201 Best Performing Arts in New York, USA

Dedicated to preserving and exhibiting independent and avant-garde film, the Anthology Film Archives has two screening rooms (seating about 200 and 100, respectively) as well as a film repository and a library, all inside a 1919 redbrick courthouse. Cofounded in 1970 by the downtown legend and filmmaker Jonas Mekas, Anthology remains a major destination for adventurous and unusual movies, new as well as old. The Essential Cinema series delves into the works of canonized groundbreaking directors; the frequent festivals are more eclectic.

Michael Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald, and James Brown are just a few of the world-class performers who have appeared on this equally famed stage, which first opened back in 1934. If the Apollo's Amateur Night doesn't get you up to 125th Street on a Wednesday, consider the theater's Thursday comedy night. Or come for the intimate, late-night music series, Apollo Music Café, which is held on select Fridays and Saturdays and features a variety of jazz, pop, hip-hop, and rock performers.

Home of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the Bardavon 1869 Opera House is the state's oldest continuously operating theater. The beautifully restored auditorium has an active program of theater, music, dance, and comedy.

Set on 2,000 acres of gently rolling farmland where the 1969 Woodstock music festival took place—not in the town of Woodstock, 60 miles away—this sprawling complex is what put the Southern Catskills back on the map. It's a gorgeous facility, built of stone and wood. First and foremost there's the 15,000-seat outdoor amphitheater that draws some of the biggest names in the business. The lineup is heavy with classic rock, but more modern names show here, too. The museum tells the story of the momentous music festival and the era that spawned it with lots of colorful exhibits and a wry sense of humor. It's a captivating and, to some, emotional experience combining film and interactive displays, text panels, and artifacts that recreate the unique experience of the original three-day festival. There’s a gift shop here, as well as a decent café.

Internationally renowned Carnegie Hall has incomparable acoustics that make it one of the world's best venues for music—classical as well as jazz, pop, cabaret, and folk. Since the opening-night concert on May 5, 1891, which Tchaikovsky conducted, virtually every important musician in the world has appeared in this Italian Renaissance–style building. The world's top orchestras perform in the grand and fabulously steep 2,804-seat Isaac Stern Auditorium; the 268-seat Weill Recital Hall often features young talents making their New York debuts; and the subterranean 599-seat Judy and Arthur Zankel Hall attracts big-name artists such as the Kronos Quartet and Milton Nascimento to its stylish modern space. A noted roster of family concerts is also part of Carnegie's programming.

The box office releases $10 rush tickets for some shows on the day of performance, or you can buy partial-view seating in advance at 50% off the full ticket price. Head to the second-floor Rose Museum (open by appointment) to learn more about the famous hall's history through its archival treasures.

Formerly known as Philharmonic Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, David Geffen Hall is the residence of the New York Philharmonic ( www.nyphil.org); the orchestra's season is September to June. The hall reopened in late 2022 after a two-year, $550 million renovation to its acoustics and public areas, including a new welcome center that is part ticket office, part lounge. The orchestra's Open Rehearsals are available to the public on selected weekday mornings at 9:45 am ($22 plus fees; usually Wednesday or Thursday) and select performances from inside the concert hall are streamed live, free of charge. A popular Young People's Concert series is on Saturday afternoons at 2 pm four times throughout the season. Lincoln Center presents Great Performers, Mostly Mozart Festival, and White Light Festival in this hall, too.

In addition to premiering new international features and documentaries that are otherwise hard to catch on the big screen, this nonprofit with four theaters hosts movies by canonized directors such as Hitchcock, Godard, and Bertolucci; in-depth film series devoted to particular actors or genres; and newly restored prints of classic works. The small concession stand in the lobby serves tasty cakes and freshly popped popcorn. This is no megaplex, but updates in 2018 included new seats with more legroom and a higher slope for better views.

Some of the hottest jazz musicians stop at the Freihofer's Jazz Festival in June for two days of music to kick off summer.

A few blocks south of Lincoln Center itself, this Columbus Circle venue is almost completely devoted to jazz, with a sprinkling of other genres mixed in. Stages in Rafael Viñoly's crisply modern Frederick P. Rose Hall include the 1,200-seat Rose Theater, where up-and-coming artists as well as jazz world fixtures like composer and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis (the organization’s managing and artistic director), perform several times a year. Also here is The Appel Room, an elegant theater with a glass wall overlooking Columbus Circle. In the smaller Dizzy's Club, there are often multiple sets nightly, plus late-night sessions Tuesday through Saturday, all accompanied by a full bar and restaurant with a New Orleans–inspired menu.

Set within a former art deco movie house, the 472-seat Joyce Theater has superb sight lines and presents a wide range of classical and contemporary dance. Its 48-week season includes a rotating roster of international, national, and New York–based companies.

Founded in 1915, Maverick Concerts is the country's oldest continuously running summer chamber-music series. Every summer since has seen a confluence of world-class musicians drawn by superlative acoustics in a gorgeous 1916 "chapel" renowned by audiophiles for its acoustics. Gone are the days when concerts were free, but you can still bring your own chair and enjoy the pay-what-you-can prices. The season runs from late June to early September.

Exclusive premieres and retro screenings, often with celebrity guest speakers, and an ever-changing calendar of both classic and obscure films lure patrons to this boutique movie theater, where six films are usually shown on the two screens each day. There's also a restaurant and a bar in which to hang before or after the show, a small bookstore for browsing, and a retro candy counter with exotic albeit expensive treats.

The largest hall in Lincoln Center, the almost 3,800-seat Met is notable for its dramatic arched entrance, as well as its lobby's immense Swarovski crystal chandeliers and Marc Chagall paintings. The titan of American opera companies and an institution since its founding in 1883, the Metropolitan Opera brings the world's leading singers to its vast stage. All performances, including those sung in English, are subtitled on small screens on the back of the seat in front of you. A frequent resident of the Met (and sometimes, of the David H. Koch Theater) is the American Ballet Theatre ( www.abt.org), renowned for its gorgeous full-program renditions of 19th-century classics (Swan Lake,Giselle,The Sleeping Beauty) with choreography re-envisioned by 20th-century or contemporary masters.  A limited number of same-day $25 rush orchestra seats are available at the Met's website. These tickets go on sale for weeknight performances at noon, for matinees four hours before curtain, and for Saturday evenings at 2 pm. There's also an annual free outdoor HD Festival, with screenings of recorded operas on an immense screen covering the facade, and thousands of chairs in the plaza area. Backstage tours of the Met ($35), when available, are held during the performance season, and require advance online reservation.

You'll find a truly engaging and uncommon repertory of American and international film at the Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters 1 and 2, on the MoMA's lower level, and at the Celeste Bartos Theater, in the lower level of the Cullman Education and Research Building on the museum campus. Sometimes the films tie in with current art exhibitions. The Contenders series, which starts each fall, is a chance to catch up on the past year's releases that are likely to win awards—or at least stand the test of time. Movie tickets go on sale two weeks prior to each screening, online or in person at the museum; limited same-day tickets are available, too. Museum admission is discounted if you have purchased cinema tickets ($12), though a separate ticket is required.

Pause as you enter this neo-Moorish building, built in 1923 for the Shriners (an offshoot of the Freemasons), and admire the ornate decorative details in the lobby and theater. City Center's 2,200-seat main stage is perfectly suited for dance and special theatrical events. Among its varied performances and showcases, the Tony Award–honored Encores! series, generally held in spring, revisits musicals of the past in a concert format—an event that has led to shows returning to Broadway, with the long-running Chicago among them. During summer, Encores! Off-Center features concert versions of off-Broadway musicals. Tickets for City Center's annual Fall for Dance festival sell out quickly.

The reigning arbiter of poetry slams, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe is known for hosting the influential granddaddy (b. 1989) of the spoken-word scene, the Wednesday and Friday Night Poetry Slams as well as a variety of open-mike nights, the latter of which have been mostly online during the pandemic. These days there are outdoor events on the schedule as well, but check the website for updates.

Completed in 1881 and occupying an entire city block, this Gothic-style brick building is now an arts center but was originally the headquarters, drill hall, and social club for the Seventh Regiment, a National Guard unit called the "Silk Stocking" regiment because its members were mainly drawn from wealthy Gilded Age families. The reception rooms on the first floor and Company Rooms on the second floor were designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, Stanford White, and other fashionable designers of the time. A major renovation included restoring the historic wood-paneled Tiffany and White rooms. These days the armory is used for trade shows, huge art installations, plays, and concerts, which take full advantage of the 55,000-square-foot drill hall. Intimate artist conversations, recitals, and experimental performances are held in the smaller, first- and second-floor spaces.

This landmark was built shortly after the stock market crash of 1929, when John D. Rockefeller Jr. wanted to create a symbol of hope in what was a sad, broke city. When the hall opened, some said there was no need for performances, because people would get more than their money's worth simply by sitting there and enjoying the grand space. Despite being the largest indoor theater in the world, with its city-block-long marquee and nearly 6,000 seats, it feels warm and intimate. Hour-long Stage Door walking tours run year-round with limited availability. 

There are big-name concerts and major events year-round, but the biggest draw is the Radio City Christmas Spectacular: more than a million visitors every year come to see the iconic Rockettes dance. Make reservations early, especially if you want to attend near Christmas or on a weekend (by October, many performances have sold out). Tickets start at $54 per person for the 90-minute show, although there are promotions and matinee deals.

An early-1900s firehouse was converted into the Rosendale Theatre in 1949—and few changes have been made to the movie theater since. One ancient vending machine still discharges candy, while a concession stand serves popcorn and other snacks. The community-owned nonprofit theater offers a diverse lineup of events, including documentaries, live theater, and performing arts. In the fall, the Rosendale hosts the annual Woodstock Film Festival.

Dedicated to first-person storytelling, this roving series has spread far beyond New York, where it was founded in 1997 by the writer George Dawes Green, but it's still going strong here: the curated Mainstage shows feature both celebrities and everyday people who worked with The Moth directors to shape their stories. At the much looser, open-mike StorySLAMs, competitors are randomly selected and given just five minutes to tell a story, which must tie in with the night's theme. Moth tales get told at Housing Works and other venues downtown and throughout the boroughs.

In a magnificently restored space from 1900, The New Victory Theater presents an international roster of supremely kid-pleasing plays, music, dance, opera, puppetry, and circus performances. Through the organization's workshops and arts activities, children and their parents can also learn more about other parts of theater (writing, for instance) and kinds of performance, such as break dancing. Count on reasonable ticket prices, high-energy and high-class productions, and the opportunity for kids to chat with the artists after many performances.

Fresh, exciting theater keeps people talking about the Public Theater, which was founded in 1954 but has most recently seen such hits as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s current Broadway sensation Hamilton, and David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's "poperetta" Here Lies Love, about Imelda Marcos. Many more noted productions that began here (Hair, A Chorus Line) went on to Broadway and beyond. Tickets for the constantly changing roster of shows are available through the website; some "rush" tickets (day-of) are available on a first-come-first-served basis. This is also the company that puts on Shakespeare in the Park in Central Park in summer. On the mezzanine of the theater, The Library restaurant and bar is an elegant spot for a meal or a drink, whether or not you're attending a show.

Founded by suffragists and built in 1921 by famed architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, The Town Hall is an invaluable and incomparable part of NYC's cultural fabric. Notable Town Hall claims include Strauss's, Stravinsky's, and Isaac Stern's U.S. debuts; Marian Anderson's first NYC recital; Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker's introduction of bebop to the world; and Bob Dylan's first major concert. More recently, the stage has welcomed musicians like Gilberto Gil, Joan Baez, Patti Smith, and David Byrne; humorists like Fran Lebowitz and Stephen Colbert; the only East Coast staging of Hunter S. Thompson's "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved"; TED Talks Live; conversations with legendary authors; one-time-only variety shows; and more.

A cultural hub for everything about film, the small Upstate Films Theater shows documentaries, independent films, classics, and animation. Shows often sell out, so it's best to purchase tickets in advance. There's also a sister cinema in Woodstock.

Rebranded as 92NY and formerly known as the 92nd Street Y, this Upper East Side cultural institution is undergoing a $200 million plan to redevelop its campus, expand its programming, and revamp and enhance performance spaces. Well-known soloists, jazz musicians, show-tune stylists, and chamber music groups perform in 92Y's freshly renovated 905-seat Kaufmann Concert Hall and in the new Arnhold Center, a dance and performance complex with an adjoining dance studio. But the programming is hardly limited to music and dance—its calendar brims with popular lectures and readings series featuring big-name film and TV stars, authors, poets, playwrights, political pundits, and media bigwigs (many events are livestreamed and archived online). The Harkness Dance Festival, film programs, arts and crafts workshops, and family-friendly events are also worth checking out.

The annual Adirondack Canoe Classic is a three-day, 90-mi canoe race held in early September. The 250 boats participating make their way from Old Forge through Blue Mountain Lake to the village of Saranac Lake, crossing several portages.

More than 100 hot-air balloons puff their stuff as they ascend in this annual four-day event held around the third weekend in September. There are usually two launches on Saturday and Sunday (one at sunrise and the other in the early evening), weather permitting. Smaller launches are held on Thursday and Friday.

The Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts presents a wide variety of programs, from classical concerts to coffeehouse entertainment, films, plays, exhibits, and workshops. Galleries display regional and national artwork. Center hours change by the season.

Home to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center ( www.chambermusicsociety.org) since it opened in 1969, Alice Tully Hall has top-notch acoustics. A three-story glass lobby with a bar and café greets patrons, before they settle in for a performance inside the warm, even intimate 1,086-seat Starr Theater.

Allentown Arts Festival, a nationally acclaimed fine-arts–and–crafts show, brings nearly 500 exhibitors, food vendors, live music, and outstanding people-watching to the Allentown district for two days in mid-June.