30 Best Performing Arts Venues in USA

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.

Based in Tucson, the Arizona Theatre Company also performs at the Herberger Theater Center. Productions, held from September through June, range from classic dramas to musicals and new works by emerging playwrights.

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.

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.

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.

Based in Denver's trendy Highland neighborhood, this small nonprofit theater produces cutting-edge, original works.

The center presents mainstream theatrical productions such as Grease and The Odd Couple, as well as concerts, art shows, and dance performances.

The Center Theatre Group is comprised of three venues: the Ahmanson and the Taper (both at the Music Center campus Downtown) and the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. They show an array of productions, from the Tony Award winner Dear Evan Hansen to touring productions of Broadway hits like Jersey Boys.

This organization brings Broadway show touring companies to the Ellie and Buell theaters.

The Gateway Theatre hosts most 42nd Street Moon shows as well as shows by Theatre Rhinoceros.

Well-known actors are often on the bill at the Geffen, and plays by established playwrights, such as Neil LaBute and Lynn Nottage, happen regularly. With two stages hosting world premieres and critically acclaimed works, there's always something compelling to watch. Free events are frequently put on for ticket holders, including Wine Down Sundays, which feature music and wine sampling before evening shows.

The little theater company that could, most of Ion's unique and sometimes controversial productions now take place in the quaint BLKBOX Theatre in Hillcrest and have included productions of Gypsy and Topdog/Underdog.

This theater, located in a walkable Culver City neighborhood (close to cocktail bars and trendy restaurants), stages modern works and world premieres. The smallest venue of the group at 317 seats, the theater also hosts intimate workshops and readings.

The performance of plays by black writers such as August Wilson and Langston Hughes is the raison d'être of this company, which performs at various venues throughout the city.

Amateur and professional puppeteers and ventriloquists entertain here five days a week. The cost is just a few dollars for adults and children alike. If you feel cramped in the 200-seat theater, don't worry; the shows rarely run longer than a half hour.

Staging three productions over the year at the 10th Avenue Theatre in Downtown, this company is committed to performances by newer playwrights as well as more obscure works by old masters.

The acrobatically inclined group generally performs at the Circus Center around Christmastime, with fire-breathing jugglers and high-flying trapeze artists. There are a few smaller productions in San Francisco and the Bay Area throughout the year.

Odyssey Theatre presents largely traditional dramas in an intimate space, typically with astute direction and powerful acting. They also produce contemporary, experimental plays (or thoughtful explorations of the classics) throughout the season.

For the grand-scale theatrics of a Broadway show, such as Hamilton and The Book of Mormon, the 2,703-seat Pantages Theatre (the last theater built by Greek American vaudeville producer Alexander Pantages) lights up Hollywood Boulevard on show nights, when lines of excited patrons extend down the block.

Across the courtyard from the Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix Theatre stages musical and dramatic performances.

Plays, musicals, and concerts all happen at this midsize theater, mostly focusing on Latin culture. When the weather warms up, they host the Rooftop Cinema Club, where you can watch a flick on the roof (they give out blankets on cold nights), indulge at the snack bar, and take in views of Hollywood.

This historic art deco theater in Beverly Hills plays host to rock and soul artists and legends, as well as comedy shows.

The politically leftist, barbed satires of this Tony Award–winning troupe are hardly mime in the Marcel Marceau sense. The group performs afternoon musicals at area parks from the July 4 weekend through September, and taking one in is a perfect way to spend a sunny summer day.

This Latino-Chicano company puts on mostly original works and festivals during its year-round season at the Denver Civic Theatre.

Socially conscious, unconventional, and politically themed shows are the focus here. Helmed by artistic director Tim Robbins (who was also one of its founders in 1981), the Actors' Gang also has educational and outreach programs to benefit local students and the community. Their Prison Project initiative, for example, conducts acting workshops at California state prisons. Famous actors are also known to make cameos at the theater. In summer, the Actors’ Gang offers adaptations of Shakespeare for free in Media Park. Call or check the website for the schedule.

This troupe presents original and contemporary dramas and musical revues, as well as adventurous adaptations, between September and May.

Experimental works, including one-man and one-woman shows, works in progress, and new-vaudeville shows can be seen here.

The 700-year-old Japanese theatrical forms Noh (musical drama) and Kyogen (traditional Japanese comedy) are incorporated into experimental works here.

By presenting top-notch adaptations of nationally regarded comedies and dramas, such as Angels in America, Vintage Theatre Productions has made a name for itself locally. Its small but comfortable venue is in the Aurora Arts District, where it hosts performances most Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons.

Various theater and music programs are held throughout the year, and one of the best loved is Lee Stetson's portrayal of John Muir in Conversation with a Tramp and other Muir-theme shows. Purchase tickets in advance at the Conservancy Store at the Valley Visitor Center or the Tour and Activity Desk at Yosemite Valley Lodge. Unsold seats are available at the door at performance time, 7 pm.