30 Best Performing Arts in Portland, Oregon

The 2,776-seat Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, built in 1928 in an Italian rococo revival style, hosts rock concerts, choral groups, lectures, and concerts by the Oregon Symphony and others. "The Schnitz," as locals call it, is one of the venues that make up the Portland'5 Centers for the Arts umbrella organization.

Built in 1927, the stunningly restored, eminently quirky Bagdad Theater shows first-run Hollywood films on a huge screen and serves pizza, burgers, sandwiches, and McMenamins ales. The Bagdad is a local favorite.

A landmark movie theater that showed silent films when it opened in 1926, the not-for-profit Hollywood Theatre screens everything from obscure foreign art films to old American classics and second-run Hollywood hits, and hosts an annual Academy Awards viewing party. It also hosts a slew of film series and festivals.

Established in 1896, the symphony is Portland's largest classical group—and one of the largest orchestras in the country. Its season officially starts in September and ends in May, with concerts held at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, but throughout the summer the orchestra and its smaller ensembles can be seen at Waterfront Park and Washington Park for special outdoor summer performances. It also presents about 40 classical, pop, children's, and family concerts each year.

Housed in a handsomely restored 1891 armory, Portland Center Stage puts on around 10 contemporary and classic works on two stages in the LEED-certified green building between September and June. These are first-rate productions with exceptional onstage and behind-the-scenes talents.

The city's top performing arts complex hosts opera, ballet, rock shows, symphony performances, lectures, and Broadway musicals in its five venues: the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, the Keller Auditorium, and the three-in-one Antoinette Hatfield Hall, which comprises the Brunish, Newmark, and Winningstad theaters. The majority of the region's top performing companies call these venues home, including the Portland Opera, the Oregon Symphony, the Oregon Ballet Theatre, the Oregon Children's Theatre, and the Portland Youth Philharmonic.

Home to the Portland Center for Performing Arts, this hall contains Dolores Winningstad, Newmark, and Brunish theaters and is across the street from the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

With a reputation for commissioning and staging new work by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwrights, this celebrated theater company performs seven to nine productions a year including regional premieres and classics. The company currently stages its productions at Portland Center Stage's Ellyn Bye Studio, while it awaits construction of a new state-of-the-art theater at 1515 S.W. Morrison Street, which is slated to open in late 2023.

Led by Emmy Award–winning choreographers, BodyVox performs energetic contemporary dance–theater works at its state-of-the-art space in the Pearl District.

Some of the most sought-after soloists, chamber musicians, and recording artists from the Portland area and abroad perform here during the five-week summer concert series; performances take place at four different venues, primarily Reed College's Kaul Auditorium and the Lincoln Performance Hall at Portland State University.

An old-school, one-screen movie theater in Nob Hill, Cinema 21 shows independent and foreign films and hosts the annual Portland Queer Film Festival in October.

One of Portland's most outstanding innovative theater companies, the Imago specializes in movement-based work for both young and old.

The boutique cinema, which has a lobby restaurant with a full bar, shows 3-D blockbuster, foreign, and independent films in, true to its name, living-room-like theaters furnished with spacious seats and movable couches and tables. You can dine and drink from your seat.

First opened in 1987, the Mission Theater was the first McMenamins brew theater. It shows recent Hollywood hits, art films, and cult classics—as well as hosts live musical performances.

This 20,000-seat facility is home to the Portland Trail Blazers basketball team and the site of other sporting events and rock concerts. It's right on the MAX light rail line, just across from Downtown.

This long-running company presents four shows during its fall–spring season, geared to both the toddler and teen set. Starting in 2023, performances will be staged in a new permanent space, The Judy.

Founded in 2004, this first-rate contemporary-dance company performs several shows—typically including a world premiere or two—each season at different venues around town, including its 8,500-square-foot headquarters, the Creative Center + Studio, and also Downtown's Newmark Theatre and the Reser Center in Beaverton.

This respected company produces several classical and contemporary works a year, including a much-loved holiday Nutcracker. Most performances are at Keller Auditorium and the Newmark Theatre.

This kid-centric company puts on around six shows a year for school groups and families at Downtown's Newmark and a few other venues around the city.

Located adjacent to and operated by the Portland Art Museum, PAM CUT (Center for an Untold Tomorrow) screens art films, documentaries, and independent features, and presents festivals, workshops, and other cinema-related events.

The city's baroque group performs music composed before 1840 on period instruments in a season that runs October to April. Performances are held at Reed College's Kaul Auditorium, First Baptist Church, and Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.

This well-respected opera company performs five or six productions a year, most of them Downtown at Keller Auditorium or the Newmark Theatre, but also occasionally across the river at the Hampton Opera Center.

This 756-seat concert space at Reed College hosts the Portland Baroque Orchestra, Chamber Music Northwest, and Portland Gay Men's Chorus, among other groups.

This spacious theater holds about 1,400 people (standing-room only except for the 21+ balcony seating area), primarily stages rock, alternative, and blues shows, plus occasional comedians. Legends like Miles Davis and Prince have performed here, and more recent acts have included Hot Chip, Ingrid Michaelson, and Cat Power.

This talented rep company performs five often edgy, sometimes dark, and typically funny plays, dividing its fall–spring season between the Winningstad Theatre (part of Portland'5 Centers for the Arts) and the CoHo Theater in Nob Hill.

For tickets to most events, call Ticketmaster or book online.

Tickets to many Portland shows are available from TicketsWest.

This 12,000-seat venue on the MAX light-rail line serves as home to the WHL Winterhawks and books more than 150 events a year, including rock groups, touring shows, the Ringling Brothers circus, ice-skating extravaganzas, and sporting events.

One of the nation's premier blues gatherings, the four-day Waterfront Blues Festival, a benefit for the Oregon Food Bank, has been drawing big crowds and big names in blues over the July 4 weekend since 1987. Past performers have included Keb' Mo', Susan Tedeschi, Johnny Winter, and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings.

Since its founding in 1997, White Bird Dance has been dedicated to bringing exciting local, regional, national, and international dance performances to Portland stages including the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and the Newmark Theatre.