1683 Best Performing Arts Venues in USA

This outstanding festival runs mid-July through late August, with performances nearly every night at the art-filled St. Francis Auditorium, or, occasionally, the Lensic Performing Arts Center. There are also free youth-oriented concerts given on several summer mornings.

Georgia's largest and most acclaimed music festival brings together musicians from around the world for more than two weeks of unforgettable performances in late March and early April. The multigenre entertainment ranges from foot-stomping gospel to moody blues to mainstream rock to new takes on classical music. Performances take place in Savannah's premier theaters, as well as nontraditional venues like historic churches.

This intimate indie music festival held every March is a yearly "stopover" for bands headed to the massive South by Southwest event in Austin. The event features almost 100 acts in about a dozen different venues, providing indie music fans with an unmatched opportunity to experience their favorite up-and-coming acts in intimate spaces.

This star-studded affair, hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design in late October and early November, offers multiple daily screenings of award-winning films in various venues on or near Broughton Street. Sir Patrick Stewart, Salma Hayek, William H. Macy, John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Hugh Jackman, Ava DuVernay, and Kevin Bacon are among the celebrities who've attended in recent years. Q&A sessions with visiting celebrities and industry professionals are always popular. Be ready to purchase your screening and panel tickets as soon as sales open, as the most popular often sell out in half an hour or less.

Savannah College of Art and Design's Sidewalk Arts Festival, held the last Saturday in April, is an opportunity to experience Forsyth Park in abundant glory. At no other time in the year is the park so packed with people of all ages, coming out in droves to see students past and present take to the park's winding sidewalks with rainbow colors of chalk. By the day's end, the park is lined with out-of-this-world drawings as far as the eye can see, plus fun stains of chalk throughout the grass and on scraggling artists.

Beloved by locals for its humorous, ground-breaking, and unique choices, Seattle Public Theater brings five shows a year to an intimate stage. This tiny company puts on performances worth scheduling a day around.

The symphony performs from September through June in the stunning Benaroya Hall. The group has been nominated for numerous Grammy Awards and is well regarded nationally and internationally.

Jazz legends Branford Marsalis and Herbie Hancock have performed at the snazzy center, as have Rosanne Cash, Dianne Reeves, and world-music favorite Esperanza Spalding. The sight lines and acoustics here are impressive, as are the second-floor tile murals.

Some of the best things in New York are, indeed, free—including this summer theater festival (generally June through mid-September) presented by the Public Theater and performed at the newly renovated, accessible, and sustainable Delacorte Theater, an open-air stage in Central Park. Many notable performers have appeared here, from Meryl Streep to Morgan Freeman. Tickets are given out (limit two per person) starting at noon on the day of each show, and they always run out. What you save in money, you make up for in time and tedium, since lines are usually long. Line up by midmorning or earlier if there have been good reviews. (A limited number of same-day tickets are also distributed via an in-person lottery at the Public Theater   425 Lafayette St., at Astor Pl.) The easiest way to score these scarce tickets is to register via a digital lottery using the TodayTix app between midnight and noon on the day you'd like to attend; an email response after noon confirms (or denies) success. If catching a Shakespeare in the Park performance is on your NYC bucket list, you may want to register as a supporter of the Public Theater (from $300) for a guaranteed ticket.

This acclaimed troupe crafts fantastically staged and acted performances of works by Shakespeare and other significant playwrights, offering traditional renditions but also some with a modern twist. Complementing the stage in the Lansburgh Theatre is Sidney Harman Hall, which provides a state-of-the-art, midsize venue for an outstanding variety of performances—from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing to Racine's tragic Phèdre—by visiting companies like South Africa's Baxter Theatre, which staged a production of Mies Julie.

Pack a picnic and bring a folding chair or blanket for this free mountain-music concert. Shindig on the Green has been held for more than 50 years most Saturdays from late June through August. The shows, held in Pack Square Park in the heart of Asheville, run from around 7 to 10 pm. The same sponsoring organization, the Folk Heritage Committee, also puts on the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, the oldest music festival of its type in the United States, dating to 1928. It is held "along about sundown" on three nights the first weekend in August.

Grammy-winning musician George Kahumoku Jr. hosts this program on Wednesday, as well as some Saturdays, which features a rotating lineup of the island's finest slack-key artists as well as other traditional forms of Hawaiian music. The setup at Aloha Pavilion is humble, but you'll enjoy these beloved musicians in an intimate setting.

Las Vegas got its very own ($150 million) world-class performing arts center in 2012, and what a spot it is. The multibuilding complex (complete with a bell tower) was designed to invoke 1930s-era art deco construction, the same motif you'll find at Hoover Dam. Unlike some cities that have separate auditoriums for Broadway and fine arts programming, the 2,050-seat Reynolds Hall manages to juggle the schedules of Las Vegas' ballet and orchestra with those of touring Broadway musicals. Somehow, it still manages to squeeze in a few touring concert acts as well. A separate cabaret venue, Myron's, offers jazz or crooners most weekends. A third space, the 250-capacity Troesh Studio Theater, has flexible seating for all manner of programming, from one-person shows to children's productions. 

A 30-acre tropical garden on the Wailua River provides the lovely setting for this popular luau, which begins with the traditional blowing of the conch shell and imu (pig roast) ceremony, followed by cocktails, an island feast, great music, hula, and an international show in the amphitheater overlooking a torchlit lagoon. Presented Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in winter, and also Tuesday and Thursday in summer, it's fairly authentic and the oldest commercial luau on Kauai. Advance reservations strongly recommended.

Throughout the year, the Smithsonian Associates sponsor programs that offer everything from big brass to Cajun zydeco bands; all events require tickets, and locations vary. The Smithsonian's annual summer Folklife Festival, held on the Mall, highlights several different cultures' cuisine, crafts, and day-to-day life.

The long-running B Street Theatre—known for well-staged comedies, dramas, the occasional farce, and productions for children—is the resident company at this industrial-suave performing arts center. The two theaters, plus three rehearsal spaces for workshop productions, also present musicians, solo acts, and speakers.

What started as a vaudeville stage and movie house continues to cement itself as a keystone of Davis Square's growing culture through films and live entertainment (believe it or not, The Boss, Adele, and U2 have all played here). The 900-seat, five-screen theater recently celebrated its centennial and continues to delight with special evening events like silent movies set to live music as well as beloved film festivals. In the coffered-ceiling, stone-tiled foyer you may buy beer, wine, popcorn, and ice cream to enjoy during the show, whether it's a new release or an oldie but goodie.

The Sphere has reinvented concert-going—and the Vegas selfie. It's impossible to ignore the 336-foot globe when its external imagery is constantly flashing smiley faces or whimsical animation tailored to the season. But it's what's inside the $2.3 billion venue that's reimagined the arena concert. Imagine big-name acts performing inside a planetarium; the headliner planted on the ground, in front of surrounding video filling nearly your entire range of vision in 18K-resolution clarity. A concert holds more than 18,000 people, but even the worst seats here are more immersive than the nosebleed section of a sports arena. While it's a natural fit for video-oriented stars such as U2, Dead & Company, and producer Anyma, more down-to-earth acts such as the Eagles and Kenny Chesney have started warming up to the place as well. By day (and non-concert evenings), the Sphere struts its stuff in the 50-minute movie Postcards from Earth and a filmed version of U2's debut run.

For 17 glorious days in late May and early June, Charleston gets a dose of culture from Spoleto Festival USA. This internationally acclaimed performing-arts festival features a mix of distinguished artists and emerging talent from around the world. Performances take place in magical settings, such as the College of Charleston's Cistern beneath a canopy of ancient oaks or inside a centuries-old cathedral.

A mix of formal concerts and casual performances is what Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti had in mind when, in 1977, he initiated the festival as a complement to his opera-heavy Italian festival. He chose Charleston because of its European look and because its residents love the arts—not to mention any cause for celebration. He wanted the festival to be a "fertile ground for the young" as well as a "dignified home for the masters."

Some 45 events—with most tickets averaging between $40 and $60—include everything from improv to Shakespeare, from rap to chamber music, from ballet to salsa. Because events sell out quickly, buy tickets several weeks in advance (book hotel rooms and make restaurant reservations early, too). Tickets to midweek performances are a bit easier to secure.

Each year in mid-to-late April, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Great Smoky Mountains Association host the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage. It attracts wildflower enthusiasts from all over the country for five days of wildflower and natural-history walks, seminars, classes, photography tours, and other events. Instructors include National Park Service staff, along with outside experts. Most of the activities are at various locations in the park, both on the North Carolina and Tennessee sides, but registration is in Gatlinburg at the W. L. Mills Conference Center adjoining the Gatlinburg Convention Center. Begun in 1951, the pilgrimage has grown to more than 150 different walks, classes, and events. Advance registration online begins in February of the year of the conference, and some events quickly sell out. Check the website for current details and dates.

This cutting-edge theater (originally established in Brooklyn Heights in 1980) occupies a stunningly refurbished tobacco warehouse from 1860 that sits beneath the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The 24,000-square-foot space, with original brick walls and archways intact, has hosted Tony Award–winning productions. They also host weekly outdoor music concerts in the summer. Check their calendar for all upcoming performances.

Steppenwolf's alumni roster speaks for itself: John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, Joan Allen, and Laurie Metcalf all honed their chops with this troupe. The company's trademark cutting-edge acting style and consistently successful productions have won national acclaim. An ultramodern 2021 expansion added a 400-seat theater in the round, an education center, and two bars to the company’s already-impressive assets.

This multifaceted theater company, one of the city's busiest, produces an eclectic season of contemporary European and offbeat American plays in four spaces: the original Mead and Milton theaters, the newer 200-seat Metheny Theatre, and the experimental Stage 4.

Movie buffs and casual fans will find much to love about Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival. Each January, the crowds and the paparazzi tend to congregate in Park City, but savvy (and budget-conscious) moviegoers catch top picks in six venues in Salt Lake City: the Tower Theatre, Broadway Center Cinemas 3 and 6, the Grand Theater, Salt Lake City Main Library, and Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center. Ticket registration begins in September, but procrastinators can check for unsold day-of-show tickets at the Trolley Square box office.

One of the world's best acoustical concert halls—some say the best—has been home since 1900 to the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and the Boston Pops. Led by conductor Keith Lockhart, the Pops concerts take place in May and June and around the winter holidays. The hall is also used by visiting orchestras, chamber groups, soloists, and local ensembles. Rehearsals and daytime concerts for students are open to the public, with discounted tickets. If you can't attend a concert, you can still see the magnificent hall on a free guided tour. Visit the venue's website for dates and times.

Although Symphony Space runs an energetic roster of classical, jazz, international, and other kinds of music, it also excels with other kinds of arts programming. On the literary front, its two halls—the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre and the Leonard Nimoy Thalia—host a celebrated roster of events including Bloomsday on Broadway, the Thalia Book Club, and the famed Selected Shorts series (stories read by prominent actors and produced as a podcast and radio show on National Public Radio). There's also a popular comedy series, Uptown Showdown, as well as Performance in HD screenings—from the National Theatre Live, Royal Shakespeare Company, and Royal Opera House—and Secret Science Club North science talks. Plays, films, and \"Thalia Docs\" (usually true-to-their-roots art-house screenings) round out the programming.

Flamenco music and dance speak to something in Albuquerque’s soul, and for folks new to the tradition or yearning for a taste, this venue—with food and wine to match—is the perfect spot to kindle that flame. In an intimate, appropriately sultry setting, enjoy the four-course prix fixe menu offered with evening performances or small bites with the Sunday matinee. Arrive early, and be dazzled by the world-class artists performing here.

Cultural activity in Tacoma centers on the outstanding—and historic—Broadway Center for the Performing Arts, which comprises three distinct venues: the gorgeous 1918 Pantages Theater, the beaux-arts Rialto, and the more contemporary Theater on the Square. One of the largest performing arts center in the Pacific Northwest, the venue hosts pop concerts, touring Broadway shows, Symphony Tacoma performances, and more.

The 200-acre summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tanglewood attracts thousands every summer to concerts by world-famous musicians. The 5,000-seat main shed hosts larger concerts; the more intimate Seiji Ozawa Hall seats around 1,200 and is used for chamber music and solo performances. The hall is named for the renowned conductor, for years the BSO's music director, a job now held by the Latvian-born Andris Nelsons. Among the most rewarding ways to experience Tanglewood is to purchase lawn tickets, arrive early with blankets or lawn chairs, and enjoy a picnic under the stars. Except for the occasional big-name concert, lawn tickets cost only $21--$23. Inside the shed, tickets vary in price, with most of the good seats costing $50–$120. You can hear the same music for much less by attending an open rehearsal.

Since 1993, this esteemed group of musicians has performed traditional—Bach, Beethoven, Brahms—and contemporary chamber music concerts. Performances are generally held in the Arthur Bell Auditorium (at the Harwood Museum of Art) and are vivid thanks to the state-of-the-art sound design.