22 Best Performing Arts Venues in Las Vegas, Nevada

The Sphere has reinvented concert-going—and the Vegas selfie. It's impossible to ignore the 336-foot globe when its external imagery is constantly flashing smiley faces or whimsical animation tailored to the season. But it's what's inside the $2.3 billion venue that's reimagined the arena concert. Imagine big-name acts performing inside a planetarium; the headliner planted on the ground, in front of surrounding video filling nearly your entire range of vision in 18K-resolution clarity. A concert holds more than 18,000 people, but even the worst seats here are more immersive than the nosebleed section of a sports arena. While it's a natural fit for video-oriented stars such as U2, Dead & Company, and producer Anyma, more down-to-earth acts such as the Eagles and Kenny Chesney have started warming up to the place as well. By day (and non-concert evenings), the Sphere struts its stuff in the 50-minute movie Postcards from Earth and a filmed version of U2's debut run.

The 3,800-capacity theater at Fontainebleu geared up in late 2024, looking more to host one- or two-night concert stops rather than resident stars who would return several times per year. Keith Urban and Pitbull signed up for some of the longer runs to give the new venue some traction. Booked by concert giant Live Nation, it has a smaller capacity than venues at Park MGM or Resorts World, and three tiers of seating behind the main floor can be closed off to make the place an even cozier 1,700 capacity. The lack of fixed seating on the floor opens it up to non-performance events including TV and podcast tapings, and "Bleu Buckets," a fan event in conjunction with the NCAA tournament.

Unlike its New York namesake, the Las Vegas Brooklyn Bowl only looks like it was retrofitted from an old warehouse. It was actually built from the ground up in 2014 as an anchor for The LINQ outdoor retail plaza. The Las Vegas location copies and expands upon the original by surrounding its concert space with 32 bowling lanes and food outlets offering fried chicken and other goodies from the Blue Ribbon group. Live concert acts such as Gary Clark Jr. and Artemas share the calendar with DJ-themed nights catering to the Strip's service industry or big events that are in town. Most of the concert space is standing-room only, so arrive early if you want a shot at the limited seating without paying for VIP upgrades.

The Cosmopolitan's 40,000-square-foot venue is elegantly trimmed but a versatile bare box in its layout. The floor can offer seating or general-admission standing room, wrapped by a gallery of limited fixed seating, five rows deep, and an in-between area that can be either bleacher seating or more standing room. It usually hosts smaller-capacity concerts for 2,000 or more, with comedians Chelsea Handler and Daniel Tosh among the 2025 attractions.

The $95-million theater invented the current model for concert residencies when it was built for Celine Dion in 2003. More recently the 4,300-seater was remodeled to be more versatile and allow general-admission space up front for younger-skewing acts. A new video system and VIP booth areas were added in time for the much-touted Adele residency. Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton staked out 2025 dates alongside Colosseum veterans Jerry Seinfeld and Rod Stewart. The two balconies can seem distant from the ridiculously wide 120-foot stage, but a huge video screen improves the views, and the sound system is impeccable.

Magic maestro David Copperfield dominates the schedule at what was once known as the Hollywood Theatre at the MGM Grand. The old-Vegas booths are cool, but at least half the crowd of 700 or so is packed into tight table seating. It's not very comfortable, but the sight lines are decent and the sound quality is good in a room that is, oddly, about the only part of the MGM that hasn't been remodeled since the early 1990s.

MGM Resorts tore down the Monte Carlo's old showroom to build this flexible venue (which opened as the Park Theater) that furthers the Strip's drift to big-name concert stars. It can hold up to 6,000 people for concerts, but it also hosts boxing and mixed martial arts. Mariah Carey, Maroon 5, and Motley Crue were among the 2025 highlights. Unlike most of these venues, the lobby with its elegant furnishings and picture windows is a place you don't mind hanging out before the show.

No one should question Donny Osmond's work ethic, showmanship or even his self-awareness about the highs and lows of a long career. How long? The "self aware" part made news in early 2025 when, thanks to what he calls "some mind-blowing AI and CGI technology," the 67-year-old promised a stage duet with his 14-year-old teen-idol self from 1972. No matter what year it is, Osmond exemplifies the "down front" entertainer who covers everything from his child star days in the 1960s to his credible attempts to keep up with current musical trends. This old-school Vegas showcase also includes dancers and production visuals, but it's really all about the charisma of a perennial who grew up in front of America and wears his variety training with pride.

Wynn's 1,480-seat "regular" theater—next door to the circular one that hosts Awakening—has quite a history, having hosted everything from Broadway musicals to Garth Brooks's first solo-acoustic residency. Of late it's been the home base for comedians, such as Nate Bargatze, musicians including John Fogerty and Lionel Richie, even daredevil magician David Blaine. Most of the seats are on the floor, but there's a 12-row mezzanine.

The Las Vegas branch of this chain books one-night concerts that tend to skew toward hard-rock and edgier fare the larger theaters tend to avoid. That said, Carlos Santana became somewhat branded with the room, and continued with some dates in 2025 after more than 300 shows there. As with other branches, rustic folk art covers the walls and the Gospel Brunch is a Sunday staple. This one differs from other locations, however, in having a balcony level with reserved theater seating along with the general-admission floor that accommodates about 1,200.

T-Mobile Arena is now the top dog for concert acts, but home games for the Vegas Golden Knights still require a lot of big concerts and some sporting events to move over to the MGM Grand Garden. It seats as many as 17,000 depending upon the configuration. But the lack of a second deck of seating means more quality seating without being tucked under overhangs when the likes of Tyler the Creator or Alejandro Fernandez play there.  Now that MGM properties charge for parking, remember the Grand Garden is easily accessed by the MGM monorail stop for those on the east side of the Strip.

This 12,000-seat arena (formerly the Mandalay Bay Events Center) has yielded the big concerts to T-Mobile Arena and become more of a sports venue after a $10 million upgrade, including new seats. It's the home court for the WNBA team Las Vegas Aces, who won the championship in 2022. Other pro sports such as tennis and concerts by the likes of J Balvin fill in during the Aces' off-season stretches. Mandalay Bay also has a great outdoor venue, Mandalay Beach, set up for general-admission concerts in the hotel's lushly landscaped pool and beach area. Both a monorail and retail mall connect Mandalay Bay to Luxor and Excalibur, so if you have to drive to a show, parking at either hotel makes for an easier post-concert escape than the Mandalay garage.

The Orleans Arena plays to locals with such family favorites as ice shows and touring children's productions, along with sports events such as the WCC Basketball Championship.When it comes to the occasional concert act, the 9,500-seat arena settles for the Strip arenas' hand-me-downs, but has much cheaper beer.

A superwide stage (originally designed to lure TV production) highlights this 800-seat room slightly west of the Strip, which draws a mix of locals and visitors. It hosts the type of headliners who play tribal casinos around the country, Tracy Byrd and Jeffrey Osborne among them.

The 7,000-seat concert hall was the first on the Strip when it was built as the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts in 1976. Now, it's the only part of the original Aladdin to survive the conversion into Planet Hollywood. It was remodeled in 2013 to host Britney Spears. To create more of a club vibe, a VIP area and two general-admission standing-room areas were added down front. The 2025 calender included durable ventriloquist Jeff Dunham and classic rockers the Scorpions. The balcony isn't used for a lot of the shows, bringing capacity down to a cozier 4,500. 

This 5,000-seat theater feels grand and spacious, claiming to have the largest and tallest performance stage on the Strip. It has both a mezzanine and an upper balcony, but uses 265 speakers to reach them. The theater and its rotating list of headliners (including Janet Jackson and comedian Kevin Hart) are the true stars at Resorts World, which has no other show venues (aside from bands playing inside its Dawg House Saloon). Pit bosses might debate the merits of a unique feature of the layout: uniquely in Las Vegas, you can go straight to the theater—"turning left" past the front door—without passing through the casino.

The Golden Nugget's upstairs cabaret room is a comfortable movie theater–style layout with 600 roomy seats. In recent years, impressionist Gordie Brown has anchored the venue on Thursdays and Saturdays, leaving the rest of the week for one-night concert acts which typically play tribal casinos around the country: anyone from Grand Funk Railroad to Tommy James and the Shondells.

This stylish, 400-seat showroom is a throwback to old Vegas with its coziness and tables-and-booth seating. Visitors are likely to be surrounded by locals for name comedians, tribute acts, or veteran musical acts, typical of those that play tribal casinos elsewhere in the country.

The 20,000-seat, $375 million arena opened in 2016 and instantly became the home of top-tier concerts and sporting events such as UFC fights and select Las Vegas Aces games. It's the first Las Vegas arena built with 50 luxury boxes. Concerts have to be booked around home games by the arena's resident team, the Vegas Golden Knights, the National Hockey League expansion team that went all the way to the Stanley Cup finals in its debut season of 2017–18. Pre- and post-game fun can be found at the bars and eateries in front of the arena, between New York-New York and Park MGM.

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.

Built for a six-year run of Phantom of the Opera and appropriately designed like a European opera house, this 1,800-seat theater has since hosted a variety of short-term and weekend performers. It's an ornate setting for classic rockers such as Chicago and Styx, which have become the theater's mainstays. Even the top balcony seats and views are fine, though a bit of a stair climb unless you use the elevator.

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.