I like coming downtown for a show and making a night of it. By "night of it" I mean dinner…read morebeforehand, show, and rush home to be in bed by 10:30 PM. This is a great theatre to go to because of all the different shows that come through here; It's smaller than PAC, but is in the same building, just in a different side and entrance. I've come for a couple of shows here and most recently I came in for Arctic Entries, which is a very popular show that usually sells out. So popular that I bought tickets in the nose bleed section at 2:15PM the tickets went on sale at 2PM. Even though we were in so high up we had a great view of the stage. The seats are positioned so that no one in front of you will block your view. There is the usual beer and wine sold before the show and intermission. A savvy person would pre-order a beverage so that it would be waiting for them during intermission in order to maximize on sipping time and not wasting time standing in line. I would purchase tickets to an event here in the future.

I came here for "Arctic Entries". (highly recommended)…read more I'm no expert on theatres, but this seems to be a good one. Every seat in the house seems to have a pretty decent view due to the size and steepness of the space. Ushers are always helpful if you're lost AF. I love running over to Humpy's to pound a beer during the intermission. You can take the boy out of college but you can't...

ANNIE AN ABSOLUTE FUN NIGHT!!!!…read more Last night I went to opening night for the musical ANNIE. There was so much laughter in the theater, along with pure enjoyment of the performance on stage. Opening night was full. The audience enjoyed every bit as did I. Sure it was community theater but much better than a night of TV or movie theater. Everyone who enjoys being entertained should make the effort to go. Not enough of Anchorage remembers what a gift we have in the PAC. It was built with oil money that rolled in during the late 80's. The PAC and the shows that are produced there are great gifts to our city. I cannot say enough about the young and experienced talent in this show. The artists that designed the sets used their talented skills to the highest level. They do so much with so little resources. The chorus talent was highly trained. They did not miss a beat. The amazing and talented Annie (a remarkable 13 year old) projected her voice right to us in the very back row. She led the production flawlessly while maintaining her A level grades. Please take the time and enjoy this show. You will get lost in the enjoyment of the play as time flies by and you emerge thoroughly relaxed, in a great mood and highly entertained.

I learned something. Something others should be made aware of…read more The Alaska performing arts has three separate theaters. If you're running late (like we were the last time) and you go in the main doors, you may find yourself being ushered in toward another set of doors adding to the already sinking feeling of being behind. A couple points to note: There are three theaters. The Sydney Laurence, the Atwood, and the Discovery theater. On several (but not all) doors there a list of what plays are where. The main doors lead to the Atwood. A side door around the side of the theater on 6th Avenue leads to the Laurence and Discovery theaters. Since I have now seen performances in all three theaters, I feel confident with all the remaining shows I plan to see. Just hope this helps everyone else.

My girls have been going to CDT for about 4 years. The staff are friendly and the kids have fun…read more My tapper loves going here it is not stressful and this studio understands what it means to teach kids that dance should be fun. There is just enough discipline in the classes to make the students learn without huge pressure.

Definitely my daughters favorite place in the world! Great teachers who love working with children…read moreand helping them to grow and learn to express themselves. Very positive environment!

My daughter has been attending since she was 4. She is 7 now. Never had a bad experience! She is…read moreloved by the instructors and they provide strict but productive teaching methods. I applaud them! Great communication and the atmosphere is always clean. I am grateful! Thank you so much! My daughter is now doing Tap class along taking Ballet. She has requested these. We started by going to their open house and she was hooked. We support her decisions, and we felt the well being and safety of the class and business was superb for her to attend.

ADT teaches students of all ages through exceptional teachers who show their students the love of…read moredance with exceptional instruction and custom choreography. The instructors are amazing and teach technique and form and give students the opportunity to express themselves through art and movement. The teachers care and give their students challenge and opportunity.

If you can enjoy the annual kitschy, trashy, sleazy, funny affair that is "Christmas in Spenard",…read morethen, congratulations, you're a true resident of Anchortown...and maybe even Spenard. This show is all about life in Alaska, in Anchorage, and in "The 99503". It used to be held at Taproot, which used to be called "The Fly By Night Club, which was owned by Mr Whitekeys, who is the main figure behind this show. Topics include: - Local politicians - Tiny-handed Presidents - Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn - Spam - The cold - A harmonica wildlife solo - Wasilla, and what a dump it is And also: Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn. I don't want to say anything more, for fear or spoiling the fun. It's a great way to share some laughs with friends and family when the days are short and dark. It's just a bummer that it's now held in "The 99501" (RIP Taproot). Seems wrong for Christmas in Spenard to be in...downtown.

I stopped in here last night to check out WrestlePro AK, an independent wrestling circuit that was…read morein town for a show last night at 7PM. I have to be honest. I was a big fan of the WWF/WWE in the 1980's-mid 2000's and haven't followed wrestling at all since a lot of the big names from that era retired. However, there was a meet and greet being held in the arena at 5PM prior to the show and it included one of the biggest stars from the Federation Era: Bret "The Hitman" Hart! I don't want to deviate from the main reason for this review which is for the venue itself. When I arrived at 4:30PM, there was a small line gathered in front of a closed sliding door entrance. I realized that they didn't open the entrances to the arena until the actual event starts. The only problem with this arrangement was that this was located at the ticket stand which had a very small space past the main entrance. Pretty soon, a lot of people started to show up and the line started snaking around this small room filling it to capacity. The least building management could do was to open the sliding doors and have everyone stand in line right by the meet and greet area. The line and the space in the ticket lobby became so cramped that had they been late to open the doors at 5, people would've been forced to stand in line outside in the freezing cold. Fortunately, that didn't happen and the sliding doors were opened before things got worse. There was also some confusion with employees accepting tickets for the event. Those that paid for the event online were instructed to print out their transaction via PayPal and present it to the ticket takers. At first, some of the fans were turned away before several people explained what the wrestling promotion instructed online customers to do once they arrived. This was a communication issue that could've easily been prevented between the management and the promoters. Because of this error, people that paid for only the meet and greet were waved in without question. That is an unfortunate loss of money for the business promoting this event. The meet and greet consisted of long rectangular tables where the wrestlers performing that night sat for autographs and photo ops. I came to see Bret Hart, but he was nowhere to be found at the tables by the ticket booths which initially caused some confusion with a lot of people wondering where he was at. None of the employees gave any information as to where he was at and people were forced to wander the hallways until they saw the rest of the performers down on the main level of the arena. Once I got to the main level, things got a lot better for everyone and myself. Everyone was excited to see some of the main event wrestlers, but most of all two WWE Hall of Famers seated at the far end: Animal from the legendary tag team Legion of Doom and the Hitman. Bret Hart himself was very friendly and laid back. It was an awesome moment to shake hands, sign autographs, and take pictures with a living legend which easily made the problematic wait well worth it.

A great arena I'm sure... if you're coming to see a sport event or something on a smaller scale…read morelike a comedy show perhaps? I do not recommend this if you're coming to see Cirque du Soleil. This arena just does not do it justice. Where to start? The people who greet you are so strict and ademant about shutting off your cellphone that they forget to smile or even say welcome. Instead it's did you shut off your cellphone? To then pass another person "is your phone shut off?!"......"YES it's shut off!" I GET IT, I GET IT. What a hassle, annoying and truly just not the first impression a place wants to set for a show by the infamous cirque du soleil. A word about the layout. It was absolutely not conducive to a show that everyone can enjoy. Unless you're in the small section that faces the stage then you will not get a great view of anything that's going on. This show was clearly meant to be enjoyed by the audience directly facing the stage. Then they seat you so high that all you can really admire is all the metal above the stage and then the performers just look tiny. And this my fellow yelpers is what $77 will get you. It's that or pay $195 from what I heard from others for still what might just end up being a seat with a side view of the show. No thank you. This show would've been reasonable at $40 or $50. Ticket master doesn't even let you see a seating map. Unless you know the arena by heart, then you really don't know what a good seat is going to be. So about the show: There are some beautiful costumes but let's just say when it comes to stunts and being impressed, Vegas has spoiled me rotten. The first half of the show was alot of dancing and prancing and a few tricks but I was not thrilled. The second half was more entertaining, but the first half of the show had numbed me to a bore that I was only mildly amused the second half. I guess I expected more people to be suspended in the air and all sorts of crazy things but the show stayed very close to the ground. Again, the arena doesn't allow for much. Throughout the show there's this orb that looms over the stage. What is the purpose of it? I don't know but it was distracting. Some of the acrobats would get on it but just stand on it and that's about it. It was just so distracting and took away from the rest of the show. This experience could've been so much better but the show just didn't make sense and was not what I expected. If you'd like to enjoy cirque du soleil I recommend it in Vegas or other established locations. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful but only a few acts caught my eye. Overall this reminded me more of a Broadway show where you have some aerial stunts but everything is mostly happening on the floor and there's dancing and prancing in colorful costumes. In the mean time, enjoy the arena for sports and such. It's not a bad place at all.....just does not deliver the caliber of performance I've been to.

This is one of the funniest show in Town!! Great combination of Alaskan info, Joke, characters,…read morepuppets!!

I wouldn't say it's a festival It's Greek food Greek dinner…read morewith live music Treated as a once, your opportunity to have some great Greek food and live Greek music Or just get your food to go Great music. Good food. Lots of deserts. Didn't get stuffed gape leaves. They were out 30 minutes into the first day ? Bummer. My favorite. The raffle used to be for a car now it's for 25% of the cash We were in and out in 45 minutes and saw everything that there was You should treat us as a place to go have a meal and listen to some music as opposed to a festival Think of it as Greek dinner with music while it lasts And you'll have a great time

I'll admit that I have a bias in favor of church and charity fundraisers... I totally want to give…read morethem 5 stars. So it pains me to be so negative. I honestly feel bad; but man, it is what it is. Not great. There was a big buildup and a lot of anticipation for me since I've been wanting to go to this festival for years because it falls on a busy weekend. We finally made it and... well... MEH. To call it a festival is a huge overstatement. There's no activities (religious, cultural, carnival or otherwise) other than one tiny TINY bouncy house and sporadic live Greek music and dancing. This event really is all about food. Which ok, I'm down with food. I love me some fucking Greek food. But the food was, in a word, MEH. I mean if you plan an event based around food, you'd expect it would kill. But nope. Dry lamb, dry pastisio, dry moussaka, dry pita. Tzaziki that had so much garlic even I, lover of garlic, was reeling. The dolmathes were 3 for a dollar and tasted like they were the kind out of a can. Good, but damn, I coulda bought the can at Sam's myself for a much better value. The souvlaki and gyro portions were really small and the line was a half hour long- totally not worth it. The desserts were just ok. And the prices on ALL the food, except the spanakopita, were way out of line. Again, since it's a fundraiser, I was expecting that, but I was also expecting the food to be memorable. But 60 bucks for a mediocre meal just pisses me off. Parking and traffic was a huge hassle, waiting in seperate lines for each food item was a hassle. I'd like two hours of my life back, please. Defintely won't go back. I'm super bummed.