1679 Best Performing Arts Venues in USA

Many excellent art exhibitions, theatrical productions, and music performances take place at Coconino Center for the Arts under the direction of Creative Flagstaff.

Actors, artists, and musicians share the stage in Collaboraction's experimental free-for-alls. In recent seasons, the company has refocused its mission on social justice, with original performances taking on issues specific to Chicago communities.

The University of Colorado's superb College of Music presents hundreds of concerts each year, including chamber music by the internationally renowned Takács String Quartet and performances by a range of large and small orchestral, choral, new music, world music, and jazz ensembles.

The largest arena in the state hosts major concerts and entertainment events, as well as University of South Carolina basketball games.

The active since the 1940s, are the city's principal theater troupe.

Back in the day, stars such as Helen Hayes and Al Jolson appeared at this 780-seat 1903 theater; now restored, it hosts live music, theater, and popular traveling shows. A second stage, the Garage, hosts talks and programs for children.

This beautifully renovated 1924 vaudeville theater presents comedy, music, and dance performances as well as occasional indie film screenings.

From October through April, the Colorado Ballet specializes in the classics (including its beloved annual Nutcracker), with performances primarily at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House and the Newman Center for the Performing Arts.

September brings the annual Colorado Mountain Winefest.

From July to early August, the Colorado Music Festival brings classical music, chamber music, music by contemporary composers, and more to the historic Chautauqua Auditorium. Since 1976, this long-running festival has hosted a variety of musical talent and has become a popular destination for music lovers. Evening meals are available in the dining hall, or you can picnic on the lawn to take in mountain views before the show.

The small town of Larkspur is home to just a couple hundred residents, but it knows how to throw a heck of a party—and a medieval one at that. On weekends in summer, the Colorado Renaissance Festival annually hosts throngs of families, chain-mail-clad fantasy enthusiasts, and fun-lovers of every other kind. Within about 350 wooded acres there are performers who deliver everything from juggling stunts and fire-eating to hypnotism and comedy. The big event happens three times a day, when knights square off in the arena for a theatrical joust. There are also more than 200 artisans selling their wares, as well as games, rides, and myriad food and drink booths.

From September to June, the orchestra performs in the Boettcher Concert Hall, as well as playing ensemble concerts at venues around the city and a popular summer Symphony on the Rocks series at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre near Morrison.

The $95-million theater invented the current model for concert residencies when it was built for Celine Dion in 2003. More recently the 4,300-seater was remodeled to be more versatile and allow general-admission space up front for younger-skewing acts. A new video system and VIP booth areas were added in time for the much-touted Adele residency. Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton staked out 2025 dates alongside Colosseum veterans Jerry Seinfeld and Rod Stewart. The two balconies can seem distant from the ridiculously wide 120-foot stage, but a huge video screen improves the views, and the sound system is impeccable.

Watch runners wind through 26.2 mi of streets in the downtown area and surrounding suburbs. The three-day event includes a free sports and fitness expo on Friday and Saturday, a children's run on Saturday, and the marathon and a half-marathon on Sunday.

Enjoy a drink and some laughs in the city that invented this interactive, improvisational "sport." Competitors solicit suggestions from the audience and often pull spectators onstage as they compete in games such as Oscar-Winning Moment, Extreme Three, and 185. The infamous Brown-Bag Foul keeps shows family-friendly, but the nightclub atmosphere makes it a popular spot for adults too.

The nation's oldest public-affairs forum hosts speakers as diverse as Jane Goodall and Bill Gates, covering topics from culture and politics to economics and foreign policy. Most events are open to nonmembers, and lectures are broadcast on local NPR affiliates.

Founded in 1949, this playhouse stages professional shows and a host of children's programs in historic downtown Greensboro. Little-known comedy gems are its specialty.

With roots in classical and chamber music, the permanent home of the La Jolla Music Society features a range of performances from piano and jazz to mariachi, dance, and world music. The venue's four spaces host concerts, educational programs, and SummerFest—a four-week music festival featuring more than 20 performances. For the season schedule, visit their website.

A converted warehouse on Western Avenue is home to an eclectic mix of adventurous performances, ranging from genre-fluid jazz and contemporary classical music to small, scrappy dance troupes to cutting-edge solo performance art.

The state-of-the-art outdoor amphitheater at the Constellation Brands Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center is the summer home of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. It also hosts internationally known rock, blues, jazz, and pop musicians, with seating for 15,000 under a band shell and on the grass-covered hillside.

Dedicated to launching exciting works by emerging dramatists, ACT has four staging areas, including a theater-in-the-round and an intimate downstairs space for small shows. The season runs from April to November.

Since its first concert, in 1925, the 500-seat Coolidge has hosted most of the 20th and 21st centuries' greatest performers and composers, including Copland and Stravinsky. Today, the theater draws musicians from all genres, including classical, jazz, and gospel, and the hall continues to wow audiences with its near-perfect acoustics and sight lines. Concert tickets must be reserved in advance through the Library's website. Because of the Library's security procedures, patrons are urged to arrive 30 minutes before the start of each event.

National and international groups perform at the Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival, held at the Farmers' Museum throughout August.

The arrival of as many as 5 million birds in the Copper River Delta each May is cause for three to five days of festivities during the first week of the month that include workshops and guided field trips. The birds, mostly western sandpipers and dunlins, feed and rest here on their long migration to their northern nesting grounds. Alaska Airlines often offers discounted fares to festivalgoers—check the chamber website for details.

In mid-July, this small-town festival (the annual fundraiser for the local arts council) draws an impressive number of artists, musicians, and athletes for the celebration of salmon and the Salmon Runs Marathon. It's a terrific event for the entire family.

The two-day event, held the weekend after the July 4th weekend, brings more than 200,000 people to one of Rochester's oldest neighborhoods to browse works by more than 400 artists and crafters and to partake in the food and live entertainment.

This performance and education venue run by the Cornish College of the Arts hosts public music and theater programs, produced by students and professionals, throughout the year in a 432-seat auditorium on the Seattle Center Campus.

This cabaret-type, 96-seat theater near the Hotel del Coronado stages regular dramatic and musical performances. It's the longest continuously running community theater in the county and even offers a series of free performances throughout the year.

One of those independent throwbacks of which Doylestown residents are so proud, the nonprofit, community-based County Theater is an Art Deco movie house that screens foreign and independent films.