1679 Best Performing Arts Venues in USA

One of the nation's premier blues gatherings, the four-day Waterfront Blues Festival, a benefit for the Oregon Food Bank, has been drawing big crowds and big names in blues over the July 4 weekend since 1987. Past performers have included Keb' Mo', Susan Tedeschi, Johnny Winter, and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings.

Home to the Key West Players, this community-run, 180-seat playhouse—in a converted, 1880s ice warehouse—presents comedy and drama from December to May. The troupe first banded together in 1940, counting Tennessee Williams among its members.

Everyone loves the idea of Wayne Newton, who in his early 80s is still performing on the Strip that put him on the map as a teen in 1959. What's not so well loved is his singing voice, which has long been fried through decades of smoky showroom performances. You're now buying into \"Mr. Las Vegas\" as a personality, which justifies this (mostly) Q&A, autobiographical format in a cozy cabaret setting. Newton plays to his strengths, turning the bulk of his current show into a live memoir packed with film clips and stories about his career and the golden age of Vegas.

A 1920s movie marquee heralds the entrance to this downtown cultural hub for plays, musical performances, and more. Past performers have included singer Emmy Lou Harris, South African a cappella singing group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the Second City comedy troupe, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO).

The well-regarded Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater continues its tradition, since 1985, of producing provocative, often edgy, world premieres of American plays, satires, farces, and black comedies in its June–early-October season. From October to April, opera lovers can watch performances from the Met, live in HD.

See modern dance or a provocative new play, hear top playwrights and actors discuss their craft, or take in an art exhibit or concert at this college arts center.

Billed as "the world's first rodeo," The West of the Pecos Rodeo is held during the last week of June in Pecos (75 miles north of Fort Davis). Rodeo events take place throughout town, including a dance held each night after the roping, but the main event is conducted at Buck Jackson Rodeo Arena.

Once famous as the home base for Elvis Presley, this 1,600-capacity theater (at what was originally the Las Vegas Hilton) regained some of its former profile by luring Barry Manilow out of retirement. Manilow still called the theater home in 2025 even after curtailing his touring. The rest of the calendar is filled in by durable acts such as Air Supply and Stephanie Mills.

Well-known artists perform in professional theater, music, and dance events here, and the center also screens classic and contemporary films and provides family entertainment and childrens shows.

The oldest professional theater in Vermont produces plays, musicals, and other works. The season runs mid-June–late October.

Long associated with local benefactors Joanne Woodward and the late Paul Newman, the venerable and intimate Westport Country Playhouse presents high-quality performances from April through November and special family programs from December through March.

This intimate, historic performance hall hosts big-name classical, jazz, pop, and opera performers. Comedy shows and local musical-theater productions also take place here.

Since its founding in 1997, White Bird Dance has been dedicated to bringing exciting local, regional, national, and international dance performances to Portland stages including the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and the Newmark Theatre.

The White Party began in 1985 as a pioneering fundraiser for AIDS research and awareness. Nowadays, Thanksgiving weekend is one of the most anticipated weekends of the year in the LGBTQ community thanks to the White Party (and another reason not to have that extra scoop of stuffing). On Saturday evening, thousands of gay men, women, and their friends get decked out in white and party the night away under the stars to the sounds of world-famous DJs and recording artists. The event remains a charitable event to support Care Resource, a nonprofit, community-based AIDS service organization.

This gallery hosts juried arts shows and sponsors the Wickford Art Festival in July. The association's gallery at the North Kingstown Town Beach stages exhibitions by local artists and association members and offers painting classes.

Built in 1914 by architect Clarence H. Blackall, the Wilbur is inspired by American architecture and features a copy of the porticos of a Beacon Hill Federal-style residence. Today, crowds come to hear music and comedy by the likes of Jimmy Fallon, Lyle Lovett, and Lisa Loeb.

This open-air theater has put on classics like Shakespeare as well as new and relevant plays for five decades. You'll also find improv, performances of rare works, special events like Elizabethan and holiday fairs, classes, and Family Fundays in this bucolic space. The gardens have sitting areas for picnics before the show. You're encouraged to "Play and Stay" in the Topanga area by pairing your theater experience with a hike in the local hills or a trip to one of the area's unique restaurants beforehand; the company also hosts dinner (and a show) on certain nights.  Select weekends are great for families, with special shows performed with children in mind.

Under founding artistic directors Blanka and Jiri Zizka, Czech natives who joined the Wilma Project feminist collective as its artists-in-residence in the late 1970s, this experimental theater has grown in size and renown, gaining favorable critical notices for innovative presentations of American and European drama. (Blanka remains the Artistic Director Emeritus; Jiri passed away in 2012.) Its season runs from November to June.

Built in 1931, this historical art deco landmark, named for its location at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue, serves mainly as a space for music (it's a top destination for touring musicians), but other live entertainment can be seen here as well, including comedy and dance. The main floor is standing room only for most shows, but there are some seating areas available if desired.

Two former Metropolitan Opera performers started the Windham Chamber Music Festival in 1997. The festival makes the most of the soaring acoustics at the Windham Performing Arts Center, which occupies an 1826 Greek Revival church. Saturday-evening concerts are scheduled throughout the summer, and other events take place during the rest of the year.

At this gallery in an 1855 Federal-style house, soft lighting bounces off richly hued wooden floors and illuminates the work of regional and national artists. You may see contemporary, representational, and traditional works in all mediums here. The gallery is open Thursday through Monday (Friday through Monday from Labor Day to Memorial Day).

This four-day birding extravaganza the third week in January is highlighted by the morning flights of thousands of wintering sandhill cranes lifting off from the Willcox Playa.

Brookfield Place, an upscale shopping-and-dining complex across the street from the World Trade Center, provides a showcase for free performing and visual arts programs, including occasional live music, as well as site-specific installations (with an emphasis on commissioned works), poetry readings, film screenings, and more. Events are presented within Brookfield Place's spectacular, 10-story, glass-covered Winter Garden atrium or on its outdoor plaza overlooking the Hudson (weather permitting). In winter, there's an outdoor ice-skating rink, too.

Since 1985, the largest DJ showcase in the world has rocked Miami every March, when South Beach truly turns into one big ol' party with more than 100,000 attendees. The latest and greatest in electronic music (to the tune of 2,000 performers and 400 events) diffuses through the lobbies and pools of Miami's most illustrious hotels, public spaces, and local event arenas.

Each February, nature enthusiasts flock to the Klamath Basin to attend the nation's oldest birding festival.

The Blues Ranch, 1 mile west of Winthrop on the Methow River, hosts this nonprofit, volunteer-run July music festival—an outdoor Methow Valley tradition.

A carnival, live entertainment, food booths, arts, crafts, farm animals, kids' activities, and body-building and weight-lifting competitions round out this annual fair, held at the beginning of August. Don't miss the cream puffs.

At the only national park dedicated to the performing arts, the 7,000-seat outdoor Filene Center (half of them sitting on the sloping lawn) hosts more than 80 performances from June through September. They range from pop and jazz concerts to dance and musical theater productions. The National Symphony Orchestra performs here in summer, and the Children's Theatre-in-the-Woods, running for seven weeks, delivers 40 free interactive performances, including puppetry, dance, and storytelling. In colder months, the intimate, indoor Barns at Wolf Trap fill with the sounds of musicians playing folk, country, and chamber music, along with many other styles. The park is just off the Dulles Toll Road (Va. Rte. 267), about 20 miles from downtown Washington. WMATA provides round-trip bus service from the McLean Metro stop to the Filene Center during summer events.

Hundreds of wooden boats sail into Port Townsend Bay each September for a weekend of presentations, tours, and sea shanties.