Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts, Louisville, KY, Guide du visiteur et quoi faire à proximité

The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts is Louisville's main downtown performing arts venue, on Main Street close to the Ohio River waterfront. Opened in 1983, it is the home stage for the city's orchestra, opera and ballet, and it also hosts touring Broadway shows and concerts.

The story behind it

Louisville built the Kentucky Center in the early 1980s as part of a push to bring life back to the riverfront end of downtown. It opened in 1983 and gave the city's resident companies a proper home under one roof, including the Louisville Orchestra, Kentucky Opera and Louisville Ballet.

The complex holds several performance spaces of different sizes, from a large main hall for orchestras and touring productions to smaller theatres for more intimate shows. That mix is why the building is busy on so many evenings, and why locals tend to think of it as the city's living room for the arts.

What to look for

• Look at the plaza and entrance area along Main Street, where the building meets the sidewalk and where crowds gather before an evening performance.
• Notice the outdoor public art near the center, including a large sculpture by Joan Miró, which gives the modern exterior a playful touch.
• Check the posters and marquee boards to see which company or touring production is playing, as they show how many different audiences the building serves.
• Glance down the street toward the river, because the center sits within easy walking distance of the waterfront and several of downtown's best-known attractions.

Tips for your visit

• Allow 15 to 20 minutes to look at the exterior and the plaza, or a full evening if you book a performance.
• Go in the early evening if you can, when lights come on and audiences arrive, as the area feels most lively then.
• You can normally enter the building for ticketed performances, so check current opening hours and the event calendar before you plan to go inside.
• Combine it with a walk to nearby downtown sights such as Waterfront Park, the Muhammad Ali Center and the Louisville Slugger Museum.

See it on a quest

The Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows in Downtown, Louisville, KY quest passes the Kentucky Center as one stop on a longer walk through downtown. You reach each place on foot, the app tells you about it as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle based on what is in front of you. The mystery theme gives the streets around the center a different feel after dark or in daylight. One ticket covers the whole group, and you can start whenever you like with no guide to meet.