10 Best Performing Arts Venues in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

This striking complex evokes Philadelphia's traditional redbrick structures, while making a contemporary design statement. The 450,000-square-foot facility by architect Rafael Viñoly includes the 2,500-seat cello-shaped Verizon Hall, the more intimate 650-seat Perelman Theater, a restaurant run by chef Jose Garces, a rooftop terrace, and public plaza—all topped by a dramatic glass-vaulted roof. Along with its resident companies, such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra, and the American Theater Arts for Youth, the center presents touring orchestral, jazz, and dance performances.

Inspired by Milan's La Scala opera house and completed in 1857, the Academy of Music is the oldest grand opera house in the country still used for its intended purpose. An architectural marvel as well as a center for culture, the Academy features a lavish, neo-baroque interior, with red velvet seats, gilt, carvings, ceiling murals, and a huge crystal chandelier. Home to the Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Ballet, the landmark also plays host to performances by major orchestras, theatrical and dance touring companies, and solo artists.

The performing-arts complex on University of Pennsylvania's campus features multiple stages, from the 115-seat Bruce Montgomery Theatre to the 936-seat Zellerbach. Something's always going on—including productions of musical comedy, drama, dance, and children's theater.

This 1,300-seat hall is a former vaudeville house and cinema that's on the National Register of Historic Places. Known for its fine acoustics, it hosts rock, jazz, country, comedy, and other entertainment.

Pop, jazz, contemporary music, Broadway theater, opera, dance, and Shakespeare are presented in this open-air amphitheater in Fairmount Park from May through September. In the summer months, the Philadelphia Orchestra is in residence, along with noted soloists and guest conductors. International food booths and a tented buffet restaurant offer dinner before the show.

By day it's a contemporary art gallery showing bold, challenging works. By night it's a multidisciplinary, multicultural performance center, with performance art, prose and poetry readings, folk and new music, jazz, dance, and avant-garde theater. The gallery is open Tuesday–Saturday noon–6.

From October to May, the society presents 60 concerts featuring nationally and internationally known musicians. The schedule is packed with a piano, vocal, and chamber music series, a special-events and jazz series, and string recitals. Performances are held in the Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and at other locations in the city.

Considered one of the world's best symphony orchestras, the Philadelphia Orchestra is overseen by the effervescent Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The orchestra's present home is the cello-shaped Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. The 2,500-seat hall is the centerpiece of the performing-arts center at Broad and Spruce Streets—a dynamic complex housed under a glass-vaulted roof. Orchestra concerts during the September–May season are still among the city's premier social events. In summer the orchestra performs at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts.

Across the Delaware River in Camden, New Jersey, the Susquehanna Bank Center programs everything from classical to rock and roll in an adaptable space. Between the outdoor and indoor areas, it can host crowds as large as 25,000, with the indoor facility able to accommodate 7,000.

Philly's primary arena for big rock concerts on par with Bruce Springsteen and Beyoncé, the Wells Fargo is also home to the city's 76ers (NBA) and Flyers (NHL). Regular calendar events also include monster truck shows, professional wrestling, and circus shows.