Alaska Center for the Performing Arts — Attraction in Alaska

I will always love the Performing Arts Center next to Town Square Park. I share my birthday with the PAC's opening day. My parents enjoy telling the story of my dad feeding my mom multiple slices of pizza followed by marching her 39-wk self up and down the many MANY stairs in the facility. In the end, after all the effort, hours later I was born.

One of the many memorable highlights of the PAC is the original flower poppy-print carpet featuring oranges and reds covering the floor as the neutral-colored walls and vaulted ceilings above create a sense of retro grandiosity to this day. This is juxtaposed by a simple, geometric interior, slate grey walls, balconies, and stairs which are open in the center at each floor landing, allowing for a more roomy, but at the same time, intimate atmosphere. Refreshment and snack stations are conveniently located on either side of the main landing where guests may socialize before and between acts. Greeters and ushers are pleasant and will kindly guide guests to their seats in a prompt manner. If guests arrive late to a show/concert, ushers seat them in a row reserved for this purpose so they can still enjoy the entertainment before a break when they are able to be seated in their original assigned seats.

The interior of each concert hall feature varying colors and patterns on the ceiling and walls, all of which are designed specifically to amplify the most conducive acoustics for each space. Each concert hall allows for varying numbers of guest seating depending on the type of entertainment featured. In the Atwood Concert Hall, guests may enjoy symphonies which feature a guest musician (including pianists, who utilize the split and hydraulic floor to accommodate movement of a grand piano), symphonies with a choir and/or guest vocalist, and even multimedia productions including the symphony backed by a projector with imagery or a film. The Discovery Theater features many operas and music acts, while the Sydney Laurence Theater features shorter or one-act plays and frequently local productions from theater troupes and school musicals/plays. There are smaller spaces in the PAC where meetings, private showings, and other events are held.

Being so centrally located, it is commonly referred to when giving directions or as a central starting point for people to meet. Many bars, restaurants, and other entertainment facilities surround the PAC which guests may filter into after shows/concerts for late night fun.

Overall, The PAC is a must-visit on any tourists' (and even locals') list of places to see/visit...

Was here to check out the $16 per person

AurorA - Alaska's Great Northern Lights Alaska Naturally Productions

The people there were great. The "show" was a joke. It's a 40minute of a rather poor HD on a small theater. I was expecting to see some special affect or something but it's just a small theater showing a $16 dvd video from 2004 about the Aurora. I fall asleep within 5min and wasted $48 for 3 adults and left the theater laughing about how they scam us of the money but accept it for bring dumb and maybe as a donation to the Art center instead.

And I still wonder if the Aurora was moving in real time in the video (of the 3min that I watched before falling asleep) or it was speed up.

Having this for this price felt like a scam to the people that went in and expecting more. And make the art...

I'm giving one star because zero isn't an option. Had 3rd row seats to New Orlans Jazz Orchestra, lost an $800 bonus shift at work, bought clothes, paid for dinner out. Arrived at Atwood at 710 for a 730 show, scanned in with my QR codes, walked all the way to the stage to be told that the first 3 rows of seats were removed to expand the stage and I needed to go to the box office to see if i could get other seats... there weren't other seats. How does a business sell seats (the highest price seats) that don't exsist? How do they act like there was nothing they could have done about it? If management isn't smart enough to solve this problem before it's a problem they don't need to ever receive my money or charitable...