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Pantages Theater

3.9 (49 reviews)
Open 12:00 pm - 4:00 PM
Updated 1 month ago

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Recommended Reviews - Pantages Theater

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Erica P.

Fantastic venue in the heart of Tacoma. Easy walking distance to many restaurants and bars. Plenty of parking around the corner. The interior is gorgeous. I found myself frequently distracted by the sheer beauty of the space. The seating is fairly comfortable, and I was able to see the stage without too much difficulty. I was there for a comedy show, so view of the stage was a secondary concern for me. Like most theatres, it's a long process to exit, but you're riding on the good vibes of the show so it's not that big of a deal.

Disenchanted Crew!
Elizabeth S.

What a an awesome place! The velvet chairs and insane details within the entire venue are so beautiful will attend again!

Ben Folds! Eeeeeee!!
Kate R.

We booked tickets to see Ben Folds as a birthday gift for my husband this last fall. Ben's songs speak to the soul of our relationship, the many ups and downs we have experienced in our years together, and having the opportunity to see him at Pantages Theatre - a relatively intimate venue - was just amazing. With comfy seats, and easy-to-navigate layout, and extremely helpful staffing, it's wonderful to see shows here! I also saw Cary Elwes on his book tour in 2022 and that was extremely enjoyable! With ticket prices continuing to rise, it's hard to know if it's worth the price from a seating chart ... I can tell you from experience that it is absolutely worth the prices here for your favorite show! Take the chance and go. You'll be so glad you went. See you again soon, Pantages!!

Q&A with John Cusack
Eva M.

Firstly, this is a beautiful historical theater to host shows. It is beautiful in the theater itself. The rest of the place is average. (It compares poorly to both Paramount and 5th Avenue Theatres in Seattle.) I am a short person (5'1"), and I had very good seats on the orchestra level, row L. If I had to look at the part of the stage that is on the lower portion of the stage, I am mostly looking at the head of the person in front of me. The orchestra level is shockingly flat. My friend, seated next to me, who is probably 5'4" had the same problem. My husband fared a bit better; he is 5'6". Luckily, I was there to watch "Say Anything" and a Q&A with John Cusack. Only the John Cusack part made me move left and right looking at the stage level every time he moved. I would **NOT** pay for anything expensive here, unless I get aisle seats. The seats are sufficiently comfortable. They are older but hanging in there. The bathrooms are downstairs. The steps seem to be a bit off, meaning not standard dimensions. The steps could be challenging to reach for those with mobility issues. The front part of the theatre (or waiting area) has very low ceilings and is very small, further crowded by the two waiting areas for drinks and snacks. There is a narrow hallway to enter the theater (such an odd design). Exiting the theater is even worse and even slower. They should open up the side emergency exit doors to allow better flow. Both Paramount and 5th Avenue open side doors to improve exit flow. It is no surprise that snacks and drinks would be expensive. We didn't have time for dinner, so we went for them. Water was posted at $3, snacks were posted at $4, which we thought were reasonable. We were happy to see popcorn, so we ordered 1 water and 2 popcorns. The total was nearly $16. I guess the popcorn were not a $4 snack after all. Posting accurate prices would be nice!! This is a pet peeve of mine. Seeing John Cusack was cool, but I wouldn't return to this theater if I had a choice.

I took the  worst picture ever!
Donna A.

We got invites to a concert we normally wouldn't not of attended and it was ok. The Pantages theater is small and intimate. Very beautiful and ornate designs throughout the theater. Every seat is a good seat but if you are on the larger side the seats are very small and not comfortable! The parking is terrible and it is not in the safest part of Tacoma (the downtown area).

Tacoma Concert Band
Laura H.

We were invited to attend the Tacoma Concert Band by my daughter's band teacher. I don't believe I've ever been to the Pantages and I've lived in Tacoma for ages! What a beautiful venue! I don't think there is a bad seat in the house. The people were very friendly and we very much enjoyed ourselves. We found a parking garage nearby that was $2 for up to 3 hours. That's a fantastic deal.

Merch

The theatre was very nice. The concert was great. It was a great experience for me. This is the second time coming to this venues.

This is proof I was told I would receive something and it has been 3 weeks!

This poster is damaged and the autograph is smeared! It was sent in a bubble mailer with do not bend written on it. I am disgusted and you all should be ashamed.

Pure joy
Marissa L.

This was our first experience here , when you walk through the doors it's a fun hustle and bustle, so many people , and security checking bags. The orchestra was lovely and welcoming . So many spots for pictures as well, beautifully decorated trees, Christmas decor was lovely ! I checked my coat then headed upstairs, everyone that worked here were super helpful in showing us where our seats were. We got two cups of Rose (bubbly red) and then got some snacks ! We didn't eat before we came to the show and that was a mistake ! We had wonderful seating, sound quality is wonderful , the orchestra was a dream ! The dancers were 100% astounding there was so much love and attention to detail that was put in to this show and it shows . We enjoyed our afternoon date here ! Can't wait to see another show !

Birds eye view
Rebecca M.

Loved this beautiful, historic theater. I went to see Alice In Chains. We had great seats but... they gave our seats to someone else and didn't have enough chairs. It isn't very wheelchair accessible.The sound and intimate vibes made it worth it.

Meagan G.

Beautiful, historic theater in the heart of downtown Tacoma. Our first experience was watching the Nutcracker ballet. Incredible kind staff, clean facilities, and super comfy chairs! Looking forward to the next excuse to watch a production here!!

david sedaris...almost!

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Ask the Community - Pantages Theater

Review Highlights - Pantages Theater

I so enjoy my time here and at the other two live theaters here in downtown Tacoma.

Mentioned in 4 reviews

Read more highlights

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This is my first theater I performed at when I moved to Seattle. I've done shows in L.A.,…read moreDisneyland, etc...so I quit my travel job to pursue my love for musical theater. I missed it so much. I heard TMP was casting for South Pacific so that was my intro to meeting Jon and Jeff. I played Bloody Mary in South Pacific, I was part of Wedding Singers ensemble plus I played Imelda Marcos, I played Madame Liang in the reboot version of Flower Drum Song. I also did shows with the Children's Theater at TMP. I played The Sour Kangaroo in Seussical, and Princess Lucille in Junie B Jones and a little monkey business. I did a couple shows outside of TmP, and also invited to audition on Broadway. But after a few deaths in my family I decided to take a hiatus from doing shows. I'm still on a long hiatus. Actually at my age I don't think I could keep up with the young ones. Like any theater it had some improvements needed. Which TMP has done over the years . I've tried to support when I could. It's not very close to where I live. It's about a 30 minute drive. After all these years I'm just now writing this review because I regret not auditioning or even performing at TMP. I always tell people life is too short don't wait. Well recently we lost Jon who was co-founder, director, and choreographer of TMP. He and his partner Jeff were a big part of the Tacoma area arts. I do hope his legacy lives on. RIPARADISE Jon!

I haven't ever walked into Tacoma Musical Playhouse after living in Tacoma for quite a while until…read morerecently. I have driven by it enough times and some of their productions caught my eye more than once but what brought us here was for a production of Xanadu. Xanadu is a movie which stars Olivia Newton John and Fred Astaire makes an appearance in it as well. The movie was a real slog for me even though the movie is a cult classic and I love those types of movies... but "cult classic" is a very broad range and not all have the same appeal. The musical play is a spoof of the film and I knew it would have a brisker pace than the movie and I enjoyed it a lot! It was lots of fun and the songs sung served as a reminder of what's in the movie and had more of a positive earworm than a slog. The performers were great and they successfully cast a positive and feel good charm which was much needed. The Playhouse is also getting The Wedding Singer from the 80's inspired movie which I know would be a lot of fun and in this case I enjoyed the film much more!

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My brother and I went to Asylum on a whim and were ghoulishly surprised. We are typically jaded and…read morenot expecting much, but paid what appeared to be a steep admission price for both haunted houses (one is 18+ only) anyway since the net proceeds benefit the Children's Hospital and went to the all ages portion first. It rocked! Actor/actresses were fun, really in character and the decor was outstanding. The group put a lot of work into this haunted house and it shows. Maybe it wasn't super, super-scary, but it was entertaining and there were enough disturbing parts to give you the haunted house feel. Unfortunately, when we went to the 18+ house, they were on a break and we had a limited amount of time, so had to ask for a refund on that portion of the ticket. Not sure if that one was scarier, but we were satisfied enough by the first one that we felt like we got our money's worth. Also, zombie girls are hot.

Theater on the Square - Theatre on the Square - TacomaCityTheaters.org

Theater on the Square

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$$

I'm leaving a review solely to say, Don't get seats in rows B or C. My siblings and I thought we…read morewere getting my mom really good seats in row C. When we got to the theater, it turns out the second and third rows aren't on a raised step like the other seats. It's behind A and B on the floor. D, E, and F would have been better choices. The seats are slightly staggered but my mom can really only see one side of the stage clearly. I feel a little miffed we paid to look at the actor through two rows of people.

I went to the Theatre on the Square a while ago to see a flamenco performance (Fanny Ara in Juncal…read moreStreet: Flamenco) and I find it odd that I have driven past this place several times and never knew it was a performing arts space. I had been to the Pantages Theater before, which is right up the street, and I guess this building fits right in with the other spaces in the square. There is a parking lot right across the street which makes it very convenient to get to the venue. The space itself is very clean throughout and modern looking in structure and paint. It is wheelchair accessible with elevators and the volunteer staff are very friendly and can answer just about any question you want to know. It appeared to mainly be made up of older ladies who probably have been patrons to the arts scene for the longest time. There is also a nice concession area with small snacks, coffee, adult beverages, and other things. I didn't purchase anything so I don't know what the prices were like. The theater itself had a very intimate setting in that it's a smaller theater with limited seating. It's quiet different from the theaters that require a larger stage for ballets, operas, or other events were there are larger in production and stage presence. I really liked the setting. The seats were easy to find and you don't feel cramped. The performance itself was amazing. The lighting and sound were also equally as amazing. I had seen flamenco at a theater in Olympia and this one was much better. I'll definitely be back to the Theatre on the Square. I will say that if you see a show you want to attend, buy your tickets early since the theater is small the performances sell out quickly.

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Attended my first event there, Carol King & James Taylor musical show. Very interesting venue, it…read morewas built in 1918 and the design reflects the affluence of the time after WW1. It's a former movie theater in its time. The molding in the auditorium is fascinating. The venue seats 750, the show was sold out last night. The auditorium is white and yellow, These colors give it a sterile feeling. Whenever I go to a venue I always note the number of emergency exits. The auditorium had two on each side of the stage. This venue is located on a steep hill in downtown Tacoma, the entrance to the venue has not been altered to today's standards so it's two double doors with a several steps up from the sidewalk. When the show was over all 750 of us funneled out of the theater via the double door entrance. I was stunned, had there been a fire trampling would occur, the small lobby we funneled thru there was a set of emergency exit doors. I truly felt my safety was at risk as we were all trying to exit via a set of two doors. I was trying to understand why the two doors in the auditorium were not open as an option to exit. The show was great I just really question the exit strategy.

Pantages Theater - theater - Updated May 2026

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