Best Performance Venue--Indoors '97

Best Performance Venue--Indoors

Temple of Music and Art
330 S Scott Ave.

READERS' PICK: Between the Alice Holsclaw Theatre and the Cabaret Theatre, the Temple of Music and Art serves every theatrical niche from the official state theatre company to staged readings. Its beautifully renovated historic facades and charming saltillo courtyard make it a favorite for feeling like Tucson really is a City of the Arts; and the flexible spaces have staged some of the city's most elaborate and obscure productions. The B&B Café nestled downstairs is the perfect place for a quick espresso before the blinking lights signify the end of intermission.

READERS' POLL RUNNER-UP: Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd.

A REAL SCREAM: The Berger Performing Arts Center, located on the campus of the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind, 1200 W. Speedway, recently got a wonderful facelift: It now seats nearly 500 guests in wide-chaired comfort, boasts a top-quality sound and light system, and holds a stage big enough for a marching band. The acts booked at the center since its renovation are more intimate than all that, of course, and they number some truly top-scale talent. Among last year's highlights were performances by the incomparably soulful Willie Neal Johnson and the Gospel Keynotes, and Scotland's rousing Battlefield Band, along with fine showings by local choirs and chamber-music groups.

A REAL SCREAM: An underground alternative performance space that's featured the likes of Allison's Halo, Papas Fritas, and The Sugarplastic, as well as many worthy local bands and theatrical types, the Theater Congress has reinvented the dearly departed a.k.a. Theatre space. Long and narrow, with black walls, cathedral ceilings, fixed seating and stage lighting, it's a flexible multi-arts venue for an intimate concert experience. The Theater Congress owns a charm fresh to the downtown scene, as suitable to beatnik poetry readings as ear-splitting alternarock. We're glad it's back.

1998 Winner: Rialto Theater
1996 Winner: Temple of Music and Art