200 Best Performing Arts Venues in New York, USA

For one day every June, thousands of locals and visitors celebrate the Museum Mile Festival when museums along 5th Avenue from 82nd Street to 105th Street open their doors for free from 6 pm to 9 pm. There's also dancing and entertainment along the street.

This museum touts two theaters, including both a show palace and an intimate screening room, where classic Hollywood and foreign titles share the screen with experimental works, new films from the international festival circuit, live musical collaborations, and in-person appearances by moviemaker luminaries. Daily short films are screened in Tut's Fever Movie Palace, a fab Red Grooms and Lysiane Luong–designed installation.

Local, national, and internationally known musicians perform as part of the Central Park Concert Series. The outdoor concerts start at 7 pm on Sunday in July and August.

The showcases various forms of entertainment, including rock concerts and family shows.

In 1997, Disney refurbished the elaborate 1903 art nouveau New Amsterdam Theatre, where Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Fred Astaire, and the Ziegfeld Follies once drew crowds. The Lion King ruled here for the first nine years of its run, followed by Mary Poppins. These days the theater is home to long-running Aladdin.

At this dynamic theatrical complex you can attend new and familiar plays, musicals, and other live performances on five different off-Broadway stages. New World Stages has served as the home of Tony Award–winning, Guinness Record–setting, and Pulitzer Prize–earning shows, and hosts sharp productions with high-caliber talent. Arrive early for a cocktail in the lobby (which you can bring into the theaters) and to view its art gallery. The complex is fully accessible and modern, with generous legroom in each theater.

The New York Botanical Garden’s Holiday Train Show is one of the city’s top seasonal attractions, especially for families. It runs from the mid-November through mid-January, and you’ll find electric trains, more than 150 miniature replicas of city landmarks (made out of twigs and bark), and magical landscapes—all housed in a conservatory, so winter weather can’t dampen your spirits.

Even if you're not joining the more than 50,000 runners taking a 26.2-mile tour through New York’s five boroughs on the first Sunday in November, you’ll want to experience the electric atmosphere and the very best of New York with the 2 million spectators who come out to watch and cheer.

This space serves as the home stage for the innovative Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. It's also a laboratory for new choreographers and artists in residence, and it hosts events such as panel discussions.

In addition to maintaining what may be the world's largest collection of theater, film, dance, music, and recorded sound, the library presents concerts and mounts periodic exhibitions related to major artists and composers. At the library’s free, year-round Silent Clowns series ( www.silentclowns.com), held Saturday afternoon each month in its auditorium, rarely seen prints of the silent era’s comedy masters are paired with live piano music.

The New York State Theatre Institute, a family-oriented professional theater company, presents plays and musicals from September to May.

The venerable New York Studio School hosts two—always free, almost always on Tuesday and Wednesday—evening lecture series (fall and spring) on contemporary issues in art. Hear from both emerging and established artists and curators, as well as some of the biggest names in art history and criticism. The school building served as the original location of the Whitney Museum.

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.

For four weekends in September and October, Hunter Mountain becomes a stand-in for the Alps when the harvest is celebrated with German and Austrian music, food, and dance. Watch men imitate courting rituals of the wood grouse during traditional dances; after a couple of beers, you may be tempted to try it yourself. You won't feel out of place in your dirndl or lederhosen.

The spectacular Palace Theatre, a restored movie-and-vaudeville house, hosts pop concerts and touring Broadway shows. It's the home of the Albany Symphony Orchestra.

The Pendragon Theatre, a year-round professional company, performs classical and new works. Special events include mystery dinner-theater shows.

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.

Public concerts are part of PianoSummer at New Paltz Festival/Institute, at SUNY New Paltz; Vladimir Feltsman is the program's artistic director.

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.

Proctor's Theatre, a 1926 vaudeville theater with chandeliers, balconies, and 2,700 seats, is one of the crown jewels of the capital region. Year-round schedules include Broadway shows performed by national touring companies; concerts; dance performances; and second-run movies. A recent expansion added the GE Theatre, with a huge screen.

One of Fredonia's most popular annual events, this festival, held the first weekend after Labor Day, brings blues music to various indoor and outdoor venues around town, accompanied by local wines (and a few brews) and plenty of food.

Local and touring bands play the popular The converted 18th-century warehouse hosts jazz, blues, and folk acts.

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 Noel 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.

Held at the Roycroft Campus, the Roycroft Festival encompasses an antiques show, juried art show, and crafts and art sale with live entertainment twice a year. The two-day festivals are held in late June and early December.

Nearly 100 antiques dealers from throughout the United States and Canada participate in this annual fair, which spotlights rustic furniture and decorative arts. A jury selects the 50 or so rustic-furniture makers showing here; styles include contemporary and traditional pieces. The annual two-day fair is held in early September on the grounds of the Adirondack Museum.

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.

The annual festival, held for 10 days starting in early February, is the oldest winter carnival in the country. It includes a lighted ice palace, fireworks, and a costume parade. Inner-tube and ski races, hockey tournaments, and snowshoe-softball games are among the sporting events. The whole town gets into the action, so there are concerts, dinners, and dances at Hotel Saranac; breakfasts at the Masonic temple; and shows at the Pendragon Theatre.