1683 Best Performing Arts Venues in USA

The name, which means "ocean tide," is a nod to the breathtaking backdrop for this luau at Wailea Beach Resort. The tasty family-style dinner covers all of the luau staples including a variety of desserts, and there's an open bar. Longtime local entertainment company, Tihati Productions, seamlessly intertwines ancient Hawaiian stories and contemporary songs with traditional hula and Polynesian dances, concluding with a jaw-dropping, solo, fire-knife dance.

Held each year over Labor Day, the Telluride Film Festival is up there with Sundance as one of the world's leading showcases for foreign and domestic films.

About 10 minutes from downtown, this locally owned favorite hosts its own film festival every March. Its carpeted halls and theaters have the feel of an old-school cinema and, accordingly, it screens a mix of new releases and indie films. Concessions include beer and wine.

Since 1933, directors, choreographers, and performers have been coming from New York City to present a season of summer musicals, concerts, and events (including a children's festival) in an old 500-seat barn theater a quarter mile from the ocean. This is high-quality summer stock. Arrive early for dinner at the bistro on the property and to enjoy the garden bar.

The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts represents one of the most remarkable transformations in the history of San Antonio. After voters approved $100 million in construction bonds, the old and venerable Municipal Auditorium became a world-class performing arts venue. The H-E-B Performance Hall has 2,039 seats in a flat-floor configuration. Besides bringing in top acts in music and theater from around the world, the Tobin has resident companies that reflect the very best that the city has to offer: Ballet San Antonio, Classical Music Institute, OPERA San Antonio, Children's Chorus of San Antonio, and Youth Orchestras of San Antonio. Free performances and activities are also held on the grounds on the Will Naylor Smith River Walk Plaza, including free movie nights and yoga and wellness programming. Ask about free scheduled tours of this impressive and important landmark.

Founded by suffragists and built in 1921 by famed architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, The Town Hall is an invaluable and legendary part of NYC's cultural fabric. Notable Town Hall claims include Strauss's, Stravinsky's, and Isaac Stern's U.S. debuts; Marian Anderson's first NYC recital; Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker's introduction of bebop to the world; and Bob Dylan's first major concert. More recently, the stage has welcomed musicians like Gilberto Gil, Joan Baez, Patti Smith, and David Byrne; humorists like Fran Lebowitz and Stephen Colbert; the only East Coast staging of Hunter S. Thompson's \"The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved\"; TED Talks Live; conversations with legendary authors; one-time-only variety shows; and more.

This hip local professional theater group presents new and original plays in its own theater. Order drinks from a small bar and enjoy free popcorn.

At this magnificent outdoor amphitheater nestled in a natural red-sandstone cove, you can watch touring Broadway musicals and concerts by noted pop artists.

This huge two-week trade show in February, comprising nearly 40 different shows at venues in and around Downtown, is the largest of its kind in the world. Most vendors sell to the public as well as to wholesalers. Admission to the shows is free, except for the prestigious Gem and Mineral Show held at the Tucson Convention Center during the last four days of the two-week period. The Tucson Visitor Center is the best source of information about the event.

A cultural hub for everything about film, the small Upstate Films Theater shows documentaries, independent films, classics, and animation. Shows often sell out, so it's best to purchase tickets in advance. There's also a sister cinema in Woodstock.

Each summer this highly respected company presents a five-week season at Logan's Utah Theatre, Ellen Eccles Theatre, and the Dasante Building. Featuring nationally renowned performers from across the country, the productions dazzle.

Since 1962, Cedar City has been Bard-crazy, staging productions of Shakespeare's plays from mid-June through mid-October in three Southern Utah University campus theaters, the largest of which is an open-air replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. The Tony award–winning festival that has featured Jeremy Irons, Ty Burrell, and Bradley Whitford over the years also presents literary seminars, backstage tours, cabarets showcasing festival actors, and an outdoor preshow with Elizabethan performers. Try to book well in advance, as many performances sell out.

The premier orchestra in the state, the Utah Symphony performs in the acoustically acclaimed Abravanel Hall and calls the Deer Valley Music Festival its summer home.

Thank goodness for Vidiots, which reopened in nearby Eagle Rock in 2023 after its original storefront had to shutter in 2017. The nonprofit and film space has become a beloved space for the community with its generous offerings of mainstream and indie films week after week. Catch a 2000s rom-com one night, a first-run classic American noir the next, and a children’s title on the weekends. Vidiots also has a separate room of amazing titles available to rent for those who want a cozy night of cinema at home.

Bavarian-themed Leavenworth amps up the holiday vibes with half a million sparkling Christmas lights throughout downtown that stay on from Thanksgiving through February. From Thanksgiving weekend to Christmas, the Christmastown festivities include caroling, live music, and food vendors outside at Front Street Park, with kids' activities, alphorn concerts, and other live performances inside at the Festhalle. Of course Santa is there too. In January, there's winter fun at the Winter Karneval every weekend, with ice carving, performances by fire dancers and alphorn players, ice skating for kids, and a celebration of the German tradition of Fasching with masks, beads, and a pub crawl.

One of the architectural wonders of Los Angeles, the 2,265-seat hall is a sculptural monument of gleaming, curved steel designed by Frank Gehry. It's part of a complex that includes a public park, gardens, shops, and two outdoor amphitheaters, one of them atop the concert hall. The acoustically superlative venue is the home of the city's premier orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, whose music director, Gustavo Dudamel, is an international celebrity in his own right. The orchestra's season runs from late September to early June, before it heads to the Hollywood Bowl for the summer.

This fair in September brings thousands of visitors daily over three weeks to Puyallup, near Tacoma, and features concerts, a rodeo, art and cultural exhibits, agricultural shows, and amusement rides. There's also a shorter four-day version of the fair held in mid-April.

A classic Cape experience, the Wellfleet Drive-In Theater is located near the Eastham town line. Regulars spend the night in style: chairs, blankets, and picnic baskets. Films start at dusk nightly from mid-May–mid-September, and there's also a standard indoor cinema with four screens and a miniature-golf course. It's also the home of the beloved Wellfleet Flea Market, held weekends late spring–December plus Wednesday and Thursday in season.

At this bright gallery you'll find wildlife and landscape photography by Henry H. Holdsworth, plus books, note cards, and gifts. Several coffee-table books contain striking Tetons imagery. Wild by Nature offers photography workshops year-round.

The festival, a past Tony Award winner for outstanding regional theater, is Williamstown's hottest summer ticket. From June through August, the long-running event presents well-known theatrical works featuring famous performers on the Main Stage and contemporary works on the Nikos Stage. Be on the lookout for immersive weekends, where the theater will offer a festival experience similar to Coachella or Lollapalooza.

This critically lauded theater in a rustic yet state-of-the-art red-barn-style venue is one of the top performing arts centers in the region, presenting well-known Broadway shows and original dramas and comedies year-round.

Unusual cutting-edge shows with solid acting have earned this company top reviews and 35 Helen Hayes Awards. The theater performs works for a decidedly urban audience that challenge the status quo. Its modern, 265-seat theater in bustling Downtown D.C accentuates the troupe's talent. The Woollies also create a unique lobby experience for each show, created to share the experience on social.

This internationally renowned contemporary art museum, which occupies 15 buildings on a 340-acre campus, is in the vanguard of the minimalist movement that defines the Marfa aesthetic. Chinati emphasizes large installations and changes its exhibits regularly, and it has a well-attended annual open house. The foundation conducts guided tours Wednesday through Sunday of its huge contemporary-art holdings, and some installations can be visited on self-guided tours. Tours often book up quickly; it's highly recommended that you book online in advance.

This striking complex evokes Philadelphia's traditional redbrick structures, while making a contemporary design statement. The 450,000-square-foot facility by architect Rafael Viñoly includes the 2,500-seat cello-shaped Verizon Hall, the more intimate 650-seat Perelman Theater, a restaurant run by chef Jose Garces, a rooftop terrace, and public plaza—all topped by a dramatic glass-vaulted roof. Along with its resident companies, such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra, and the American Theater Arts for Youth, the center presents touring orchestral, jazz, and dance performances.

This hub of all highbrow arts features everything from hip-hop and reggae performances and Hawaiian slack-key guitar shows to international dance and circus troupes. The complex includes the 350-seat McCoy Theater, the 1,200-seat Castle Theater, the Schaefer International Gallery, and the elegant Yokouchi Pavilion, used for outdoor concerts. There's also a courtyard café for preshow dining and drinks.

Every Memorial Day weekend, artists from across the West gather at Moab's Swanny City Park to show their wares, including pottery, photography, and paintings. This fun, free festival is small enough to be manageable and sells a variety of affordable artworks and crafts. Expect lots of food, plus activities for the kids. Most days have live music and local theater on two stages.

Some of America's top folk artists converge in Moab each November to perform on indoor and outdoor stages. Past artists have included Richard Thompson, Shawn Colvin, Bruce Cockburn, Loudon Wainwright III, and Ferron.

This complex, comprising the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, and the Old Globe Theatre, offers some of the finest theatrical productions in Southern California. Theater classics such as The Full Monty and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, both of which went on to Broadway, premiered on these famed stages. The Old Globe presents the family-friendly How the Grinch Stole Christmas around the holidays, as well as a renowned summer Shakespeare Festival with three to four plays in repertory.

Telling imaginative, almost magical stories is Redmoon Theater's specialty. The company's “spectacles” take a number of forms but can best be described as madcap theater with a twist—imagine a mix of live music, puppetry, pageantry, and visual art. Some are staged outdoors, others inside a converted Pilsen warehouse called Spectacle Hall.