The Performing Arts

With Beale Street forming the heart of the city's nightclub scene, it seems appropriate that Memphis's main performance hall, the Orpheum Theatre, would be located here also. A night out at the theater can also include a visit to a blues club after the show.

Classical Music, Opera & Ballet

Although blues and rock 'n' roll dominate the Memphis music scene, the city also manages to support a symphony, an opera, and a ballet. The symphony performs, and big-name performers and lecturers often appear, at the brand-new, 2,100-seat Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, 255 N. Main St. (tel. 800/726-0915; www.thecannoncenter.com), adjacent to the downtown center. Another of the city's premier performing-arts venues is the Orpheum Theatre, 203 S. Main St. (tel. 901/525-3000; www.orpheum-memphis.com), which was built in 1928 as a vaudeville hall. The ornate, gilded plasterwork on the walls and ceiling give this theater the elegance of a classic opera house and make this the most spectacular performance hall in the city.

In addition to performing at the Cannon Center, the orchestra also occasionally performs at other venues, including the suburban Germantown Performing Arts Center and outdoor concerts at the lovely Dixon Gallery and Gardens. The extremely popular Sunset Symphony, an outdoor extravaganza held on the banks of Tom Lee Park overlooking the Mississippi River each year as part of the Memphis in May International Festival, is always a highlight of the symphony season and one of the city's definitive Memphis experiences. The Memphis Symphony box office is at 3100 Walnut Grove Rd. (tickets $10-$75).

Opera Memphis (tel. 901/678-2706; www.operamemphis.org) also performs at both the Orpheum and Cannon Center, annually staging three or four operas (tickets $20-$70). The company, which for 50 years has been staging the best of classical opera and innovative new works for appreciative Memphis audiences, also has built a reputation for its extensive educational outreach program.

Ballet Memphis (tel. 901/763-0139; www.balletmemphis.org), widely regarded as the city's crown jewel of performing arts groups, performs at both the Orpheum and Cannon Center (tickets $15-$60). For sentimentalists, the highlight of each season is the annual holiday performance of The Nutcracker, but exciting world premieres and contemporary dance works also rate high priority on the company's mission.

Theater

Memphis has a relatively well-developed theater scene with numerous opportunities to attend live stage productions around the city. Theatre Memphis, 630 Perkins Rd. Extended (tel. 901/682-8323; www.theatrememphis.org), is a commendable community theater that's been around for more than 75 years. Located on the edge of Audubon Park, it has garnered regional and national awards for excellence. There are two stages here -- a 435-seat main theater that does standards, and a 100-seat, black-box theater known as Next Stage (tickets $8-$25), where less mainstream productions are staged.

Staging productions of a higher artistic caliber are two sister theaters in Midtown, Circuit Playhouse, 1705 Poplar Ave. (tel. 901/726-4656), and the Playhouse on the Square, 51 S. Cooper St. (tel. 901/726-4656. Another theater, TheatreWorks, 2085 Monroe St. (tel. 901/274-7139; www.playhouseonthesquare.org) also puts on various productions.

These are the only professional theaters in Memphis, and between them they stage about 25 productions each year. Off-Broadway plays are the rule at the Circuit Playhouse (with the occasional premiere), while at the Playhouse on the Square, Broadway-worthy dramas, comedies, and musicals; TheatreWorks stages more daring works, such as Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Quills in its 2003-04 season (tickets $12-$26).

Other Venues

Rising 32 stories above the waters of the Mississippi River, the Pyramid, 1 Auction Ave., at the north end of downtown (tel. 901/526-5177; www.pyramidarena.com), is far and away the most distinctive building in Memphis and one of the most distinctive arenas anywhere in the United States. For the time being it is the city's main arena and where the University of Memphis Tigers basketball team plays. It is also the site of rock concerts and other large-scale performances and events. All of that is about to change, however, when the FedEx Forum (now under construction near Beale Street) opens in 2004. Though the venue will be home to the NBA Memphis Grizzlies team, other big-name touring acts are likely to book the coliseum as well.

Germantown and East Memphis are the wealthiest areas of metropolitan Memphis these days, so it isn't surprising that the modern Germantown Performing Arts Center, 1801 Exeter Rd., Germantown (tel. 901/757-7256; www.gpacweb.com), manages to schedule many of the same touring companies and performers that appear downtown at the Orpheum. The center also serves as a home base for a chamber orchestra, known as Iris, conducted by Michael Stern, son of the late violinist Isaac Stern.

From late spring through early fall, Memphians frequently head outdoors for their concerts, and the Mud Island Amphitheatre, 125 N. Front St. (tel. 800/507-6507 or 901/576-7241), is where they head most often. With the downtown Memphis skyline for a backdrop, the 5,000-seat Mud Island Amphitheatre is the city's main outdoor stage. The concert season includes many national acts with the emphasis on rock and country music concerts. Though the monorail usually runs only during the summer months, outside of summer it runs here on concerts evenings.