181 Best Performing Arts in California, USA

One of the region's most highly respected and innovative repertory theaters, Berkeley Rep performs the work of classic and contemporary playwrights. Well-known pieces mix with world premieres and edgier fare. The theater's complex, which includes the 400-seat Peet's Theatre and the 600-seat Roda Theatre, is in the heart of downtown Berkeley's arts district, near BART's Downtown Berkeley station.

What started as a music education program in 1977, offering classes with the Bay Area's best jazz players, has become the area's top concert venue for the freshest sounds in jazz from around the world. Two 100-seat performance venues across the street from each other, Hardymon Hall ( 2087 Addison St.) and Rendon Hall ( 2040 Addison St.), offer intimate viewing of some of the world's most influential musicians. Classes and workshops continue to serve as the foundation of the conservatory, with regular, affordably priced concerts each week for the public.

A large neon sign marks the exterior of this 1,400-plus-seat art-deco movie palace whose exotic interior transports you back to 1922, when the theater first opened. High-profile festivals present films here, along with classic revivals and foreign flicks. There are a few cult-themed drag shows every month. Lines for the Castro's popular sing-along movie musicals often trail down the block.

The annual multiday festival draws hundreds of thousands of rock, EDM, and hip-hop fans to the Empire Polo Club grounds each April for two weekends of live music, DJ sets, Ferris wheel rides, large-scale art installations, and field dinners prepared by top chefs. Headliners have included acts such as Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny, Beyonce, Arcade Fire, Beastie Boys, and Radiohead. Attendees can shuttle in or camp on-site in their car, in tents, or in prefab safari studios.

This complex, comprised of 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 Into the Woods and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and more recent hits like Bright Star and Meteor Shower, premiered on these famed stages and went on to perform on Broadway. The Old Globe presents a renowned summer Shakespeare Festival with three to four plays in repertory. The theaters, done in a California version of Tudor style, sit between the sculpture garden of the San Diego Museum of Art and the California Tower. If you can't catch a show, daytime one-hour behind-the-scenes tours offer a close-up look at the theaters as well as the intricacies of set and costume design.

Under the artistic direction of Christopher Ashley, the playhouse presents exciting and innovative plays and musicals on three stages. Many Broadway shows—among them Memphis, Come From Away, Tommy, and Jersey Boys—have previewed here before their East Coast premieres. Its Without Walls program also ensures that the productions aren't limited to the playhouse, having put on site-specific shows in places like outdoor art spaces, cars, and even the ocean.

The city celebrates its Spanish, Mexican, and Chumash heritage in early August with events that include music, dancing, an all-equestrian parade, a carnival, and a rodeo.

A cinematic treasure since 1925, University Avenue’s grande dame is a time-traveling spectacle not to be missed—an oasis of Hollywood Golden Age glamour in the center of this relentlessly future-minded region. Everything here is majestic: the grand marquee, the bi-level interior, the intricate interior architecture and chandeliers, and the crisp screen and audio quality often showing black-and-white films still in mint condition. Films are often shown as a themed double-feature, perhaps Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers or 1929 silent films. Arguably the highlight for any night is when the Mighty Wurlitzer organ player strikes a tune during the intermission between films.

The nation's oldest continual free summer music festival hosts Sunday-afternoon performances of symphony, opera, jazz, pop music, and dance. The amphitheater is in a beautiful eucalyptus grove, perfect for picnicking before the show. World-music favorites such as Ojos de Brujas, Seu Jorge, and Shuggie Otis get the massive crowds dancing. Shows generally start at 2 pm, but arrive hours earlier if you want to see the performances up close—and dress for cool weather, as the fog often rolls in.

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.

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.

A vibrant cultural hub in the region, the restored cinema and vaudeville house in Mill Valley is known for fostering exceptional arts and education. The darling playhouse seats upward of 260 and features live theater, comedy, and concerts. Two smaller street-side halls, the Tivoli and Crescendo, feature Tuesday night comedy shows, along with improvisation workshops, jazz performances, and new art exhibits every month.

With its soaring vaulted ceilings and marble foyer, this elegant 3,146-seat venue, built in 1932, rivals the old-world theaters of Europe. Part of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center, which also includes Davies Symphony Hall and Herbst Theatre, this is the home of the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Ballet.

This ultraquirky venue presents plays, musical acts, and comedy shows, along with visual and related arts. Top events include the Throckmorton Theatre Mountainfilm Festival (TTMF), the Sunday Sessions pro showcase, and a weekly show with satirist Mort Sahl. Stunning murals cover the theater's ceiling, and the foyer has on old-fashioned popcorn maker.

Named for one of Shakespeare's stage directions in Hamlet, A Noise Within is the Los Angeles area's preeminent place to see classic theater. The Bard's own works are told alongside those of Oscar Wilde and the Greek tragedies, often with a twist. The company boasts fierce talent among its revolving repertory of resident actors, many of whom also work in Hollywood. Audience members are never more than eight rows away from its platform stage, creating a sense of intimacy for all in attendance.

New in 2022, this 300,000-plus-square-foot entertainment and sports venue has an 11,000-person capacity; an adjoining community ice skating facility; and multiple bars, restaurants, and portable food carts including Pizza by Giada De Laurentiis and Shaq’s Big Chicken. In its inaugural year, it hosted concerts by the likes of Sting, Luis Miguel, Stevie Nicks, and Dierks Bentley, as well as Cirque du Soleil performances. It's also the home of the Coachella Valley Firebirds, an American Hockey League team affiliated with the Seattle Kraken. Other events held here have included WWE matches, monster-truck rallies, and preseason NBA games.

Presented by the American Indian Film Institute, this event has been based in San Francisco since 1977. Each November the festival takes over various venues, including the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre.

This Moorish-style auditorium presents touring performers and films throughout the year.

You can buy advance tickets, many at half price, to theater, music, and dance events at Arts Tix.

With two stages and year-round performances, Atwater Village has aligned with three L.A. theater companies: Ensemble Studio Theatre, Circle X Theatre Co., and Echo Theater Company, and presents fresh works from new local playwrights.

Known for critically acclaimed productions like David Mamet's American Buffalo and Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and frequently launching world premieres of new plays, the Aurora is at the heart of Berkeley storytelling and community engagement. The theater's Alafi Auditorium seats 150 on three sides of the stage for premium viewing, and the smaller Harry's UpStage offers a more intimate experience for 49. Beyond the stage, the company has a monthly online broadcast with members of the community and its artists.

The orchestra performs a half-dozen classical-music concerts, plus the seasonal Nutcracker, at the convention center from October through May.

This historic theater, which just celebrated its 88th birthday, features a combination of classic movies, second-run hits, local documentaries, and art-house favorites.

This Tony Award–winning group is the American Conservatory Theater's major rival for leadership among the region's resident professional companies. It performs an adventurous mix of classics and new plays from fall to spring in its theater complex, near BART's Downtown Berkeley Station. Parking is difficult, so arrive early if you're coming by car.

The Berkeley Symphony Orchestra rose to prominence under Kent Nagano's baton and continues to prosper with Joana Carneiro at the helm. The emphasis is on 20th-century composers. The orchestra plays a few concerts each year, in the University of California–Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall and elsewhere in Berkeley. The acoustics in Zellerbach Hall are poor; sit in the front or middle orchestra for the best sound.

Fresh interpretations of classical works are a focus of this prominent orchestra, but commissioned new music and traditional pieces are also performed. BSO plays a handful of concerts each year, in Zellerbach Hall and other locations.

Specializing in restored archival film, the Billy Wilder Theater, home of the UCLA Film & Television Archive, presents a number of acclaimed screenings, including both silent and foreign films. The Hammer Museum produces its own events for the theater, including readings, lectures, and conversations with artists. Authors Jonathan Lethem and Roxane Gay, and director David Lynch have all made appearances. Hammer Museum programs are free; screenings by the UCLA Film & Television Archive have charged admission with a ticket.

Stanford’s stunning main performing arts center is a wonder of distinct curves, sharp modern design, and top-notch acoustics; it's pleasing both to eyes and ears. Concerts are split between various Stanford orchestras, symphonies, and other groups, and musicians visiting from outside the university.