Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts — Attraction in New Orleans

Normally I would have rated the Mahalia Jackson Theater higher. However, Saturday was not the case. Although the venue was clean, it was not an enjoyable experience. We were there for a dance recital. Before the recital began, there was an announcement on the speaker that videography and flash photography were not allowed. When our family member came on stage (we noticed the same happened to everyone else) we took out our phones to take pictures with the flash OFF. We didn't need the flash on because the stage was lit up appropriately. Next thing we knew 2 or 3 very angry 😠 & rude women began meandering between the rows, actually STANDING in front of us BLOCKING OUR VIEW of our family member performing to DEMAND that we stop video taping. We stated that we were not video taping & she said we had to put the phones down & couldn't take pictures!!! It was awful!!! We missed a good part of the performance because of her! Both of my parents are elderly. My Dad has been sick lately and my Mom is in a nursing home. My Sister had her cellphone on her lap & she was communicating with my Mom's nurse via text. The same woman came barreling out of nowhere DEMANDING that my Sister TURN HER PHONE OFF!!! My sister told her that she had the ringer off and her phone was in her lap but her parents were elderly & ill and she absolutely was NOT turning it off! The woman just huffed & told her to just keep it down then. I don't know how much further she wanted her to put it. I think their behavior that night turned a joyous occasion into a miserable one. So instead of staying for the entire review like we normally do, OUR ENTIRE FAMILY LEFT as soon as our family member had completed her 2nd dance. This...

I’m not going to give this place a 1 star because I went for a very niché show that normally doesn’t screen here (The Rocky Horror Picture Show) but my pre-show experience here was pretty awful. For starters, they were charging $25 CASH ONLY for event parking so be sure to factor that in on top of the cost for your ticket. I ended up parking in the Premium parking lot across the street. The clueless security staff checking bags told me and my friend three times to move to a different line after we told them we had VIP tickets. No signs indicating anything. The snarky manager lady refused to let us bring in our own prop bags (not even a newspaper) so we had to throw away all of our props. There was NO information or warning on the event promotions or on our e-tickets about this. I understand not allowing people to bring in rice, toilet paper, or water guns, but newspaper and a noisemaker?… C’mon. And then to sell prop bags with all the “banned” items included once people walk in. Such a rip off. Not to mention $14 for a little snack pack of mixed nuts and gummy bears?!.. I’m not saying I wouldn’t return to this theatre for a different show but I certainly won’t for RHPS. The amount of unnecessary rules and deceptive tactics they pull just for you to spend more money really just took away from the experience for me. It’s certainly not the theatre to host -this- type of event. Way too stuffy and rigid of an atmosphere. Also, what’s up with all the trash in the pools out front?! For a theatre that clearly takes itself way too seriously, that’s a pretty...

This theater and coordinators were terrible. We were attending a 9:30 show. We were in line about a mile away from the theater entrance at 9pm. Finally made it to our seats around 10pm. As we entered , the opener was already on stage. Lines for concessions, bathrooms, and merchandise were congesting every walkway making it impossible to actually get to our seats. We missed the entire opening act due to no fault of our own.

No one who purchased tickets were allowed in the theater until apparently everyone from the earlier show exited the building. But the line did not begin moving until 9:30. There were TWO people (one at each entrance) scanning tickets and maybe six people putting phones in the lock bags. Because the show had already started, the theater was dark, the sections and seat numbers were not illuminated so it was extremely difficult to find the seats as there were no ushers or anyone directing you to your seat.

This was our first and last visit to this theater because of the horrible experience. We found our seats and 3 minutes later the performer came on stage. I would have been FURIOUS if we had missed even a second of the performance that we had paid to see and arrived on time to see. The way this theater handled getting the second show guests in left an awful taste in my mouth and I would not be willing to travel two hours to see a show here ever again. If you can't handle two shows in one night, don't have two shows...