Tacoma Arts Live is a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

non-profit organization located at the Tacoma Armory in downtown

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

. Tacoma Arts Live Conservatory and Education Department provide one of the largest performing arts education programs in

Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

. Tacoma Arts Live hosted many famous figures and world-class artists such as

Hal Holbrook Harold Rowe Holbrook Jr. (February 17, 1925 – January 23, 2021) was an American actor. He first received critical acclaim in 1954 for a one-man stage show that he developed called ''Mark Twain Tonight!'' while studying at Denison University. H ...

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer and entrepreneur. Her acting career spanned almost 70 years. Reynolds performed on stage and television and in films into her 80s. She was nom ...

Martin Short Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian and American comedian, actor, and writer. Short is known as an energetic comedian who gained prominence for his roles in sketch comedy. He has also acted in numerous films and television ...

, Queen Latifah,

Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedienne, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona that w ...

, Wanda Sykes and Colleen Ballinger/ Miranda Sings. Tacoma Arts Live previously managed the Pantages Theater, Rialto Theater, and the Theatre on the Square from 1979-2021.

Artists, performers and premieres

1980s

* Victor Borge * Diane Schuur * Marcel Marceau * Dizzie Gillespie *

* Mark Russell * Myron Floren *

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman (; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist. He has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that have included a state dinner for Elizabeth II at the White House in 2007, and at the First ina ...

* Nikolai Arnoldovich Petrov * Glenn Miller Orchestra

1990s

* Alvin Ailey *

Bill Maher William MaherStated on ''Finding Your Roots'', January 12, 2016, PBS; on a series that lists "Jr." and "Sr." distinctions, Bill Maher's birth name was listed simply as William Maher, while his father was William Aloysius Maher Jr., and his pa ...

Dave Barry David McAlister Barry (born July 3, 1947) is an American author and columnist who wrote a nationally Print syndication, syndicated humor column for the ''Miami Herald'' from 1983 to 2005. He has written numerous books of humor and parody, as we ...

* Marvin Hamlisch * Victor Borge * Wynton Marsalis * Chick Corea *

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 12th-greatest male ...

2000s

Bob Newhart George Robert Newhart (September 5, 1929 – July 18, 2024) was an American comedian and actor. Newhart was known for his deadpan and stammering delivery style. Beginning his career as a stand-up comedian, he transitioned his career to acting in ...

* Blind Boys of Alabama * David Sedaris * Garrison Keillor *

* Omara Portuondo * Queen Latifah * Doc Watson *

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist, composer, conductor and orchestrator. He is known for his non-rhotic Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early America ...

* Treasure Island *

Sleeping Beauty "Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

* Caution: Men at Work * RENT * Grease * Ricky Skaggs * Fiddler on the Roof * Spectrum Dance Co *

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...

* The Spencer's Theatre of Illusion * Josh Blue * Rush Limbaugh in Night School * Billy Joel and Twyla Tharp's Movin' Out * An Evening with Randy Cohen * Young King Arthur * Magic School Bus * Doyle's Cabaret * Footloose * James & Giant Peach *

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

* PHANTOM * Ballet Folklorico * Mick Maloney * Newport Jazz 2002 * Forbidden Broadway *

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

* Capitol Steps * South Sound Slam * Peking Acrobats * Yesterday: Beatles * Les Ballet Africains *

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

* Ballet Folklorico de Mexico * Seattle Men's Chorus * Ira Glass *

* Guess How Much I Love You * Big Bad Voodoo Daddy * Tap Dogs * Hawaiian Slack Key * Soweto Gospel Choir * Urban Cowboy: The Musical * Out of Mist…A Dragon * Shanghai Acrobats * Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance * If You Give a Mouse a Cookie * Sophisticated Ladies * Lee Greenwood * Pink Floyd Experience * Nobodies of Comedy * Mad Science: Newton's Revenge * Operation Homecoming * Peter Yarrow with Bethany and Rufus * Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers * Defending the Caveman * Strut Your Mutt * Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars * Peter Pan: The High Flying Musical * Pine Leaf Boys * Highland Heath & Holler * The Wonder Bread Years * Four Slices of Wry * Cirqueworks Birdhouse Factory * Ragamala Music & Dance Theater * Dying To Be Thin * The Acting Company (The Tempest/Moby Dick "Rehearsed") * Not a Genuine Black Man * Garrison Keillor * Acia Gray & Tapestry Dance Company's Souls of Our Feet * Show Way * Woven Harmony * 3 Redneck Tenors: A New Musical Adventure * An Afternoon of Classic Lily Tomlin * Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone * Do Jump!: Aerial Dance * Altar Boyz * Judy Collins with Tacoma Symphony Orchestra & Jonatha Brooke * Book-It Repertory Theatre's Even Cowgirls Get the Blues * An Evening with David Sedaris * An Evening with Martin Short * Scrooge: The Movie Musical

2010s

* Wanda Sykes * Ira Glass * Ladysmith Black Mambazo * Gaelic Storm *

Smothers Brothers The Smothers Brothers were the American duo of brothers Tom Smothers, Tom and Dick Smothers, who performed folk singer, folk singing, music, and comedy. The brothers' trademark double act was performing folk songs (Tommy on Steel-string guitar, a ...

Jo Dee Messina Jo Dee Marie Messina (born August 25, 1970) is an American country music artist. She has charted six number-one singles on the ''Billboard charts, Billboard'' country music charts. She has been honored by the Country Music Association and the ...

* Margaret Cho * August Wilson's Seven Guitars *

Nanci Griffith Nanci Caroline Griffith (July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She often appeared on the PBS music program ''Austin City Limits'', starting in 1985 during season 10. In 1990, Griffith appeared on th ...

* Sweeney Todd: A Musical Thriller in Concert * Oregon Shakespeare Festival * Wayne Brady * Video Games Live * Colleen Ballinger/ Miranda Sings

References

HistoryLink.orgPantages HistoryCity of TacomaTheatre Puget SoundOfficial Website
{{coord, 47.254902, -122.441539, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark_region:US-WA Buildings and structures in Tacoma, Washington Theatres in Washington (state) Tourist attractions in Tacoma, Washington Performing arts centers in Washington (state)