The venue is attractive however it is aged and in much need of renovation. The walls need repairing. The bathroom had stall issues with toilet as well the stall doors. Seating can tricky depending on your seat placement. However the Nutcracker performance was beautiful and professional. read more

See all

A great venue with a nice story of support from the Miller family. Being from New Jersey we usually end up going into NYC for most entertainment events. Jim Brickman's holiday concert brought us out Allentown way and though it is more miles on the car it is certainly easier (and actually quicker) to get to. Can you say free parking? (At least for the event we went to) Not going to find that in NYC! Whatever your taste do not forget about the western possibilities (assuming you live in New Jersey) when looking to see your favorite performers. read more

It was the best of venues yet it was the worst of venues. That in a nutshell describes Symphony Hall. This place is almost worthy of two separate reviews. One about the building, acoustics, sightlines, seating and parking and one for the quality of the talent that is booked in here. On one hand you've got a grand old 1,200 seat theatre which dates back to 1896 that has seen everything from speeches by Booker T. Washington, Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson to George Burns and burlesque shows. The pitch on some of the seats upstairs is a bit on the steeper side but there is truly not a bad seat in the house and acoustically things sound great after the renovations in 2006 added a new acoustical shell. Parking is a breeze on the newish deck at the Allentown Transportation Center on 6th Street across from the Morning Call or you could try your luck on the street since the meters stop at 6pm. (Even though the area is hella shady.) That's the good stuff. Here's the bad stuff. The dining scene before a show is bad. There are only four or five places to choose from and a few like Sangria and the Cosmopolitan are grossly overpriced. But the biggest and most damning issue is what's booked into the place. Since they have no agreement with Live Nation or some other promoter with real muscle and the area is increasingly flooded with concert venues, most of the things that are booked her are either niche and wonkish or are crap. For every nice get like the Tedeschi/Trucks Band they book too many cover bands, way too much classical to be relevant along with a bunch of C-list and D-list jazz acts and kids programming. I would love to come here more often but personally there is little that I find interesting and the few things I do, like Tower of Power in 2011, usually seem to be horribly under-promoted by the venue and by BRE which naturally leads to a poor turnout. I hope they can find a way to make things better here but considering that they are up against venues in Bethlehem and Easton that each spend way more to advertise then they do while all trying to book the same acts, I can't see how Symphony Hall will ever be any better than 3rd fiddle behind the State Theatre and Steel Stacks. read more

Welcome to another edition of "Candi is oblivious to the wonderful things that surround her in the LV." Lived here almost 5 years and had no clue that we had the Symphony Orchestra in town! Between Linden & Hamilton on 6th, there's plenty of parking in the area. On weekends during events at Symphony Hall, they even offer free parking in the Allentown Transportation Center garage (just a half a block down 6th). Just make sure to come early since the garage can get a little backed up. The will call line was pretty long 30 minutes before the show, but a gal came out of the office and was handing out the K-Z tickets. So what appeared to be a long wait was only about 5 minutes. The space itself was beautiful! With a renovation done about a decade ago, you even get a fairly comfortable seat to enjoy it with. Our seats were about five rows back from the mezz front from the left side and we had a great view. However, I think you'd have a great view even from the "nosebleed" seats in the balcony. The venue is fairly small and the angle of the seating makes for not a lot of "head blockage." Our viewing of Carmen was very nice. Perhaps a bit short (only 2 hours), but the leads were excellent and the symphony orchestra behind them was very good. Intermission had a nice snack break with reasonably priced drinks & snacks. My husband's company is a sponsor of the ASO, so we were invited to a reception afterwards on the 3rd floor in the Rodale Community Room. Whoever their caterer is, I must get their number, as the food was very good. The bar service was friendly & efficient. It was nice to meet some of the Carmen singers & the orchestra members, and the new wing is a wonderful space for education & meetings. I'm hoping to get downtown for a few of the jazz nights soon! read more

While I appreciate the unique quality of this theater, and the cozyness factor it had, not to mention the lavish old-fashioned bathrooms, do NOT sit in the nosebleed section in this theater! If you ever have any issues with vertigo or motion sickness, you will not be happy in these seats. I got a headache, and felt nauseous from having to look ALL THE WAY DOWN to the stage to see the featured singers. I am also pretty tall for my age (5'11"), and these chairs were TINY. I felt pretty claustrophobic, which is not something I tend to experience. Not only are the seat backs super short, but the bottoms felt even narrower than airline seats, and that's saying something! To remedy this issue of extreme discomfort, I got a beer, and the usher was nice enough to offer me a tall chair behind the seat section. Once I modified my seating arrangements (unfortunately I had to sit behind everyone, so I wasn't able to sit with my parents), the experience was much better, though next time I go to that theater, I'm sitting closer to the stage! read more

We had a great evening and loved the show. The venue is beautiful and historic and in really good shape. We had orchestra seats and the acoustics seemed really good and certainly not too loud. The seats were comfortable but old school but fit in well if a bit tight for some. The bathrooms were small but well kept. The location was good with easy parking. read more

See all

Please please please book better talent. Please. The masses who have money and would pay to see better shows are not showing up for your tired gigs. You've got the parking, venue, booze, surrounding restaurants. Just book better. read more

Miller Symphony Hall is simply a gem! The hall itself is beautiful, very tasteful and classy. It is a pleasure to just be there - everything, including the bathroom facilities is clean, spacious, and comfortable. My family, friends, and myself - we loved every performance we have seen there. The orchestra performances are very high quality, the King's Singers show was unforgettable, Mummenschanz - absolutely adorable, and what a great competition concert they put together with the Allentown Art Museum, featuring the composers that based their pieces on the Museum's works of art and putting a twist on Mussorgsky's Pictures at an exhibition! I feel that MSH has very unique projects to offer and humbly serves all of the Lehigh Valley's community. I highly recommend their productions and personally, like the atmosphere there better than at Steele Stacks or the State Theater of Easton. read more

Beautiful space, part of the true revitalization of Allentown. They get some really great acts in, and have smaller jazz nights. Check it out. read more

I saw Chris Cornell here... who knew Allentown had such a gem? Something about seeing live music in a beautifully restored Symphony music makes me want to drink my beer with my pinky out. The acoustics were good and I doubt there was a bad seat in the house. The venue is pretty small and even my Mezzanine seats allowed for a fantastic view of the stage... definitely worth checking out. read more

This is the first chance I've gotten to offer this review, it's a bit late, but certainly food for thought & very necessary for you to know. On Sat., Dec. 1, 2018 I attended the "Holiday" performance of Sal Valentineti. He was WONDERFUL! Our entire group had a great time, his voice, stage presence, appearance...all just fantastic! He & all his musicians in dark suits, white shirts, ties...so elegant & professional!!! Now I come to my 2 star rating. This has NOTHING to do with the show..only the theater. SHAME ON YOU! You book this wonderful "Holiday" show & the stage is totally BARE! Not even a fake, potted, poinsettia on the stage. NOTHING! And a drab, dull, dark curtain at the back, the awful PLATFORMS for Sal's musicians...bare wooden boxes, 6 inches off the floor! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES!!! And for the record...I am not alone in my opinion...at intermission, as well as after the performance, MANY, MANY people had the very same comments! read more