Theatre of Living Arts

       For my final post, I wanted to talk about a long time staple in the Philadelphia music scene, the Theatre of Living Arts (TLA).  The TLA is located on South St between 3^rd and 4^th street.  Over the years this venue was several things before it was the Theatre of Living Arts.  It first opened its doors in 1908 as a nickelodeon, which is what they called the first movie theaters.  In 1927 is was converted into a concert hall.  Then in 1941 the Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corporation bought it and turned it into a movie theater.  Once the theater started doing poorly it was turned in to a theatre for plays, and this is when it got the name Theatre of Living Arts.  This theatre was open until 1969 when it closed due to financial issues.  After this it was bought by an entrepreneur who converted into a single screen movie theater that played exclusively “hard to see” films, as well as weekly midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  This theater closed in 1981 due to financial issues again, and was bought by the infamous Stephen Starr, who had plans to turn it into a nightclub.  When the liquor control board was giving him issues, Starr sold it to others who attempted to make it a theatre again. Finally, in 2007 the building was bought by Live Nation, who originally called it The Fillmore at TLA before changing it to just TLA in 2008. 

       The venue that we know today can hold 1,000 people and is considered to have a relatively small and intimate setting.  There is a large standing room only main section, a VIP section in front of the stage, and a balcony that wraps around the perimeter of the room.  There are bars on each floor that have a very good selection of beer both in cans and bottles.  The room itself is very open and is centered on the stage, which provides good acoustics and great sight lines for every one that is attending no matter where they end up.  It is these aspects that make it a top notch venue in my book. 

       The TLA really is a staple in the Philadelphia music scene.  If you haven’t seen a show here yet, do yourself a favor and check it out!  They host a wide range of genres of music, so you have no excuse not to go check it out.  Tickets to their shows can be bought on Live Nation’s website as well as at their box office at the venue.  Tickets to shows at any Live Nation venue can be bought here as well.  If you would like to see the shows they have booked in the coming months, you can see their event calendar located on their website's homepage by clicking here.