1679 Best Performing Arts Venues in USA

From mid-August through mid-September, concertgoers enjoy chamber music at the historic Wheeler Theater in Fort Worden State Park.

Since 1978, On the Boards has been presenting contemporary dance performances, as well as theater, music, and multimedia events. The main subscription series runs from September through May, but events are scheduled year-round.

World-renowned for its superior acoustics and a Figaro seat-back tilting system that allows attendees to follow the text of the opera, the magnificent Ellie Caulkins Opera House has red-velvet seating and a lyre shape, ideal for full-bodied sound travel. The cherrywood-accented theater, in the Newton Auditorium, is where Opera Colorado presents its spring season, often with internationally renowned artists.

The acclaimed Minnesota Orchestra performs in Orchestra Hall.

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts is home to the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra (), the Minnesota Opera (), and other performing-arts groups. Broadway shows also stop here.

Each June and into July Eugene hosts the world-class Oregon Bach Festival, with two-plus weeks of classical music performances.

Concerts, chamber music, and social events—held mainly in Eugene at the Hult Center and the University of Oregon School of Music but also in Corvallis and Florence—are part of this three-week event held every summer.

This respected company produces several classical and contemporary works a year, including a much-loved holiday Nutcracker. Most performances are at Keller Auditorium and the Newmark Theatre.

Every July, the weekend after Independence Day, a small patch of fields and forest right outside Eugene transforms into an enchanting community celebration known as the Oregon Country Fair. This annual event has been going on since the 1960s and maintains much of its flower-child vibe, with all sorts of parades, live music, puppet shows, face painting, and excellent craft shopping.

February brings music, food, brews, wine, ice carving, and other winter sports to Bend's Old Mill District.

The small but mighty Oriana Singers are an outstanding a cappella sextet with an eclectic early classical and jazz repertoire. The close-knit traveling group performs from September to June, periodically in conjunction with the Joffrey Ballet and other Chicago-area groups.

Little has changed at this theater, named one of the 10 best in America by Entertainment Weekly, since it opened in 1927. Rich red carpeting, gold wall decorations, and keyhole-shaped entryways takes you back to the golden age of the silver screen; the theater also has six Buddha statues. Flicks screened in the two small auditoriums and gigantic main auditorium are mostly independent films. The Oriental holds the Guinness World Record for the longest run of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Fans of the cult classic gather at midnight the second Saturday of the month—many in costume—to shout lines and throw popcorn at the screen at the appropriate moments.

The Orleans Arena plays to locals with such family favorites as ice shows and touring children's productions, along with sports events such as the WCC Basketball Championship.When it comes to the occasional concert act, the 9,500-seat arena settles for the Strip arenas' hand-me-downs, but has much cheaper beer.

A superwide stage (originally designed to lure TV production) highlights this 800-seat room slightly west of the Strip, which draws a mix of locals and visitors. It hosts the type of headliners who play tribal casinos around the country, Tracy Byrd and Jeffrey Osborne among them.

The 1917 Orpheum Theater, in the heart of the historic district, features music acts, films, lectures, and plays.

Opened in 1926, the opulent Orpheum Theatre played host to live attractions including classic comedians, burlesque dancers, jazz greats like Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, and Duke Ellington, and later on rock-and-roll performers such as Little Richard. After extensive restorations, the Orpheum once again revealed a stunning white-marble lobby, majestic auditorium with fleur-de-lis panels, and two dazzling chandeliers. A thick red velvet and gold-trimmed curtain opens at showtime, and a white Wurlitzer pipe organ (one of the last remaining organs of its kind from the silent movie era) is at the ready. The original 1926 rooftop neon sign again shines brightly, signaling a new era for this theater. Today the theater plays host to live concerts, comedy shows, and movie screenings.

The Orpheum Theatre is a restored 1920s movie house that hosts touring Broadway shows as well as performances by Opera Memphis and Ballet Memphis.

The Spanish-colonial Orpheum Theatre, built in 1927 and renovated throughout the '90s, is a glamorous venue showcasing ballet, theater, and film festivals.

The OrpheumState Theatres stage Broadway productions and national acts.

The city of Chandler hosts this annual weekend of music, entertainment, and (of course) ostrich races in March.

Held at the Wonderworks hands-on science and activity center, this dinner show is exactly as its name suggests: a magic show filled with jokes, gags, and tricks. The magicians' juvenile one-liners make this delightful for kids and pleasingly silly for adults, and audience participation plays a huge part in the experience. A pizza/salad/soft drink buffet is open prior to the show.

Creativity is uninhibited at Nashville’s foremost destination for contemporary performing and visual art experiences. The expansive venue was repurposed from a cigar storehouse into a cultural institution which hosts local and international artists. From dance and theater to live music and puppetry, nothing appears to be off-limits at OZ Arts.

The lineup of Seattle's resident ballet company and school includes works from celebrated contemporary choreographers as well as a mix of classic and international productions (think Swan Lake and Carmina Burana). Fans of The Nutcracker can rest assured that the timeless production is still part of the company's repertoire. Its season runs from September through June.

The theater puts on the Carmel Shakespeare Festival from September through October and performs contemporary dramas and comedies at several area venues throughout the year.

By day it's a contemporary art gallery showing bold, challenging works. By night it's a multidisciplinary, multicultural performance center, with performance art, prose and poetry readings, folk and new music, jazz, dance, and avant-garde theater. The gallery is open Tuesday–Saturday noon–6.

Since 1980, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah has hosted this event on the second weekend of June for two days of festivities, tribal dances, and contests.