By When a Broadway tour or a sold-out concert comes through North Carolina, there is a good chance it lands in downtown Greensboro at the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts. Opened in 2021, this 3,000-seat hall reshaped the city’s cultural skyline and made the Triad a regular stop for touring productions that once skipped the region entirely. Whether you are a first-time visitor planning a show weekend or a local trying to figure out where to park and what else is worth seeing on a night out, here is a practical guide to the Tanger Center and the wider performing arts scene in Greensboro.
The Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts
The Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts sits at the north end of Elm Street, anchoring downtown’s arts district and facing LeBauer Park. Named for the longtime chairman of Greensboro-based Tanger Outlets, the roughly $94 million facility opened in the fall of 2021 and has since welcomed well over a million guests. It replaced the aging War Memorial Auditorium and instantly gave Greensboro a venue capable of hosting the kind of large-scale touring shows that previously bypassed the city.
The main hall seats about 3,000 across multiple levels, with sightlines and acoustics designed for everything from a single voice on a quiet stage to a full symphony orchestra. Premium spaces include the Lee Wrangler Lounge and a prelude dining experience for ticketholders who want to make an evening of it. The result is a room that feels genuinely big-league while still being easy to navigate on foot.
What you can see there
The Tanger Center keeps an unusually full and varied calendar. The cornerstones are:
- First Bank Broadway Series: A subscription series of touring Broadway productions presented with Nederlander and Professional Facilities Management. It is regularly described as one of the nation’s top-selling one-week Broadway series, which means recent national tours of major titles reliably make the stop.
- Greensboro Symphony Orchestra: The Tanger Center is the symphony’s home stage. Its season generally runs from fall into May and includes the Bank of Oak Ridge Masterworks classical series, the Bank of Oak Ridge POPS series, plus rock, gospel, and family concerts.
- Concerts, comedy, and family shows: The calendar mixes touring musicians across genres, stand-up comedians, film-with-live-orchestra events, and children’s productions.
Because programming changes constantly, always check the official events calendar at tangercenter.com before planning a trip. Tickets are sold through the venue box office and Ticketmaster; be cautious of third-party resale sites that mark prices up.
The Greensboro Symphony connection
For locals especially, the symphony is one of the most accessible ways to experience the hall. The Greensboro Symphony Orchestra performs a full season at the Tanger Center, ranging from Beethoven on the Masterworks series to lighter POPS programs and family-friendly concerts. Single tickets and subscriptions are available through the symphony, and its programming is a good reminder that the Tanger Center is not only for big touring acts.
Plan Your Visit: Tanger Center
- Address: One Abe Brenner Place, 300 North Elm Street, Greensboro, NC 27401
- Phone: 336-373-7400 or 336-333-6500
- Website: tangercenter.com
- Box office hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., and opening two hours before showtime on event days. Will Call is at the venue box office.
- Doors: Typically open about one hour before showtime, though this can vary by event.
- Accessibility: The building offers ADA-compliant seating and services, accessible parking near the box office, and drop-off on Abe Brenner Place in front of the venue.
Where to park
No parking is included with a standard ticket, so plan ahead. The venue points patrons to several nearby downtown decks, generally running about $10 to $15. Common options include the Church Street Deck at 215 N. Church Street, the Greene Street Deck at 211 S. Greene Street, the Eugene Street Deck at 215 N. Eugene Street, and February One Place at 110 S. Davie Street. Broadway season subscribers typically receive parking in designated decks as part of their package. Note that the Bellemeade and Davie Street decks have been closed, so do not rely on older directions. The current recommendations are posted at the venue’s parking page. A useful local tip: arrive 45 minutes early, park, and grab a drink in the arts district rather than circling for a closer spot.
Beyond the Tanger Center: Greensboro’s Performing Arts Scene
The Tanger Center may be the headline act, but Greensboro’s stage culture runs deeper than one building. A short walk or drive in any direction turns up historic theaters, intimate clubs, and university stages.
The Carolina Theatre of Greensboro
Just a few blocks south, the Carolina Theatre of Greensboro is the Tanger Center’s historic counterpoint. It opened on Halloween night in 1927 as the self-styled “Showplace of the Carolinas,” complete with a terracotta facade, chandeliers, and the first Vitaphone sound system in the state. Saved from demolition in the 1970s and restored as a nonprofit performing arts center, the roughly 1,130-seat auditorium now hosts concerts, plays, classic film screenings, and community events. A third-floor black box venue called The Crown, opened in 2013, handles smaller and more experimental programming. For visitors, it is an atmospheric, affordable alternative to the bigger hall, and for locals it is one of the most beloved rooms in the city.
- Address: 310 S. Greene Street, Greensboro, NC 27401
- Website: carolinatheatre.com
University and community stages
Greensboro is a college town, and its campuses keep the arts calendar busy year-round, often at prices well below a touring show. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s College of Visual and Performing Arts presents music, dance, and theater throughout the academic year, and Guilford College’s long-running Bryan Series brings notable speakers and performers to town, with some events staged at the Tanger Center itself. Community and regional theater companies round out the picture, so check listings from Visit Greensboro and Downtown Greensboro when you are looking for something on a given weekend.
Making a Night of It
One of the real advantages of the Tanger Center is its location. It sits directly across from LeBauer Park in a walkable arts district packed with restaurants, breweries, and bars, so dinner before a show or a drink afterward requires little more than a short stroll. Elm Street and the surrounding blocks fill up on show nights, so reservations are smart if you want to eat at a specific spot before curtain.
Where to stay
If you are coming in from out of town for a show, downtown and the nearby Friendly Center area offer comfortable, bookable hotel options. The O.Henry Hotel, an upscale 131-room property near Friendly Center with the well-regarded Green Valley Grill next door, is a short drive from the venue and a popular choice for show weekends. Downtown also has full-service hotels within walking distance of the arts district. For the widest range of dates and rates, compare hotels, inns, and bed-and-breakfasts on a booking platform like Expedia’s Greensboro listings, then confirm details directly with the property.
Planning tip: Buy tickets only through the official box office or Ticketmaster, reserve your parking deck and dinner in advance, and aim to arrive at least 45 minutes before showtime. That cushion lets you park, walk over, and settle in without missing the opening number, which is exactly how locals do a Tanger Center night right.