We selected this beautiful venue for our wedding reception for several reasons…read more This venue offers a blank canvas to allow a bride, groom or party planner the ability to paint and design your vision into a reality. You are permitted to select any vendors, rental equipment, bartenders and other support staff for this venue. We loved this! We worked with Sarah Cowing, Production Coordinator for the planning, contract issuance, billing, etc. majority of the questions we had. She provided any restrictions and other particulars regarding the venue along the way. She was point for vendors deliveries too. She remained on site during our rental period and setup the day before; monitoring and helping as needed ensuring all rules were followed. She also helped with chairs, provided carts and other direction as needed. We were grateful for the Flex Time she permitted during setup. Thanks a bunch! Mr. Phil Irvin: We cannot say enough great things about Mr Irvin. He was an absolute star! We were so glad he was assigned to be our onsite contact for the day of! He was also our point at the final walk through and was there to answer any questions we had about the layout. He was everything to us the day of our wedding reception. He was extremely knowledgeable and ensured everything flowed smoothly! He gave us ideas, received all vendors, studied and ensured our itinerary was followed, made sure the parking was managed, ensured the wedding party was escorted in without guests seeing us, made sure we were fed upon arrival from wedding photos, and remained at our side as the bride and groom the entire night! Guided clean you name it. He quickly worked with our points to resolve any issues that arose. We were soo thankful for him, his support and services! We could not have done it without him! Sir, you are a gem! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for everything! Everyone echoed the same sentiments! Rules and other helpful info we wanted to share are as following. The price to rent this venue includes tables and chairs (although we rented banquet tables) a wood bar station, warming kitchen and a day of assistant. Our rental included 12 hours plus 1 additional hour for clean up. * Capacity - The venue can seat 200 guests in a dinner-style set up and 300 guests in a cocktail hour style set up * Setup/breakdown - You and your vendors can drop off items the day before your event, but if you want to do any decorating or hold a rehearsal there, they charge an additional hourly rate of $400 ph for the hours you're in the building or $1450.00 for 4 hours. They prefer for your rental time period to be during their business hours with the latest time permitted for rental for a Friday as an example being no later than 4:30pm so staff could be present. They prefer for all personal items to be removed from the building at the end of the night following your event but do make exceptions to hold them until Monday morning if they've been gathered into one area and all food and gifts have been removed. * Dance floors are only permitted if you are renting one. They do not allow anything directly on the floor with tape or glue. Vinyl flooring or anything directly on the floor is not permitted. * They do have restricted items and they will share those with you in your contract. * You will be provided with free access to a social table app to design the room to meet your configuration and they will ensure the tables are setup to meet your specification's. It was the best! We highly recommend this beautiful and vintage venue neatly tucked in the Strip District. We hope that our tips provided can help others in their event planning. Thank you Pittsburgh Opera team! Our reception was an absolute dream!

My husband and I had the opportunity to see Florencia en el Amazonas this past Sunday. Neither of…read moreus had ever been to the Opera before so we really didn't know what to expect. I'm happy to say that the performance exceeded my expectations. It was very easy to pick up our tickets at the box office before the show. Upon entering the Benedum we went to see where our seats were. We were in Orchestra Right Center Row R. They were great seats as it was very easy to read the subtitles at the top of the screen. The performance was well rehearsed and kind of funny in parts. I loved how they made me feel like the boat was actually moving through water on the stage. The orchestra was great and probably never gets enough credit for their hard work. For my first trip to the Opera, I would say it was a success. Great job Pittsburgh Opera!

My family and I love going to shows and the Benedum is one of our favorite venues. We always have…read moresuch a great time together. They keep it up really well and make sure that it is clean for every show. They also keep the chandeliers clean and the paint updated. The ushers are always helpful and the staff at the concessions are nice too. We have seen so many wonderful Broadway Shows and concerts there with so many talented performers. We're so lucky to have such amazing talent and so many amazing shows come to Pittsburgh every year. We're also starting to get some of the most popular and current shows from Broadway. The concerts are so much better there since it's a small venue and most seats are good seats. They have artists from all different genres which is nice too. We have also seen some good comedians there too. If you want to see a good show then you should see it at the Benedum.

All of it ....love the ambiance, the organized effort to seat everyone in an organized fashion…read more Bathrooms are cute... snack stand with drinks. Just perfect and get here on time or early or you have to wait -

Connected to the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History, the Carnegie Music Hall is an…read moreabsolutely gorgeous venue. They do lots of events and weddings, and honestly I can see why it's such a popular space. I attended a lecture by author and Harvard professor Jill Lepore as a part of the Ten Evenings series by Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures, and it was wonderful. GA tickets for the 2nd tier balcony were $15, which is a steal. The view from up there is great-- I truly don't think there's a bad seat in the house. Jill Lepore is an amazing speaker, and she delivered a thoughtful and timely reflection on depictions of America in art throughout history (and somehow managed to squeeze an overview of American history into just 45 minutes). Before the show, snacks, drinks, books, and other goodies were available for purchase in the lobby. After the show Jill Lepore stayed to autograph copies of her book, programs, etc. It was such a great event-- I'll definitely be returning to see Ottessa Moshfegh's lecture in February.

The renovated Hall is wonderful! Seats are comfortable and spaced appropriately for present-day…read morehumans. The Hall still retains all of the elegance of the original. Well done!!!

We are so blessed to have such a talented symphony, multiple world renowned conductors and amazing…read moreguest performers. We have been fortunate enough to have seen all kinds of wonderful performances with the symphony. We have seen everything from movie nights, classical performances, holiday concerts (The Holiday Pops Show, especially when conducted by Byron Strickland is the conductor.) and well known artists singing their greatest hits. They even do fun nights like Tropical Rock. We had a ball at that show. Tonight, we saw our favorite classical performance, Scheherazade. There was a guest conductor from New Zealand who was one of the best we have ever seen. She was so expressive and then highlighted all sections of the symphony and the guest violinist. The guest violinist and the first violinist of our Symphony were phenomenal. It was so well done especially the first song where they used the instruments to mimic rain and bird sounds. It was unbelievable. We were transfixed. If you have the opportunity go see a symphony performance. They are absolutely phenomenal and perform globally.

I've been fortunate enough to catch a few performances by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra now,…read moreand they never fail to blow me away. The musicianship is absolutely world-class; the sheer talent and precision across every section is incredible to witness live. Heinz Hall has a fantastic energy, and whether they are tackling massive classical staples or modern pieces, the quality is always top-tier. Every performance feels like a masterclass.

Okay, so I realize I can't keep calling things best kept secrets because it implies I'm some kind…read moreof secret-holder and I'm totally not. But you guys, Pittsburgh Festival Opera? It's opera overload for a few weeks a year with amazing performers from all over the country. If you have never been to an opera, seriously go. At least once. Tickets are super affordable, the theater is small, and they do stuff in English, so it's not throwing you into an $80 a ticket, Italian epic that's 3.5 hours long. Which, don't get me wrong, I love all of that (except the expense!) But PFO is really non threatening and accessible. I had the pleasure of seeing La Boheme Warhola last night. All I kind of knew was it was an adaptation of la boheme with a 60s Warhol ish feel and that it was in English. They still did supertitles over the stage even though it was in English, which was great. And the actors were amazing. So talented and engaging and irreverent and just excellent. I absolutely loved it. Icing on the cake? Free street parking! Their 2018 season is almost over so seriously get on their mailing list so you'll get the announcements for the 2019 season.

From the owner: Pittsburgh Festival Opera (PFO) presents innovative opera, producing American works,…read morereinterpretations of older works, and new works, for the widest possible audience. Opera Theater focuses on diversity in programming and casting, on crossing boundaries and bringing together talents from all the arts, on encouraging new talent, and on broadening audiences through outreach and education, to create a body of work that is original, entertaining, contemporary and relevant. Summer season now at Winchester Thurston School, 555 Morewood Ave., Pittsburgh 15213. Touring and special events take place at varied venues around the region. See web site for details.

For a city our size, we are so very fortunate to have a professional ballet company and school of…read morethe quality of PBT. The school is wonderful. They have classes that start as early as 18 months (mommy & me) and run all the way through adult fitness classes. The school is divided into several divisions. Children's (the youngest through around age 8), student (8 through around 14), pre professional and graduate. Anyone can participate in the children's division, but you need to audition for placement in the student division. PBT also has an adult fitness/wellness curriculum that has classes like ballet 101 and Pilates. The staff and teachers are absolutely wonderful. They genuinely care about each and every kid (or adult) in their class. PBT as a whole is wonderful as well! They do several mainstage productions a year including the Nutcracker every December. They are always creative, beautiful and just a joy to watch and appreciate the artistry. I especially love when they are productions with the orchestra. Overall, an amazing organization with a wonderful school and great productions.

I have seen the PBT presentation of The Nutcracker several times, but this may have been the last…read morefor me. I enjoy the Pittsburgh references to the story and in the scenery but, really, the hockey-stick-carrying penguin, the rats waving "terrible towels" were a bit strange. As were the "local celebrities" who were given non-speaking, non-dancing (thankfully!) roles as party guests-- why?? What could be next? Pittsburgh Dance Moms in minor roles? Apparently I prefer a more traditional version of The Nutcracker. I missed some of the costumes and dances from the original Balanchine production. I know that some will say that it's predictable and static to do this the same way every year, but when I think of this ballet, it is what I want to see. That being said, the dancers were wonderfully talented and executed their movements perfectly. We are fortunate to have their talent in Pittsburgh!

I saw Jesus Christ Superstar :) it was so great and emotional. The staff was so helpful and the…read moreushers to show everyone to their seats. I even got to meet the cast and some Amazing women from Pittsburgh. I went by myself and I would do it again!! The Theater is close to the stage and very intimate- so whatever seat you get would be great

Beautiful theatre just a little tight on seating and getting in and out of there kind of a crazy…read morecattle chute. The drink/snack setup is hectic at best and unclear as to where lines should start and where to go based on what you want. Not everyone wants alcohol. It is a beautiful venue and holds all the old world charm! Bonus here the garage across the street is $15 meanwhile the Theatre Square garage they have raised to $30 which is ridiculous. Come and check it out. Just know if you prefer space you need end seats and seats in the wings.

I haven't taken a dance class here yet, but I've been to a couple events and they were great! I've…read morealso spoken to a bunch of people that have taken classes here and they love them. The first event I came to was the New Years party. The first couple of hours was partner dancing. You didn't need to bring a partner with you because everyone was really friendly, switching up partners throughout the night. People were willing to help you learn new moves if you don't know how to dance, too. The rest of the night was a free for all and had a fun variety of music to dance to. There were snacks, party favors and a live band. It was a great time! The second event I went to was just this past weekend. It was a 90's trivia night with a cash prize for 1st place and a 6 pack of zima for 2nd place, which fit perfectly into the theme. Everyone was encouraged to dress in their best 90's gear and the space had 90's themed snacks and music. Our team definitely lost, but we still had a good time! After the trivia, it was dance party time! There was a good mix of people of all ages. I would definitely recommend checking out the next event they have. You can tell the owner puts a lot of thought and care into her events.

A really nice place to take dance lessons, I don't think they are as hard-sell as most of the other…read morecommercial dance studios. Their open dances are excellent. The main dance floor is somewhat narrow but has a really nice surface for dancing. The studio offers a wide variety of classes, including West Coast Swing, Argentine Tango, Ballroom, and Swing. Reasonable prices.

I just saw La Clemenza di Tito and I was very impressed. I was initially underimpressed with a…read moresmall auditorium with hard wooden seats and a set that looks like it was cut out of construction paper, but the quality of the musicians was a refreshing surprise. The entire cast was extremely solid and the orchestra was outstanding. As uncomfortable as the seats were, the acoustics in the hall were excellent and neither the voices nor the orchestra were overpowering from where I sat. If you go, take a seat cushion, though. I ended up ripping my suit pants on a splinter from shifting uncomfortably in the seat. Including the cost of a new suit, it was an expensive night but without that problem, it was a great price for a wonderful experience.

We went for our first time to see Beethoven Pastoral. It was amazing and breathtaking. I didn't…read moreknow how much I loved classical music until I came and saw this performance. It was a magical evening and the PSO is wonderful. I can't wait to go back!

Heinz Hall is a superb venue. It's absolutely gorgeous and they keep it up really nice. It's a…read morereminder of simpler days with opulent decorations. Every year, we love coming to the holiday pops and any other special events that sound great. We have been coming since Marvin Hamlish was leading the symphony. The symphony is world class and always sounds amazing. The Mendelssohn Choir always puts on a great show too. We also love the guest singers and guest conductors. It was also nice to see the talented members of the Pittsburgh Ballet. Everyone was so talented. Santa always makes it special for the kids. The song a long is our favorite part. The concert puts us in the holiday spirit. We love seeing what who is appearing every season. It's always a fun night out. Everyone at the theater is always very friendly and helpful.