Fodor's Expert Review Arena Stage

The first regional theater company to win a Tony Award performs innovative American theater, reviving such classic plays as Oklahoma and also showcasing the country's best new writers. The architecturally magnificent Mead Center for American Theatre houses three stages and, after the Kennedy Center, is the second-largest performing arts complex in Washington. Near the waterfront neighborhood in Southwest D.C., the Mead Center features the Fichandler Stage, a theater-in-the-round seating 680; the Kreeger Theater, a modified thrust seating 514; and the Kogod Cradle, a 200-seat black-box theater for new or experimental productions. Inside the Mead, the Catwalk Café serves meals inspired by the shows playing that evening.