presents at Gibney Center, Lincoln Center, and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.