Performing Arts

Showcasing five plays per season at the Beverly O’Neill Theater, International City Theatre (ICT) aims to entertain, educate, inspire, and provoke thoughtful dialogue through live theater. Performing an array of classic to contemporary selections each season, from comedies to dramas to musicals. Led by award-winning Artistic Director caryn desai, ICT offers quality, intimate productions you’ll be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.

Long Beach Playhouse (5021 E Anaheim St) was established in 1929 and is home to the 200-seat Mainstage Theatre and 98-seat Studio Theatre. The organization offers more than a dozen shows each year–including an annual production of A Christmas Carol–and offers acting workshops, summer youth programs and an annual New Works Festival.

Shakespeare by the Sea is a nonprofit theater company performing throughout LA and Orange counties. In recent years, its seven-week summer festival has included show dates at the Recreation Park Bandshell (701-939 Federation Dr.) in Long Beach, offering a chance to experience a free theatrical production of a classic Shakespeare play under the evening stars.

Recognized time and again for presenting new, rare, and avant-garde operas, Long Beach Opera has been known to eschew the traditional stage for unconventional venues including, this season, five performances aboard the Queen Mary. It also happens to be the oldest operating opera company in the Los Angeles and Orange County region. The groups’ shows aim to engage the audience through provocative and meaningful experiences that challenge, connect, and inspire.

The nation’s oldest, city-funded municipal band, helmed by artistic director and conductor Kurt Curtis, the Long Beach Municipal Band was established in 1909 and performs free summer concerts in the city’s public parks. During the first half of each concert, the full band performs a set celebrating the week’s theme, from music of famous film scores to Disney favorites and patriotic songs. After an intermission, the smaller studio band performs a set of popular songs with a lead vocalist.

Founded in 1988, the Long Beach Chorale and Chamber Orchestra is Long Beach’s only all-volunteer community masterworks chorus. The group performs three concerts per season, with the first celebrating the holidays, the second featuring a masterwork from the classical repertoire for chorus and orchestra, and the third often highlighting a variety of genres. LBCCO has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Aquarium of the Pacific, Rancho Los Alamitos, and the Carpenter Center.

The newest concert venue in Long Beach is the F&M Bank Amphitheater located on the waterfront near the Queen Mary. Opened in 2026, this 12,000-seat outdoor amphitheater hosts major touring acts from Mötley Crüe to Luke Bryan and also serves as the summer home of the Long Beach Symphony. Attendees can enjoy incredible views of the Long Beach skyline, local concessions, and after-party celebrations or a hotel stay at the Queen Mary following the show.

The Richard & Karen Carpenter Center on the campus of Cal State Long Beach is a 1,000-seat theater that hosts its own series of performances by nationally renowned musicians, speakers, and dance companies as well as performances by Musical Theatre West. As visitors enter the lobby, they can view exhibits of instruments and memorabilia from the lives of Richard and Karen Carpenter.