FAQ - Tacoma Arts Live

Can I take a tour of the theaters?

Tacoma Arts Live offers free public tours of Theatre on the Square and the historic Pantages and Rialto Theaters. Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at 253.591.5806 to make a reservation.

Tours are also available from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month from May to October at the Tacoma Farmers Market on Broadway. Walk-ups may sign up for a tour at the Tacoma Arts Live booth located in front of the Box Office. Tours start at 10:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., lasting approximately 30 minutes for each theater (90 minutes total), and will be led by members of our well-versed volunteer staff.

Please contact our Box Office at 253.591.5894 for information on upcoming tours. If you have a large group, you may schedule a private tour with Associate Director of Events, Leilani Balais, by emailing her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Or, take a virtual tour online!

How do I purchase Group Tickets?

Do I need a ticket for my child?

When should I arrive?

How do I get to the theaters?

From I-5, take the City Center exit to Highway 705.
Follow Highway 705 to the “A” Street exit.
From “A” Street, turn left onto 9th Street.
For Park Plaza North Garage, turn left on Commerce. Parking is to your left.
For the Pantages Theater and Theatre on the Square, continue west on 9th St. and turn left on Broadway.
For the Rialto Theater, continue west on 9th St. to Court C.

Click here for more detailed directions.

Where should I park?

What refreshments are available at the theaters?

Refreshments are available for purchase prior to the performance and at intermission. Usually food and beverages are not allowed inside the seating areas. Any alcohol sales and consumption may only occur in the lobby area and/or restricted bar area of the theaters prior to the commencement of an event and during intermission as stated by law per the Washington State Liquor Control Board. Alcohol is not allowed in the performance seating areas of the theaters.

Can I bring a camera or video camera to the show?

What personal items are prohibited in the venues?

In the interest of patron safety and enjoyment, Tacoma Arts Live reserves the right to prevent certain items from being brought into the venues. Items including, but not limited to the following are not allowed in Tacoma Arts Live:

Alcoholic beverages and non-alcoholic beer – including glass bottles or cans
Food items
Illegal drugs
Sticks or clubs (including signs attached to sticks)
Fireworks
Bullhorns, airhorns or other noisemakers
Confetti
Animals (except certified dogs)
Beach balls or other inflatables
Bicycles
Skateboards or roller blades
Glass bottles or cans
Weapons of any kind, regardless of permit (including but not limited to: firearms, knives, batons, mace, pepper spray, brass knuckles, tasers etc.)

Where can I smoke?

Tacoma Arts Live is a smoke-free facility. Smoking is permitted outside any of the venues more than 25 feet from the building’s exterior doors. "Smoking” means inhaling, exhaling, burning, carrying or possessing any lighted tobacco product, including cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, and any other lit tobacco products. This means the personal use of any tobacco product, whether intended to be lit or not, which shall include smoking, as defined above, as well as the use of an electronic cigarette or any other device intended to simulate smoking and the use of smokeless tobacco, including snuff; chewing tobacco; smokeless pouches; any other form of loose-leaf, smokeless tobacco; and the use of unlit cigarettes, cigars, and pipe tobacco.

What to Wear?

How can I order tickets?

How can I reach Tacoma's Resident Arts organizations?