16 Best Performing Arts Venues in New York City, New York

Completed in 1861, occupying an entire city block, this Gothic-style brick building is now an arts center but was originally the headquarters, foot 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 Tiffany- and White-designed Veterans Room and the building's facade. 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. A 75-minute walking tour visits the first-floor period rooms, the drill hall, and part of the second floor; buy tickets in advance.

Renamed

The 92nd Street Y, New York—92NY, for short—this grand 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 92NY's freshly renovated 904-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, scientists, medical experts, political pundits, and media bigwigs (many events are live streamed and archived online). Film programs, arts-and-crafts workshops, and family-friendly events are also worth checking out.

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 daily except Sunday and before shows) to learn more about the famous hall's history through its archival treasures, or join an insider's guided tour (available most days; $20 for adults).

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.

Although Symphony Space runs an energetic roster of classical, jazz, international, and other kinds of music, it also excels with other kinds of arts programming. On the literary front, its two halls—the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre and the Leonard Nimoy Thalia—host a celebrated roster of events including Bloomsday on Broadway, the Thalia Book Club, and the famed Selected Shorts series (stories read by prominent actors and produced as a podcast and radio show on National Public Radio). There's also a popular comedy series, Uptown Showdown, as well as Performance in HD screenings—from the National Theatre Live, Royal Shakespeare Company, and Royal Opera House—and Secret Science Club North science talks. Plays, films, and "Thalia Docs" (usually true-to-their-roots art-house screenings) round out the programming.

Designed by master architect Philip Johnson and considered one of the world's top theaters for dance, the David H. Koch Theater is the home of the formidable New York City Ballet ( www.nycballet.com), which has a roster of more than 90 dancers, a 62-piece orchestra, and an unmatched repertory of modern masterpieces, including landmark works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Peter Martins. NYCB performs at the theater for 21 weeks each year, including fall, winter, and spring repertory seasons, with Thanksgiving through New Year’s devoted to the annual production of Balanchine's The Nutcracker. The theater also hosts other internationally famous dance troupes throughout the year, as well as White Light Festival performances.

In 1997, Disney refurbished the elaborate 1903 art nouveau New Amsterdam Theatre, where Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Fred Astaire, and the Ziegfeld Follies once drew crowds. The Lion King ruled here for the first nine years of its run, followed by Mary Poppins. These days the theater is home to long-running Aladdin.

The New York Botanical Garden’s Holiday Train Show is one of the city’s top seasonal attractions, especially for families. It runs from the mid-November through mid-January, and you’ll find electric trains, more than 150 miniature replicas of city landmarks (made out of twigs and bark), and magical landscapes—all housed in a conservatory, so winter weather can’t dampen your spirits.

This pristine, wood-lined theater on the NYU campus supports emerging artists, with interesting dance, music, and theater events, often in collaboration with international companies. Conferences and a speaker series featuring prominent cultural figures round out the calendar, which also includes many family-friendly events.

Marionettes have been used to enact classic children's stories like The Tortoise and the Hare, Alice in Wonderland, and The Wizard of Oz at this storefront theater since 1990. A friendly puppeteer preps the young audience on theater etiquette before each show. Afterward, theater education continues with a Q&A. Performances are twice a day on weekends only; call or email for reservations.

Built for vaudeville in 1928, this classic theater is still going strong nearly a century later, with a mix of classic movie screenings, stand-up comedy, educational theater performances for kids and teens, and music concerts catering to the Gen X and older crowd—or anyone who enjoys '70s soul, '80s yacht rock, and the likes of Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, or Beatles cover bands. Without a performance, the building's interior design still dazzles; the theater is a mix of Spanish and Italian baroque styles, with paintings and murals throughout, as well as tiled fountains.

Vibrant original musicals for family audiences are performed by a cast of talented kids (ages 8–18). Most shows are on weekends, and children's tickets start at reasonable prices.

The longest-operating performance venue in Lower Manhattan, the TriBeCa PAC celebrates theater, music, and dance, including children's and young-adult theater. Along with global and new-artist programming, the center is primarily known for jazz. Tickets are reasonably priced and the space itself is comfortable and polished.

Brookfield Place, an upscale shopping-and-dining complex across the street from the World Trade Center, provides a showcase for free performing and visual arts programs, including occasional live music, as well as site-specific installations (with an emphasis on commissioned works), poetry readings, film screenings, and more. Events are presented within Brookfield Place's spectacular, 10-story, glass-covered Winter Garden atrium or on its outdoor plaza overlooking the Hudson (weather permitting). In winter, there's an outdoor ice-skating rink, too.