Long Center for the Performing Arts, Performing arts center in downtown Lafayette, Indiana
The Long Center for the Performing Arts is a performance venue in downtown Lafayette with a main theater holding around 1,155 seats and designed with attention to acoustic quality. Adjacent to the theater sits the St. John Pavilion, offering additional flexible spaces that can accommodate different types of events and gatherings.
The building opened in 1921 as the Mars Theater, originally designed as a vaudeville hall for popular entertainment. Over the decades, it gradually transformed into a multipurpose venue for contemporary music, theater, and performance art.
The venue serves as a gathering place for music ensembles, theatrical performances, and film screenings that draw people from across the region. It remains central to the local arts community as a space where different types of entertainment happen throughout the year.
The venue is easily accessible in the downtown area and can be rented for private events in both the main theater and the pavilion space. The flexible layout allows spaces to be configured for concerts, receptions, classes, and formal dinners depending on visitor needs.
The theater has hosted some of the biggest entertainers from vaudeville and early cinema, including performers such as Al Jolson, Bob Hope, Ethel Merman, and the Marx Brothers. This history adds to the character of a space that once welcomed the brightest stars of popular entertainment.
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