Alaska Plays & Performances
From large-scale touring productions to local and youth theaters, there’s always an eclectic mix of plays or performances showing in theaters around Alaska. In Anchorage, for instance, you can hear the Anchorage Symphony, or experience Native Alaskan dance at the Alaska Native Heritage Center. In the summer, the cultural options only multiply: there’s usually free outdoor music at various parks, evening entertainment at local pubs, and colorful line-ups of entertainment at the annual festivals that fill the season’s calendar.
Show Map
Plays & Performances
Even in the endless daylight of Alaska’s summer, you can check out the aurora borealis in “AurorA — Alaska’s Great Northern Lights.”
From local plays to Shakespearean theatre, symphonies to jazz, spelling bees to whale tales, the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts hosts productions year-round in their multiple venues.
From Elton John to Motley Crue, from the Lord of the Dance to Disney on Ice, from the Harlem Globetrotters to Jeff Dunham, the Carlson Center is Fairbanks’ — and Interior Alaska’s — premier entertainment and sports facility. With its 35,000 square foot arena, the Carlson Center is host to concerts, conventions, tradeshows, and sporting events. It is home to the University of Alaska, Fairbanks Nanooks Ice Hockey Team, the Fairbanks Grizzlies Indoor… ...more
Re-opening in 2022. Please visit our website for other activities available during your stay. The Cabin Nite Dinner Theatre, performed out of the Denali Park Village, offers a true-to-life Gold Rush tale of Alaskan adventures in the early 1900s. Enjoy songs, dance, humor, and a large family-style meal topped off with berry cobbler.
This show at the McKinley Chalet Resort tells the story of the first ascent of Mt. McKinley. Laugh, eat, and be merry while the actors and actresses do double-duty as your servers for an all-you-can-eat meal of salmon and ribs.
ACA is one of the largest performing arts presenters in Alaska. Presenting a wide spectrum of performances, it’s the largest resident company that uses the city’s Alaska Center for the Performing Arts (known to locals as the PAC), home to both the Atwood Concert Hall and the Discovery Theatre. ACA also presents the Summer Concert Series, secret shows, pop-up concerts and in-home concerts at various locations around Anchorage.
Perseverance Theatre creates professional theatre by and for Alaskans. Founded in Juneau in 1979 by Molly Smith, the Theatre has since grown into Alaska’s flagship professional theatre, serving nearly 15,000 artists and audiences each year. Despite being a community of only 30,000, and only accessible by boat or plane, Juneau has proven to be an ideal home for the Theatre. Community volunteers help build our sets, run our productions and staff… ...more
Clap your hands, hoot and holler, and tap your feet — it’s all encouraged when you attend a show by the New Archangel Dancers. Performing Russian folk dances in Sitka for over 40 years, this all-female group has been dedicated to preserving and celebrating the town’s Russian heritage since 1969. You’ll experience upbeat dances (with their emcee leading a clapping audience), as well as beautiful, serene, slow dances. There are character dances… ...more
The Chilkat Center for the Arts is the creative hub of Haines. The facility features a 300-seat auditorium that has hosted everything from local children’s plays to a stripped-down version of the Moscow Symphony. There’s a dance studio where locals get together to practice activities like yoga, jujitsu, and ballet. The center is also the home of local public radio station KHNS, which serves Haines and nearby Skagway.
Held in a modern traditional Tlingit clan house, these dances are powerful performances that kids love. The booming echo of a drum, the smell of burning cedar, the lively chanting, and the energetic dance moves make for a memorable experience. The 30-minute performances include a story and five traditional songs. The dance troupe includes performers of all ages, dressed in colorful black and red blankets or traditional regalia. There are… ...more
This Western melodrama rises above the standard fare with a fast-paced crew of semi-professional actors and a script that tells Skagway’s true, outlaw history during the tumultuous days of the Klondike gold rush and Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith, the outlaw and con man who is the town’s most infamous pioneer.
Nome’s Gold Coast Cinema shows films Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with matinees on both Saturday and Sunday. The theatre has first-run movies as well as independent films, and typically offers two titles per week. One quirk? Concessions include a Subway sandwich shop, giving you more options than just popcorn and candy.
Keep your radio dial tuned to AM 890 for Homer’s public radio station KBBI to keep apprised of what’s happening in town that you may find fun and entertaining. Local disc jockeys also play good music, ranging from country/western to jazz, pop, rock, folk and of course local music. Homer is blessed with so many great musicians, entire shows could feature just local artists. Deejays also have details of upcoming events which they share between ...more
The Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts was built in 1967 and designed to resemble a southeast Alaska tribal hall. The masks on the outside represent animal spirits. Many people think the building looks more like a birthday cake, which is fitting since it was built for Alaska’s 100th birthday. Some Fairbanksans also refer to the center as the Pickle Barrel. The Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts is rumored to be haunted.
Pier One Theatre is possibly the best community theatre in America or the world. Every summer, “actors” (just ordinary residents who are brave and talented enough to get on stage), perform classics and some new plays at the Pier One Theatre on the Spit every weekend.
