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Photo: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Showcases a variety of performing arts from chamber music, dance, drama, orchestral, jazz & pop.
The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is a large performing arts venue in the Center City section of Philadelphia. It is located at 300 South Broad Street and the corner of Spruce Street, along the stretch known as the Avenue of the Arts. It is owned and operated by The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts, which also manages the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, and, since November 2016, the Miller Theater. The center is named after philanthropist Sidney Kimmel.
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The Academy is the oldest grand opera house in the United States still being used for its original purpose. The Academy also provides the Philadelphia area with interesting and popular concerts, ballets, Broadway shows, and other events. Tours of the Academy, focusing on its inspiring history and current renovations, are available by contacting the manager's office.
A subsection of Washington Square West, the Gayborhood is Philadelphia's traditional LGBTQ-friendly area. It covers from about Broad and Walnut about 11th and Pine, and is most strongly associated with 12th and 13th streets, especially from Pine to Walnut. The Gayborhood is comprised of bars, restaurants and other LGBTQ-friendly business, including Giovanni's Room, the oldest operating queer bookstore in the U.S. Popular establishments include Woody's, Pure, and 12th Street Gym. Most straight-owned Gayborhood businesses are friendly to the LGBT community and straights alike regardless of orientation.
Mask and Wig has presented comedy, music, and dancing to the University of Pennsylvania, to Philadelphia and to audiences across the country since 1889 and is a legend amongst Philadelphia theatre-goers. Each spring, Mask and Wig performs a full-length musical comedy at its historic Clubhouse.
The unofficial center of Center City at Broad and Market Street. An architectural masterpiece, built out of stone in the Second Empire style. The building is 548 ft (167 m) tall, topped by a 36 ft bronze statue of William Penn. It remained the tallest building in the city from its construction in 1901 until 1987. There is a paid tour you can go on which takes you to an observation deck in the tower.
America's oldest theatre celebrated its 200th anniversary season in 2009. Shows regularly sell out, and travelers are advised to buy in advance. The theater is a self-producing, non-profit regional theater.
PAFA
A school that has had an impressive roster of artist alumni in the past 200 years, including some of the best-known names in American art. Its museum shows works from past and present PAFA students and faculty, as well as regular special exhibits.