Lensic Performing Arts Center

Saw a great talk here with some friends and it is a beautiful theater. The décor inside is really unique – being an overall newcomer to the Southwest, it was a treat to see it. And – before/​after the show, one can wander around the historic Plaza.

I love the Lensic! Cool building, eclectic and wide variety of shows, and accessible to many. Yay!

The Lensic is a great place to see top notch performances. In fact I think it may be the only place in town to see first rate shows. Want to see a great live show? The Lensic us the only game in town.
But beware — all ticket sales are final. No returns, no credits towards another purchase. Unless the performer cancels or there is a death in the family, if your plans change and you can’t use your tickets anymore, kiss that money goodbye ‘cuz management is not given the $$ back to you. Perhaps mngmt feels because they are the only game and there are so many tourists that they don’t need to have good return policies. Or at least fair return policies.
The venue is great, but I will think long and hard about purchasing tickets for shows there going forward.

The Lensic is beautiful and historic. Seeing a live performance at this venue may trump almost any other venue in the entire state. The lensic has a decent full bar for the good events, and everything is usually top notch. However there are a few downsides to some of their scheduled events.
1. If you are going to the Lensic to see spoken word or an author reading, or really anything that will have a large audience, DON’T GET TICKETS FOR THE BALCONY! If it looks like the event will be halfway full, spend the extra money and get a floor seat. The balcony gets exceedingly hot and humid.
2. If it is a film festival event, be aware that many of the other people going will be extremely pushy. And some of these film festival people are the usual people who will run you down with their car in the Trader Joe’s parking lot. Also, rich 60+ white women LOVE frequenting these film festival events, and they eat their own children.
3. Parking at the lot across the street will suck a half hour of your time. Park a block away and walk over.
4. There is not a decent audio system for the balcony seats, so if you are hard of hearing, again, pay the extra for the floor seats.
5. The Lensic needs to figure out a better way for book signing situations so all the elderly people who aren’t interested in buying or meeting the featured artist can get the hell out of the building, and also there needs to be a way to dissuade Lisa Law from acting like she is god every time there is an event where she barges through obvious lines of people because she has a personal social agenda.

Just saw/​heard Terrence Blanchard at the Lensic. Absolutely fantastic!

The Lensic is a beautiful establishment. We went to see a tap performance and had balcony seating. Great view, great acoustics. You wouldn’t think something like this would be centered in the downtown of a city, but it’s a great find.
Sometimes the tickets are a bit pricey, but worth checking out.

The Lensic is the jewel of Santa Fe. Not only an historic and architecturally important structure, it offers the audience fantastic acoustics and comfort.
It is a crime to rate this place 2 stars for any reason, including a crying child in the audience. Sometimes life happens.
How often does one get to see a fantastic performance in an 80 year old architectural masterpiece that rivals any modern performance hall?

BUYER BEWARE…
At a recent adult concert that we paid a premium price to see, a young child in the balcony cried/​yelled the whole time. Although many people were turning to see who was disrupting the show, nothing was done. The ushers turned a «deaf ear» to the unruly child. We left early as the noise disruption (that management chose to ignore) ruined the experience.
Very disappointing.
I would only recommend kids if the show was targeted at a young audience.
Very good acoustics, lovely setting & could be a wonderful experience under the right circumstances.

Went here to see the symphony one night. Decent sized concert hall, great acoustics. They had a mini-​bar serving drinks prior to the show and during intermission, somewhat steeply priced (but what else to expect from a ritzy concert hall). Overall an enjoyable experience.