Plays, Musicals, and Dance

Whether you prefer Broadway shows or classical dance, you'll find plenty of choices in Austin. Listed below are the main live performance venues in town. Check websites for schedules, tickets, and information.

Paramount and Stateside Theatres
The historic Paramount and Stateside Theatres downtown are among Austin's most popular live performance venues. The Paramount Theatre, built in 1915 in the classical revival style, is a piece of history in its own right and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It offers Broadway plays, ballet, and children's plays, as well as local productions and films.

The Stateside Theatre, built in 1935, is adjacent to the Paramount and offers the same types of performances in a more intimate setting.

Click here for a map, or visit the events calendar to see what's playing this month and purchase tickets.

Zilker Hillside Theater
Zilker Hillside Theater in Zilker Park has for over 50 years been the setting for great, free concerts, plays, musicals, and other artistic performances for the Austin community.

Austin Lyric Opera
Austin Lyric Opera presents operatic performances that attain the highest artistic standards and enrich the cultural lives of people in Austin and central Texas.

Austin Playhouse
Founded in 2000, Austin Playhouse is Austin's professional regional theater professional theatre that produces a year-round season of comedies, dramas, and musicals.

Hyde Park Theatre
Hyde Park Theatre gives performances of alternative theatre by local artists, writers, directors, and actors.

Ballet Austin
Ballet Austin gives performances of its "classically innovative" style of ballet with professional dancers recruited from around the country.

Broadway Shows by Texas Performing Arts
The University of Texas Performing Arts presents live Broadway shows here in Austin at the Bass Concert Hall. Past shows have included the Austin premieres of The Lion King, Wicked, Jersey Boys, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and many others.

Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Austin

Since 1976, the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Austin has staged public performances of Gilbert & Sullivan works and selections from other operatic and theater compositions. Those who love "laughing song and merry dance" should consider attending a GSSA performance, most of which are free of charge.

View part of the GSSA's performance of The Merryman and His Maid:




Ariel Dance Theatre

Founded in 1993 by Andrea Ariel, Ariel Dance Theatre combines actors, performance artists, videographers and filmmakers, sculptors, composers, singers, and computer graphics to create performances that reflect life's experiences in movement, images, and original music. The theatre is supported in part by the Texas Commission on the Arts and by the City of Austin Economic Development Department/Cultural Arts Division.

View some performances by the Ariel Theatre:








NOTE: For a calendar of plays, musicals, and other theater events in Austin, visit www.austin-theater.com.

---

Return to Austin activities page

Return to Austin Texas Insider