7 Best Performing Arts Venues in Washington, D.C., USA

Overlooking the Potomac River, the gem of the Washington, D.C. performing arts scene is home to the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera. The best out-of-town acts perform at one of three performance spaces—the Concert Hall, the Opera House, or the Eisenhower Theater. An eclectic range of performances is staged at the center's smaller venues, which showcase chamber groups, experimental works, cabaret-style performances, and the KC Jazz Club. But that's not all. On the Millennium Stage in the center's Grand Foyer, you can catch free performances almost any day at 6 pm. And the REACH, a major indoor-outdoor, state-of-the-art expansion designed by Steven Holl and completed in 2019, provides a dynamic, open-air, collaborative space and a pedestrian bridge that connects with the other presidential memorials on the National Mall.

On performance days, a free shuttle bus runs between the Kennedy Center and the Foggy Bottom–GWU Metro stop.

Known as the "People's Kennedy Center," this performance venue occupies a restored art deco movie theater in one of Washington's up-and-coming neighborhoods. The Atlas's four theaters and three dance studios house a diverse group of resident arts organizations, including the Mosaic Theater Company of D.C., the Joy of Motion Dance Center, Step Afrika!, and the Capital City Symphony. Street parking can be difficult, but you can take the DC Streetcar here from the Metro stop at Union Station.

Acts ranging from the Bolshoi Ballet to U2 to B.B. King have performed at this 3,702-seat venue, one of Washington's grand old halls. It's well worth a visit for both the excellent performers it attracts and for its awesome architecture and acoustics. The design of the performance hall makes for an intimate concert space and great views from every angle of the venue.

Known by area artists as DCAC, this cross-genre space shows changing exhibits in its gallery and presents avant-garde performance art, improv, and experimental plays in its tiny, funky black-box theater. DCAC is the home of Washington's oldest experimental theater group, Theatre Du Jour.

Film, music, theater, and more explore the Jewish experience. On offer here are documentary screenings, live music and theater, and family events around the Jewish holidays. You can also sign up for classes about language and faith as well as topics of interest to theater lovers.

The Georgetown University Art Galleries are composed of two distinct exhibition venues: the Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Art Gallery and the Lucille M. & Richard F.X. Spagnuolo Art Gallery. During the academic year, the galleries present exhibitions featuring works by highly acclaimed professional artists, studio art faculty, and graduating art majors and host various innovative, interdisciplinary public programs.

A nearly 1,500-seat theater on the campus of George Washington University attracts students and outsiders alike to its pop, classical, and choral music shows, modern dance performances, musical theater, and lectures by high-profile political and celebrity speakers.