Louisville Memorial Auditorium — Attraction in Louisville

Growing up there were always graduations, recitals, plays & concerts held there. My brother, nephew & I went to Memorial Auditorium 1/18/20 to watch the WCW Super Featherweight Jr. champion Carlos "RTG" Dixon, Louisville's hometown hero, defend his title against Jonathan Revels. This was a historical night as this was the 1st boxing match held at the auditorium ever! 3 preliminary matches, all ending in 1st round knockouts in less than 1 minute! Then, the 8 round main event that didn't disappoint! I can see why this venue was chosen. Marble everywhere. Columns that never end. I didn't use the rest room but they were conveniently located by the side exits of the main hall. Vending machines located out of sight by the water fountains & don't take credit cards but the snack items weren't expensive. Can't say the same about the sodas so we were very appreciative they were selling sodas for $1. The steps leading to & inside the establishment were easy to navigate. A ramp for wheelchair accessibility was on the side of the building that lead to the front entrance; seating was located in the front. We sat in the balcony which had a great unobstructed view. I was able to take pictures without the tops of the heads of the people in front of me while I was sitting down! I think they have a parking lot in the back but I saw mostly street parking & my brother parked around the corner in front of a nearby business. I enjoyed the elegance & spaciousness of the facility. The seats, tho a little old, were intact & comfy. I would definitely go to...

I visited this auditorium for an 8th grade graduation. It was large enough to fit a lot of people, although everyone was shoulder to shoulder, but they still had to capp it at only 3 guests per student, which made it difficult to decide who was able to attend and who, unfortunately, was not. The real issue, though, was the heat. Many of us, including those of us with infants couldn't even remain in the main auditorium for the full ceremony because of the heat. After moving into the hallway to hold my baby near a fan (toward the end of the ceremony), a worker finally told some of us about a small air conditioned room near the main exit doors. I, and another guest, headed there with our babies, nearly running through the crowd of people to keep up with the worker. (The worker seemed to have no regard for us following her with our infant children and trying to move safely through the throngs of people). At the height of the ceremony, every student and guest in the place was soaked in sweat, red- faced and in general, just extremely uncomfortable. I still gave this place 3 stars, though, because the graduation ceremony was beautiful. Each student had his/ her own moment for recognition and for pictures to be taken. Even with the drawbacks, it was a...

In many ways, Memorial Auditorium is a historic gem of a house. Greats from Baryshnikov to Zappa performed here in its heyday.

For audience members, a traditional center-aisle layout with a reasonable rake (that is, the angle at which the audience seating area rises) and a bit of offset between rows provides a more comfortable experience than the claustrophobic confines of the Kentucky Center for the Arts' Whitney hall (though KCA's Bomhard theater is still my favorite house in Louisville). The smaller scale of tee auditorium provides an intimate setting for all kinds of productions.

As a dancer, Memorial is a serviceable house with decent facilities for artists, but the floor is rather hard. That said, considering that Memorial is nearly 100 years old and now considered a "lesser" venue, upkeep is quite good, and the house staff are fantastic. Some have been working here since Memorial's glory days and can tell you amazing stories...