4 Best Performing Arts Venues in Paradise Road and the East Side, Las Vegas

"It's great to see all the big stars of today," you say, "but where in Vegas can I still find an Elvis?" Right here—along with tributes to the likes of Tina Turner, Frank Sinatra, and Selena—in these twin cabaret-sized venues, the 160-seat Athena and 120-seat Pegasus, both at the Alexis Park. The hotel is a 1980s-era non-gaming hotel on a sprawling campus, now geared to the budget traveler and slowly getting a needed facelift. Those who miss the days when Vegas thought a little smaller will dig this throwback, where the seating is cozy with a swanky fern-bar vibe, and tickets are $60 or less for back-to-back productions that start as early as 6 pm.

This sports arena on the corner of the UNLV campus has lost most of its concert action to the Strip. The big tourist draw remains the National Finals Rodeo in December, and it still draws visitors for Runnin' Rebels basketball and related sports activities such as the Mountain West championships. A few stray entertainment attractions such as the Harlem Globetrotters and childrens shows land here as well. The adjacent Cox Pavillion is a smaller venue for women's basketball and the occasional touring children's show.

UNLV's Nevada Conservatory Theatre brings in outside professionals and holds community-wide auditions for four or more productions each academic year, one of them a musical. Most performances are held in the Judy Bayley Theatre on campus and lean toward more challenging titles (The Cherry Orchard, Violet) than the commercial tours visiting the Smith Center.

Once famous as the home base for Elvis Presley, this 1,600-capacity theater (at what was originally the Las Vegas Hilton) regained some of its former profile by luring Barry Manilow out of retirement. Manilow still called the theater home in 2025 even after curtailing his touring. The rest of the calendar is filled in by durable acts such as Air Supply and Stephanie Mills.