List of Performing Art Centers in the United States

Supertall skyscrapers and glamorous museums can boost architects' reputations or put a struggling industrial town dorsum on the map, but as far equally architecture is concerned, ane type of edifice should never be overlooked: the theater.

As the backbone of urban civilization, theaters in the United States have been gathering places for centuries. From operas to ballets to movies, the arts required buildings that were as beautiful as the performances they housed. Early 19th-century theaters were temples to ornamentation, clad in over-the-summit chandeliers, heavy drapes, and with a penchant for gold.

Today, the theater remains a crucial office of a city'southward lifeblood, fifty-fifty every bit the types of performing arts take expanded. Modern theaters are technological marvels, pairing innovative architecture with state-of-the-art acoustics and video programming.

While this new form of auditoriums, performing arts centers, and concert halls prove that a theater tin can take many forms, they all underscore one belief: Now—more than e'er—the arts thing.

It's in this spirit that we searched far and wide across the U.S. for the virtually architecturally meaning theaters. From our country's oldest continually operating opera house to a brand new edifice in Chicago, these are the 24 well-nigh beautiful theaters in America.

Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas Urban center, Missouri

The exterior of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Missouri. The facade is stainless steel panels that are curved into a shell shape. — The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts building was completed in 2011 in Kansas Urban center.

Opened in 2011, the Kauffman Center is a nearly 285,000-square-foot facility—designed by the internationally-renowned builder Moshe Safdie of Safdie Architects—with two master operation halls, each in the shape of a shell.

Safdie clad the shells in stainless-steel panels and connected the two venues with a twenty-meter-high, glass-walled atrium that is anchored to the ground with steel cables. The drinking glass facade likewise features panoramic views of Kansas City.

The Trick Theatre in Detroit, Michigan

The interior of the Fox Theatre in Detroit. The ceiling and walls are elaborately decorated. There are colorful columns and hanging chandeliers. There are many rows of seats on a balcony level.

When the Pull a fast one on Theatre opened in September 1928, five,000 people packed the space to see the 2d largest theater in the world. The 10-story mammoth building features red marble columns and was designed by architect Charles Howard Crane. A Detroiter who at one time worked for Albert Kahn, Crane too designed Orchestra Hall, the Capitol on Broadway, and the Land on Woodward.

A gem of the robust Detroit theater scene, the Play a joke on is also notable because it was the first in the world to be constructed with built-in equipment for talking movies. It was a flagship moving-picture show palace of the Trick Theatre chain, eventually landing on the National Register of Historic places and the list of National Historic Landmarks. Today, it'south the largest surviving movie palace of the 1920s and the original Fox Theaters.

The Central Metropolis Opera House in Central City, Colorado

The exterior of the Central City Opera House in Colorado. The facade is stone and there are multiple red and white doors. There is a sign on the front of the building that reads: Opera House. — The exterior of the Central City Opera Firm, located in a minor gold-mining boondocks in Colorado.

Despite its rather diminutive size compared to other theaters, what the Central Urban center Opera House lacks in seats information technology makes upwards for in history. Built in 1878 by Welsh and Cornish gilt miners, this stone concert hall has hosted performances for decades and is the nation's fifth-oldest opera visitor.

Designed by Denver builder Robert S. Roeschlaub, the 550-seat opera house found a home in this tiny Colorado town thanks to Central Urban center's reputation equally "the richest square mile on earth." Just in one case the gilt mines ran out, the building brutal into disrepair from the tardily 19th century until 1932. A volunteer endeavor led to the extensive restoration and reopening of the opera hall. Today, information technology hosts i of the most successful summer opera festivals in the state.

Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California

The interior of the Paramount Theatre in Oakland. The walls and ceiling are covered in elaborate metalwork. The stage has a red curtain which is flanked by a multicolored patterned curtain.

Designed by San Francisco architect Timothy 50. Pflueger and completed in 1931, the Paramount Theatre in Oakland is a top-notch example of Fine art Deco design. Originally a movie palace in the 1930s, the Paramount suffered from iii decades of neglect and decline. In 1972, the Oakland Symphony purchased the building in order to restore it to its former celebrity.

The theater is at present on the National Annals of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark with all of the mod technology of a performance theater. Information technology houses the Oakland Symphony as well as an always-rotating lineup of concerts and shows.

Radio Metropolis Music Hall in New York, New York

The interior of Radio City Music Hall in New York City. There is a gold curtain above the stage and the ceiling and walls are curved. — The interior of Radio City Music Hall in New York Metropolis.

No listing of architecturally pregnant theaters would be consummate without mention of New York City's Radio City Music Hall, one of the most iconic operation venues in the U.s.a..

Built in 1932 and adult as part of Rockefeller Centre, Radio City Music Hall was designed in the Fine art Deco mode past architect Edward Durell Rock and industrial designer Donald Deskey, who did the interiors.

The theater is top in multiple ways: It is the largest indoor theater in the earth, and features the largest stage drape—in shimmering gold—in the globe. Many people also consider it to exist 1 of the most perfectly equipped stages ever built.

Durham Performing Arts Center in Durham, North Carolina

The exterior of the Durham Performing Arts Center in North Carolina. The facade consists of multilevel glass walls. — The exterior of the Durham Performing Arts Eye at night.

The completion of this nationally renowned 2,800-seat theater designed by Chapel Hill-based Szostak Pattern Inc. has helped rehabilitate a former industrial brownfield site in downtown Durham. Beyond its light-filled and blusterous design, the Durham Performing Arts Middle is as well notable for coming in under budget at a total project cost of $46 one thousand thousand—less than half the price of comparable venues.

The building features multilevel glass walls with a day-lit lobby and views of the city skyline. Two intricate staircases and a white-and-red colour palette animate the infinite, encouraging guests up and through the antechamber.

Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo, New York

Designed by the famous Finnish begetter-and-son team of Eliel and Eero Saarinen, along with architects F.J. and West.A Kidd, the Kleinhans Music Hall combines both elegant structural dazzler with extraordinary acoustics. The shape of the exterior brick structure and the main auditorium resemble the trunk of a string musical instrument, and Eliel Saarinen's aim was to create "an architectural atmosphere…then as to melody the performers and the public alike into a proper mood of performance and receptiveness, respectively."

The result has been lauded as one of the most acoustically perfect halls in the earth since it opened in 1940. It sits in a leafy neighborhood and the drum-like concert hall reflects off a peaceful pool with no windows or entrances visible. Information technology's a peaceful, graceful take on theater design.

Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, Tennessee

The interior of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Tennessee. The walls and ceiling are white. The stage and seats are wood. There is a grand piano on the stage. — The interior of the Schermerhorn Symphony Centre in Nashville.

Nashville might be internationally known for its country music, but this neoclassical concert hall proves that the Tennessee capital as well boasts a thriving classical music scene. Located in downtown Nashville's Sobro neighborhood, the venue hosts a wide range of musical events and is home to the Nashville Symphony.

The ane,800-seat venue, which opened in 2006, is ane of the few to enjoy natural light through thirty soundproof windows. The pattern might await similar to the 19th-century concert halls of Europe, but the engineering science is anything but dated: An avant-garde system of movable banners and panels tin adjust the acoustics to accommodate unlike musical genres and sounds. The concert hall also features a convertible seating system.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California

The exterior of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The walls and roof are stainless steel and curved. — The Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA, home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and designed past Frank Gehry.

Habitation to the Los Angeles Combo, the Walt Disney Concert Hall presents classical music, contemporary music, and jazz to civilization lovers from Los Angeles and beyond.

The distinctive building was designed by Frank Gehry as a series of undulating stainless-steel curves that symbolize musical movement and the motion of Los Angeles. Within, the towering column-free concert hall is brimful in warm hues, its acoustics are peak-notch, and one wall features an elaborate organ made from a boutonniere of half-dozen,134 curved pipes.

For more on the Walt Disney Concert Hall, caput over to Curbed Los Angeles.

The War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, California

The exterior of the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. The facade is white with large arched windows and columns. It is evening and the sky is dark blue. — The exterior of the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco.

The San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Centre is a massive complex with a combined capacity of almost vii,000 seats. Simply our favorite building remains the War Memorial Opera Business firm.

Designed by Arthur Brown, Jr.—the aforementioned builder who designed San Francisco City Hall—the War Memorial Opera Firm was one of the last Beaux-Arts structures built in the U.S. when it opened in 1932. Thou columns, ornate details, and a main entrance hall with a soaring, 38-foot-high ceiling all serve as both a monument to those who served in World War I and a plumbing equipment dwelling for the San Francisco Opera.

The Egg in Albany, New York

A concert hall called the Egg in Albany. The top of the hall is oval and shaped like an egg. The base resembles a pedestal. The exterior is light grey. — A night view of the Egg in Albany, New York.

It's no wonder why this venue in Albany is called what it is: The sculpture-like building looks just like an egg on a pedestal. Simply the Egg'south compages is more than complex than it might seem. Designed past the midcentury New York City-based firm Harrison & Abramovitz as part of the Empire State Plaza project, the Egg took 12 years to build and opened in 1978 with two theaters.

While it looks like the egg is perched on its base, the stem that holds the oval is actually rooted six stories into the footing. The exterior's curved lines continue inside and the structure lacks any straight lines or harsh corners.

Instead, interior walls curve up to meet concave ceilings, and the backs of performing areas are fanned to create a more intimate, inviting atmosphere. These unique features take fabricated the Egg an important piece of New York architecture history.

Saenger Theatre in New Orleans, Louisiana

The interior of the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans. The walls resemble an Italian villa courtyard. The ceiling and top of the walls are dark blue like the evening sky. The bottom portion of the walls are is stone. — The interior of the Saenger Theater in New Orleans.

Built for a hefty $2.v million dollars in 1929, the Saenger Theater was described in its heyday every bit "an acre of seats in a garden of Florentine splendor." The elaborate decor conjures upwardly a 15th-century Italian villa and courtyard, and the theater's most striking characteristic is its blue domed "sky" ceiling with twinkling stars.

According to the Saenger Theatre website, Hurricane Katrina destroyed the theater in 2005, but a $53 one thousand thousand revitalization project restored the building to its former glory, allowing it to reopen in 2013. Today, the theater hosts Broadway shows, concerts, comedians, and events.

Kalita Humphreys Theater in Dallas, Texas

The exterior of Kalita Humphreys Theater in Texas. The building is white with an oval tower. — The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Kalita Humphreys Theater.

As one of iconic American architect Frank Lloyd Wright's last buildings and i of his only surviving theaters, the Kalita Humphreys Theater is a stunning addition to the architecture of Dallas, Texas.

The building features a circular stage drum that extends higher up the principal structure and exemplifies Wright'due south organic philosophy. Curved walls dominate the pattern and the stage itself sits on a turntable that allows multiple scenes and sets to be prepare at the same time.

Curious about Wright's other buildings? We've mapped forty of his almost of import structures over here.

The Theatre at Ace in Los Angeles, California

The interior of the Theatre at Ace in Los Angeles. There is a staircase and bannister that has elaborate metalwork. There is a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Arches with metalwork are on the walls. — The Theatre at Ace in Los Angeles, formerly the United Artists Theatre.

First opened in late 1927, the United Artists Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles was designed past noted theater architect C. Howard Crane and commissioned by United Artists, the film industry powerhouse founded by Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, and D.W. Griffith.

After serving every bit the headquarters for a church from 1989 through 2009, the stunning Spanish Gothic-mode edifice is at present part of the Ace Hotel, but is notwithstanding bachelor for concerts, premieres, private screenings, and performances.

That's a good affair, because we wouldn't want to miss out on the theater's ornate vaulted ceilings, intricate metalwork, painted murals, and the massive dome above the heart of the auditorium, covered in thousands of mirrored discs and crystal pendants.

For more than on the Theatre at Ace, head over to Curbed Los Angeles.

Writers Theatre in Chicago, Illinois

The exterior of the Writers Theatre in Chicago. The roof is flat and there is a staircase leading to the entrance. The upper level has multiple wooden beams arranged in a latticework design which sit in front of glass windows. — The Studio Gang-designed Writers Theatre in Illinois.

Located in Chicago'south Due north Shore village of Glencoe, this new building for the nationally recognized Writers Theatre opened in 2016 in an effort to broaden the institution's exposure and concenter new patrons.

The Studio Gang-designed building includes ii new performance spaces in the class of a 250-seat principal stage and a smaller "black-box" venue that can exist configured to arrange between 50 and 99 visitors. The structure's most interesting element is the raised loggia enclosed by a wooden latticework that houses an blusterous and multi-purpose vestibule infinite.

For more on the Writers Theatre, caput over to Curbed Chicago.

Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York

The interior of Kings Theatre in Brooklyn. There is elaborate gold design on the walls and ceiling. The stage has a red curtain. — The interior of the recently renovated Kings Theatre in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn's largest theater underwent a $94 1000000 restoration recently after four decades of decay had lain waste matter to the neglected structure. Originally built in 1929, the Loew's King Theatre was an icon of its time, a spectacle built for movies and live performances.

But with the ascension of multiplexes in the 1970s, the unmarried-screened Kings couldn't compete. It was forced to close due to low attendance, high maintenance costs, and the reject of the surrounding neighborhood.

At present, the theater is back and meliorate than ever, revived with original plaster and painting schemes, vintage carpet and seating, historic lighting fixtures, and all the finest new technology.

Head over to Curbed NY for more than.

The Fisher Middle in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York

The performing arts building at Bard College, the Fisher Center, designed by Frank Gehry. The roof and walls are curved metal. There is a glass entryway. The building is surrounded by a green grass lawn. — The performing arts building at Bard Higher was designed past Frank Gehry and took three years to build.

Located at Bard College in New York, the $62 million Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts was designed by Frank Gehry and opened in 2003. In total, the building comprises 107,000 square feet and is made of fir veneer, concrete, stainless-steel shingles that encompass the roof, and over 1,000 tons of conventional and curved steel.

The building'south most striking feature is its front facade. According to Gehry, the design represents "a theatrical mask that covers the raw face of the performance space" and prepares the company for the performances that occur within.

The Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The exterior of the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. The top of the building is red brick and the bottom is brown brick. There are arched windows and stairs leading up to the entrance. — The entrance to the Academy of Music on the avenue of the Arts in Philadelphia.

Owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Clan, the Academy of Music is over 150 years quondam and is known as the "Grand Quondam Lady of Locust Street." First opened in 1857, the building was modeled after Milan's La Scala and is the oldest continually operating concert hall in the The states.

Built in the Roman Corinthian style and designed by architect Napoleon LeBrun, the University of Music recently underwent extensive piece of work to restore the theater to its original form. Now, the large frescos, golden ornamentation, and glass chandeliers smoothen merely as brilliant as they did in the 1860s. Exterior, the building'southward brick and brownstone exterior is a attestation to Philadelphia'south rich history.

Kresge Auditorium in Cambridge, Massachusetts

The exterior of the Kresge Auditorium in Massachusetts. The roof is green and sloped. The walls are glass. — Kresge Auditorium sits on the Massachusetts Institute of Engineering campus and was built in 1955.

Although its swooping lines await like to some of today's modern buildings, MIT'southward Kresge Auditorium dates back to 1955. It was designed past Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen and has been cited as an example of the optimistic zeitgeist of Post-war America.

Saarinen—who also designed the TWA concluding and the St. Louis Gateway Curvation—used his sculptural groundwork to create the auditorium, one of the United States's first large-scale thin-shell concrete buildings.

The truncated dome looks a scrap like a leafage, and the edifice has been praised for both its elegance and for the transparent, full-height windows on either side. Inside, there are no bad seats thanks to a lack of interior supports for the overarching dome. Today, the hall hosts MIT'south performing arts productions, events, and more.

New World Eye in Miami, Florida

The interior of New World Center in Miami. The ceiling has various large panels which have video projections of clouds on them. There is a person singing on the stage and an orchestra performing in the orchestra pit. — The performance hall in Miami's New World Center—designed past builder Frank Gehry and acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota—which opened in 2011.

Abode to the New World Symphony—an orchestral academy under the creative management of its co-founder and Grammy accolade-winning conductor Michael Tilson Thomas—Miami's New Globe Center is an architectural standout in the centre of South Embankment.

Another gem designed by Frank Gehry, the concert hall opened in 2011 in an endeavor to pause downwardly the barriers between performers and the public. As the New York Times writes, New World Center aims to "pump new life into an fine art grade that is often perceived equally stuffy and old-fashioned."

Thus, a rather subdued exterior (at to the lowest degree past Gehry's standards) gives manner to a stunning 756-seat performance hall, where Gehry designed large acoustically cogitating "sails" that surround the audition and serve equally video projection surfaces. The concert hall also features a two.5-acre infinite that holds events for the public.

Orpheum Theater in Phoenix, Arizona

The interior of the Orpheum Theater in Arizona. There are murals on the walls and the stage has intricate gold decorations. — The murals in the Orpheum Theater in Phoenix.

Located in downtown Phoenix, the 1,364-seat Orpheum Theater was originally constructed in 1929 and went through several incarnations under unlike owners.

The unusual, Castilian Bizarre-fashion building features huge, detailed murals that aim to give visitors the impression that they are enjoying performances al fresco. The building currently houses an eclectic mix of theatre, live music, dance, and comedy and reopened in 1997 after an all-encompassing $14 million restoration.

Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center in Midland, Texas

The exterior of the Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center in Texas. The facade is brown and there is a metal sign with words that read: Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center. — The outside of the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center in Texas.

Located between Midland and Odessa, Texas, the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center was designed by Bora Architects and constructed in 2011.

Owned past the University of Texas, the edifice features architecture inspired by the geology of the Permian Basin, Texas's petroleum-producing region. It stands out in the desert landscape and includes a state-of-the-fine art, 1,800-seat main concert hall and a 200-seat recital hall.

The Alex Theatre in Glendale, California

A temple to all things Art Deco, the 1,413-seat Glendale theater, congenital in 1925, originally hosted vaudeville performances, silent movies, and local plays. It operated until the 1980s, when the Alex was forced to close afterward several years of decline. The Glendale Redevelopment Agency purchased the theater in 1992 and spent $6.2 million restoring information technology to its old splendor.

The iconic architecture—with its Egyptian-Greek-American overtones—has been preserved. Today, the theater is as well the home to the Glendale Youth Orchestra and the Los Angeles Bedchamber Orchestra.

Loonshit Phase in Washington, D.C.

The exterior of Washington D.C.'s Arena stage. The roof is white and slopes upward. The walls are glass. — Washington, D.C.'s Arena Phase designed by Bing Thom Architects.

Designed by Bing Thom Architects and completed in 2010, D.C.'due south reinvented Arena Stage doubled the size of the facility and upgraded the theater'due south technology and amenities. Inside, the architects restored the ii existing historic theaters—including the original theater in the round—and added a new 200-seat experimental theater in the shape of an oval.

Outside, a dramatic sloping roof and drinking glass structure presides over the three theaters and offers views of the adjacent Washington Channel and Washington Monument.

Upset that your favorite theater, concert hall, opera house, or performing arts heart didn't make the list? We know there are many more worthy candidates. Let us know wh ich buildings we missed—and why you dear them—in the comments.

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Source: https://archive.curbed.com/2017/3/15/14927584/best-theater-concert-opera-united-states