In 1957 then ASU President Grady Gammage called on famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright to help create a unique auditorium for the university. Originally Wright had the design that would eventually become Gammage Auditorium in mind for Baghdad, Iraq but ended up placing the opera house in Tempe instead. The 3,000-seat performance hall is 80 feet tall and measures 300 by 250 feet, flanked on either side by giant pedestrian bridges. The construction of the $2.46 million building – the only public building Wright designed in the state of Arizona – took 25 months and was completed in September 1964. The multifunctional auditorium can be used for opera, musical and dramatic productions, symphony concerts and lectures. And today, Arizona State University's Gammage is one of the largest university-based presenters of performing arts in the world.
South Florida has tons of venues for theater and live music: for the most part, they’re run of the mill. Not the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. Situated directly on the beautifully landscaped riverwalk portion of the New River, the Broward Center screams elegance before you even enter the door. And then you head in: high ceilings, fancy lighting, and newly renovated theaters. The decor will definitely help you to at least, somewhat justify the high ticket prices.
Known (and beloved, at least if you liked being outdoors in the summer heat) at various points throughout its two decade lifespan as both Cricket Wireless Pavilion and Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion before settling on its current moniker of Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre in January 2023, this 20,000-seat outdoor venue in west Phoenix hosts huge touring concerts, especially during the, er, warmer months of the year.
After five years as the Wells Fargo Theatre, the 5,000-seat theater at the Colorado Convention Center was renamed the Bellco Theatre near the end of 2012. The venue is one of the most technically advanced theaters of its kind and offers outstanding acoustics for concerts, lectures, general sessions and family spectaculars.
The Bluebird Theater started hosting live music in 1994, and it didn't take long for the theater, built in 1913, to become one of the city's best midsized venues. With sculpted capitals, restored Victorian-style paintings and a vaulted ceiling, the place is as much a work of art as any of the touring and local bands that grace its stage. The marquee regularly lights up Colfax with some of the most important names in independent music, as well as lauded locals ready to make the leap from clubs to a bigger stage. In 2006, AEG Live took over the room and made significant upgrades to the production aspects of the place.