1679 Best Performing Arts Venues in USA

This soaring concert hall, built in 1912 and holding just under 2,000 seats, hosts numerous theatrical, comedy, and musical events—including performances by the Portland Symphony Orchestra and the Portland Opera Repertory Theatre, and many nationally and internationally touring artists. Ask about organ recitals on the auditorium's huge 1912 Kotzschmar Memorial Organ.

The Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, a professional summer theater, produces up to six classic American musicals from late May to October.

This arts organization is one of the Valley's top destinations for exhibits, visual-art performances, and A-list concerts.

The Met began life in 1908 as the lavish Metropolitan Opera House, and today the 3,500-seat venue presents concerts and other programming, such as speakers like Michelle Obama and comedians such as Chris Distefano, in the elegantly detailed beaux arts space. The look may be old-style, but the sound is good and the artists varied, including John Legend, Jeezy, and Patti Smith. 

Since the time of HemisFair '68, this small but impressive two-story center has exhibited Mexican culture as depicted in film, dance, art, and more.

Embrace the city's Mexican spirit on the fourth weekend of August. Mexican food, music, and dancing, plus fireworks and a run, are all part of the experience.

Meyerhoff Symphony Hall is the city's principal concert hall and home of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

T-Mobile Arena is now the top dog for concert acts, but home games for the Vegas Golden Knights still require a lot of big concerts and some sporting events to move over to the MGM Grand Garden. It seats as many as 17,000 depending upon the configuration. But the lack of a second deck of seating means more quality seating without being tucked under overhangs when the likes of Tyler the Creator or Alejandro Fernandez play there.  Now that MGM properties charge for parking, remember the Grand Garden is easily accessed by the MGM monorail stop for those on the east side of the Strip.

I. M. Pei and Partners designed the Michael C. Rockefeller Arts Center on the SUNY Fredonia campus, which opened in 1969. It has two theaters, a 1,200-seat concert hall, and two art galleries. The busy year-round schedule includes about 180 plays and productions each year.

His signature glove and boots magically come to life. And so does Michael Jackson—at least in the video bombardment that comes at you from the stage, side walls, and even the ceiling of Cirque du Soleil's salute to the late superstar. Since 2013, this partnership with Jackson's estate has been blending the music-video imagery every child of the 1980s knows with Cirque's own creativity, this time leaning as much into dance as acrobatics. ONE has outlasted Cirque's Beatles tribute Love (which closed with the Mirage) and was \"reimagined\" (as Cirque puts it) in 2024 with new content, costumes, and impressive technical upgrades, including drones in the opening number. As in the Beatles show, Jackson's songs are given startling clarity by some 7,000 speakers and are sliced, diced, and cross-pollinated. Given the controversies over Jackson's personal life, the show is smart to steer away from biography and instead externalize the music and its messages, including hard-hitting imagery of racism and famine during They Don't Care About Us. The original through-line of four fans out to save Jackson's reputation from robotic tabloid paparazzi (Remember them? How quaint) is still floating around in there—the glove, boots, etc. spring to life for them—but is now buried deep within the sensory overload. While it helps to go in as a fan, even the less devout can emerge with a fresh appreciation of Jackson songs, both the familiar and forgotten.

This 12,000-seat arena (formerly the Mandalay Bay Events Center) has yielded the big concerts to T-Mobile Arena and become more of a sports venue after a $10 million upgrade, including new seats. It's the home court for the WNBA team Las Vegas Aces, who won the championship in 2022. Other pro sports such as tennis and concerts by the likes of J Balvin fill in during the Aces' off-season stretches. Mandalay Bay also has a great outdoor venue, Mandalay Beach, set up for general-admission concerts in the hotel's lushly landscaped pool and beach area. Both a monorail and retail mall connect Mandalay Bay to Luxor and Excalibur, so if you have to drive to a show, parking at either hotel makes for an easier post-concert escape than the Mandalay garage.

The Cinderella Castle forecourt hosts several daily performances of this celebration of friendship starring Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, and their friends. Mickey and pals interact with new Disney characters: Tiana and others from the Land of the Bewitching Bayous arrive, moving to a Dixieland beat, with Goofy; Donald brings a troupe of rowdy Vikings, while Daisy's friends, Rapunzel and Flynn, encourage them to sing instead of carouse; the final newcomers are the popular Frozen characters Elsa, Anna, and Olaf the snowman. For the finale, everyone takes the stage for the new original song “Where the Magic Feels Like Home.” If you want to sit (and don't mind an obstructed view) arrive 30 to 40 minutes before showtime for a seat on the bench. For an unobstructed view, stand on the pavement near the stage.

The Microsoft Theater is host to a variety of concerts and big-name awards shows—the Emmys, American Music Awards, BET Awards, and the ESPYs. This theater and the surrounding L.A. Live complex are a draw for those looking for a fun night out. The building's emphasis on acoustics and versatile seating arrangements means that all 7,100 seats are good, whether you're at an intimate acoustic concert or an awards show. Outside, the L.A. Live complex is home to restaurants and attractions, including the GRAMMY Museum, to keep patrons entertained before and after shows (though it's open whether or not there's a performance).

The Midland Theater, listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, is Kansas City's only surviving 1920s movie palace and hosts top shows and concerts, as well as the Kansas City Symphony. The theater will be a cornerstone of the new Power & Light District, scheduled to open in October 2007.

If you're in town, don't miss the Midsummer Night Swing festival, an outdoor music and dance party in Lincoln Center Plaza that occurs from late June to mid-July. Take lessons with pros, or just strut your natural moves on the dance floor.

The town of Fruita celebrates Mike the Headless Chicken Days every June with the Chicken Dance and the Run Like a Headless Chicken 5K Race.

Built in 1918 as the Shubert, the ornate 1,688-seat theater has had many stage greats, including Al Jolson, Helen Hayes, Katharine Hepburn, Sammy Davis Jr., Angela Lansbury, and Sir Laurence Olivier. Formerly called the Merriam Theatre, the lavishly decorated Miller hosts a full schedule of national tours of Broadway shows, modern dance companies, and solo performers, from the magicians Penn & Teller to tap dancer Savion Glover.

Adventurous jazz, classical, early and modern music, and dance programming makes up the calendar at this Columbia University theater, founded in 1988. A well-designed 688-seater, this is a hall that rewards serious listeners.

This charming, intimate, 391-seat, Off-Broadway venue—located on a narrow street between bustling 6th Avenue and MacDougal Street—has offered excellent performances over the years, including those by some A-list actors.

First opened in 1987, the Mission Theater was the first McMenamins brew theater. It shows recent Hollywood hits, art films, and cult classics—as well as hosts live musical performances.

At the Missoula Children's Theatre, year-round productions vary from Broadway musicals to community theater for and by children from 5 to 18 years old. From October to June you can see local talent and guest artists (usually professionals) perform family favorites, and in summer there's a theater camp where kids are the stars of the productions.

This 20,000-seat facility is home to the Portland Trail Blazers basketball team and the site of other sporting events and rock concerts. It's right on the MAX light rail line, just across from Downtown.

\"It's great to see all the big stars of today,\" you say, \"but where in Vegas can I still find an Elvis?\" Right here—along with tributes to the likes of Tina Turner, Frank Sinatra, and Selena—in these twin cabaret-sized venues, the 160-seat Athena and 120-seat Pegasus, both at the Alexis Park. The hotel is a 1980s-era non-gaming hotel on a sprawling campus, now geared to the budget traveler and slowly getting a needed facelift. Those who miss the days when Vegas thought a little smaller will dig this throwback, where the seating is cozy with a swanky fern-bar vibe, and tickets are $60 or less for back-to-back productions that start as early as 6 pm.

Held each year in late September and early October, this festival celebrates the region's African heritage and Caribbean influences on local culture. It includes theater, dance, and music performances, lectures, art shows, and films. The free Sunday afternoon finale, featuring concerts, dancing, and plenty of food, is a marquee city event each year.

From early summer through late autumn, Monadnock Music sponsors a series of solo recitals, chamber music concerts, and orchestra and opera performances by renowned musicians. Events take place throughout the area, and some of the offerings are free.

Western Montana, and Missoula in particular, is a writer's place. A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean is perhaps the most well-known book set in the region, but William Kittredge, James Crumley, Richard Hugo, Rick Bass, Judy Blunt, and many others have also left their mark on Montana literature. In celebration of this history, the Montana Book Festival brings writers and readers together to pay tribute to the tradition of writing in and about the West. Previous literary personalities featured have included James Lee Burke, Jane Smiley, Charles D’Ambrosio, Gretel Ehrlich, and David Quammen. If you relish the literature of the West, you'll visit in Montana in late September.

The University of Montana's School of Theatre and Dance manages the Montana Repertory Theatre, the only full-season professional company in the state. The Rep provides the region with a steady diet of popular Broadway shows; recent showings include War of the Worlds, Room Service, and On Golden Pond.

The symphony performs classical concerts from October through May at the Sunset Center in Carmel and at the Performing Arts Center of the Steinbeck Institute of Art & Culture in Salinas.

An event held every July 4 since 1915, this race attracts runners and spectators from near and far while the entire town of Seward celebrates. The whole affair takes less than an hour, but the route is arduous: straight up the mountain (3,022 feet) and back down to the center of town. Racers are chosen on a lottery basis; enter before April for a chance, and be sure to book a hotel room well in advance.