7 Best Performing Arts Venues in Rochester, The Finger Lakes

Touring Broadway shows and occasional musical performances are mounted at the Auditorium Theatre.

The two-day event, held the weekend after the July 4th weekend, brings more than 200,000 people to one of Rochester's oldest neighborhoods to browse works by more than 400 artists and crafters and to partake in the food and live entertainment.

The 535-seat Dryden Theatre, on the grounds of the George Eastman House, shows classic, art-house, and foreign films most nights at 8 pm, with matinees on Sunday. It also hosts several film festivals each year.

The Eastman School of Music hosts frequent visiting and student performers—mostly classical—throughout the school year.

The world-renowned Garth Fagan Dance, a modern-dance troupe, is based here but spends most of the time touring.

Geva Theatre Center, the city's leading professional theater for resident shows and the largest regional theater in the state, presents about seven shows a year on its 552-seat Mainstage space. Its 180-seat Nextstage theater mounts edgier, more experimental productions.

The art-deco Little Theatre shows art-house and foreign films on five screens and also hosts movie festivals. The café is a destination in itself, with live jazz and sweets that make you forget about buckets of popcorn.