Founded in 1861 (the year the Civil War erupted), BAM is the country’s oldest performing-arts center. Spanning several venues in the Fort Greene area, the complex hosts innovative works of opera, modern dance, music, cinema and theater – everything from 'retro-modern' Mark Morris Group ballets and Laurie Anderson multimedia shows to avant-garde Shakespeare productions, comedy and kids' shows.
The 1908 Italian Renaissance–style Peter J Sharp Building houses the Howard Gilman Opera House (showing opera, dance, music and more) and the four-screen Rose Cinemas, showing first-run, indie and foreign films in gorgeously vintage-feel theaters; the on-site bar and restaurant, BAM Café, stages free jazz, R&B and pop performances on Friday and Saturday. A block away on Fulton St is the Harvey Lichtenstein Theater, aka 'the Harvey,' which stages cutting-edge, contemporary plays and sometimes radical interpretations of classics. Around the corner from the Sharp building is the Fisher Building, with its more intimate 250-seat theater.
From October through December, BAM hosts its acclaimed Next Wave Festival, which presents an array of international avant-garde theater and dance, and artist talks. Buy tickets early.