Nightlife

Baltimore is jumping when the sun sets: The Inner Harbor, Federal Hill, Canton, and Mount Vernon have all developed lives after dark.

For major events, check the arts and entertainment sections of the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Post. The free weekly City Paper has very complete listings, down to the smallest bars and clubs. On the Web, try www.baltimorefunguide.com.

Tickets for most major venues are available at the individual box offices or through Ticketmaster (tel. 410/547-SEAT; www.ticketmaster.com).

The Performing Arts

Baltimore has a solid range of resident performing-arts companies, including a nationally recognized symphony, an opera company, a major regional theater, and several local professional theater companies.

Classical Music & Opera

The world-class Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (tel. 410/783-8000; www.bsomusic.org) is led by renowned conductor Marin Alsop. The BSO performs classical and pops concerts at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St. In summer, you'll also find the BSO outside at Oregon Ridge Park, north of the city off I-83. Its Fourth of July concerts are terrific fun. Tickets are $25 to $75.

The Peabody Symphony Orchestra (tel. 410/659-8100; www.peabody.jhu.edu/pso) is one of several performing units of the Peabody Institute of Music; concerts are held in Friedberg Hall, at 1 E. Mount Vernon Place.

The Baltimore Opera (tel. 410/727-6000; www.baltimoreopera.com) presents three operas each year, all with supertitles, at the Lyric Opera House, 110 W. Mount Royal Ave. Acoustics are so good, even spectators in the last row of the balcony will hear every note. Ticket prices range from $45 to $150.

Theater

For entertainment by local professional actors at affordable prices, the Vagabond Players, in Fells Point at 806 S. Broadway (tel. 410/563-9135; www.vagabondplayers.com), stage a variety of classics, contemporary comedies, and dramas. The Fell's Point Corner Theater, 251 S. Ann St. (tel. 410/276-7837; www.fpct.org), presents seven productions a year and is a venue for the annual Baltimore Playwrights Festival.

The city's prominent African-American theater company, Arena Players, 801 McCulloh St., off Martin Luther King Boulevard (tel. 410/728-6500), presents contemporary plays and romantic comedies.

Everyman Theatre, 1727 N. Charles St. (tel. 410/752-2208; www.everymantheatre.org), earns rave reviews for its local Equity productions of classics and new works. It plans to move to the renovated Town Theatre, 315 West Fayette St., in 2009. The Theatre Project, 45 W. Preston St. (tel. 410/752-8558; www.theatreproject.org), presents experimental and avant-garde work.

The Club & Music Scene

Baltimore has a nice variety of small live-performance venues. Major national acts come to the 1st Mariner Arena Baltimore near the Inner Harbor, 201 W. Baltimore St. (tel. 410/347-2020; www.baltimorearena.com), Pier Six Concert Pavilion at the Inner Harbor, 731 Eastern Ave. (www.piersixpavilion.com), and Rams Head Live at Power Plant Live, 20 Market Place (tel. 410/244-1131; www.ramsheadlive.com). Get tickets at www.ticketmaster.com for 1st Mariner Arena and at Rams Head Live for Pier Six and Rams Head.

Power Plant Live, a mix of restaurants and bars, is a short walk from the Inner Harbor, at Water Street and Market Place. It packs in young singles, especially on weekend nights, who come for Babalu, a Cuban grill with salsa music; Havana Club, a cigar bar; Howl at the Moon, a rock-'n'-roll piano bar; and Mosaic Lounge, as well as Rams Head Live.

A number of clubs welcome smaller touring acts and local performers, from rock to jazz to folk.

The Gay & Lesbian Scene

For a complete listing of nightspots, check out Gay Life, published by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center of Baltimore (tel. 410/837-5445; www.glccb.org), and www.outinbaltimore.com. Below are some longtime community favorites.