17 Best Performing Arts in Austin, Texas

The iconic PBS music show Austin City Limits is one of the city's treasures, and anyone can see it live. In true ACL fashion, live tapings for each season are still announced to the public at a moment's notice, and general admission is still free for those who wait in line for tickets. The theater also hosts an additional lineup of amazing musical acts throughout the year, independent of the television show's taping schedule. The 2,750-seat auditorium manages to maintain an intimate feel where every seat is a good seat.

As much as Austinites love music, they love being outdoors even more. The result is this six-day fall music festival spanning two weekends in October; it's the unofficial farewell-to-summer shindig that takes over Zilker Park. Fans flock to hear more than 130 international, national, and local acts on eight stages. Featured headliners have included the likes of Bob Dylan, Miley Cyrus, Tom Petty, Björk, Phish, Willie Nelson, Radiohead, and Billie Eilish.

In a restored downtown vaudeville house and movie palace, this gorgeous 1915 theater presents musicals and plays by touring theater companies and hosts concerts by well-known jazz, folk, and rock artists, along with the occasional stand-up comedian and speaker series. In April, it hosts the annual four-day Moontower Comedy Festival, and during the summer, movie lovers escape the heat for the Summer Classic Film Series, featuring time-honored films from Gone with the Wind to The Wizard of Oz.

The original Drafthouse location in downtown Austin may have permanently closed, but the locally grown cult movie theater-turned-national-chain still operates other locations around town that remain must-visits for movie lovers. A Drafthouse movie is always an experience, whether you pregame with some karaoke at the attached Highball bar and lounge or attend a theme sing-a-long screening in full costume with friends. Expect new releases, cult classics, and loads of seasonal and special event screenings, all paired with a full food and drink menu served in-theater.

Austin's first professional opera company has been putting on multiple mainstage productions a year for 35 seasons and counting. Voted “Opera Company of the Year” for 2020 in a national BroadwayWorld.com poll, the company combines international stars with extraordinary local talents. Performances are hosted at the Long Center.

Eight classical concerts, four pops concerts, a holiday-favorite performance, a children's Halloween presentation, and many free events are performed by the Austin Symphony, Austin's oldest performing arts organization, throughout the year. Performances are held at the Long Center.

Now in a state-of-the-art downtown center, Ballet Austin has risen in prominence over the years as the city's preeminent dance company. Part performance company and part dance academy (with classes available to the general public), Ballet Austin puts on a regular lineup of ballet productions, performed at the Long Center, throughout the year, including an annual rendition of the classic The Nutcracker each holiday season. The season runs from September through May, with season tickets options that offer better seating for frequent attendees.

The flagship theater of the Texas Performing Arts is the largest of its kind in Austin and attracts visitors from near and far for special symphony, orchestra, choral, ensemble, and concert band performances. The 2,900-seat auditorium is world-class in every way. Also inside, the smaller, more intimate Bates Recital Hall features performances by both students and faculty of the University of Texas as well as professional visiting musicians.

The Circuit of the Americas racetrack doesn't just showcase a regular season of Formula One motor-racing—it's also home to this state-of-the-art live music amphitheater hosting a diverse range of big-name artists and bands as well as various festivals and special events throughout the year. Previously known as the Austin 360 Amphitheater, the Germania Insurance Amphitheater offers assigned seating with great stage views from any vantage point. The green parkland behind the assigned seating lets you bring your own picnic blanket to listen under the stars. There's a regular lineup of food trucks and plenty of full-service bars on-site.

The performing arts scene is alive and well in Austin thanks in part to this expansive venue along the shores of Lady Bird Lake. The Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Center for the Performing Arts (to use it's full name—it's generally shortened to the Long Center), plays host to a wide variety of performing arts groups and touring national and international acts like the Vienna Boys Choir, Burt Bacharach, and Blue Man Group. It also serves as the permanent home to Austin Lyric Opera, and the Austin Symphony Orchestra. In addition, the center houses a wing for community arts education programs.

Not only the performance space for the University of Texas at Austin's excellent orchestra, dance, drama, and lyric opera productions, this intimate, modern 400-seat proscenium theater also brings a wide range of professional musicians to the stage, including chamber music and solo recitals. In addition to classical music, you might catch a show, such as Jersey Boys or Annie, or recording artists, such as Stewart Copeland or John Mellencamp. The theater is located in the same building as Bass Concert Hall. 

A multipurpose arena and venue currently under construction, Moody Center is set to replace downtown's existing (42-year-old) Frank Erwin Center in April 2022. The state-of-the-art stadium will feature a staggering 530,000 square feet that will welcome performers from around the world, as well as athletes from the University of Texas's men's and women's basketball teams. 

On the western outskirts of town, The Backyard offers a modern stage setting beneath the starlit sky featuring a similar line up of classic rock bands, singer-songwriters, country musicians and more during the spring, summer and fall. (Open from March through October.) Each season opens with an annual performance from the Hill Country's adopted son, Willie Nelson.

Designed quite literally to be for the city, this performing arts venue supports the work of Austin-based directors, designers, and performers committed to stage performance. In addition to offering a seasonal lineup of productions that range from Shakespeare to musicals to edgy comedies, the theatre also fosters theatrical educational through community outreach.

Along the banks of Lady Bird Lake, this cultural arts center is a celebration of latino heritage that blends a variety of theater, music, dance, literature, and culinary traditions into workshops, live performances, and educational classes to help foster a cultural foundation throughout Austin. On the last Tuesday of every month, there is a free screening of films from the Golden Era of Mexico's cinema in its main auditorium. The building houses two art galleries with free admission (closed Sunday).

One of the city's most vibrant and innovative theaters, this nonprofit now has an expansive multistage complex that hosts a number of theatrical performances, intimate celebrity talks, and special events year-round. An integral part of the Austin community for nearly 90 years, ZACH also serves the local arts community with a year-round season of shows, theater camps, and educational activities.

Bring a blanket and picnic basket and enjoy a Broadway-inspired musical under the warm Texas sky. Right in the heart of the Zilker Park complex, this locally run outdoor theater has been performing on the hillsides just across from Barton Springs for 61 years and counting. The shows run through summers only and charge a pay-as-you-wish admission.