This is a cool place for an exhibit on a semi-recent historical topic, which is what I came for in February, 2020. They had a Beatles exhibit which featured a very nice stroll through the history of the entire Beatles phenomenon. We wound through the pre-determined path which had a few artifacts, most of which were along the lines of "here is a guitar like the one John Lennon played during this period". My expectations weren't too high for seeing real artifacts, so that was fine. They did a very nice job of taking us through the chronology of Beatlemania, and in particular I liked the photos on display. I'm very knowledgeable in Beatles history, and there were many photos that I don't recall ever having seen before. There were some cool interactive setups where you could play with some sound stuff. It was all fun and interesting. I didn't see any souvenirs for purchase that were specific to the Beatles exhibit; I'd have been interested in that.
This venue is a historic theater in downtown Rochester, so it has a really cool vibe to it. You enter under the old-school marquee, past the old-school box office, and are greeted by an old-school lobby that has some fun memorabilia you can peruse before entering the main section. That main auditorium is *probably* pretty cool, but when we were in there it was mostly obscured by the Beatles exhibit. My hope is that it retains its classy, retro character, which would make it a nice environment for all kinds of events. read more