Scottish Rite Theater

This place is reelly cool but its also frieightening. My wife and I went here to see the liberty belles a while back and I swear I seen a ghost in the b room.
It was a very good play but u have to have thick skins to stay here with the ghosts!

This is a darling theater. My daughter and I attended a children’s theater performance and had a ball. I loved that the kids could sit up close if they wanted and there didn’t seem to be a bad seat in the house. Parking was easy peasy. We are certainly looking forward to going back.

We’ve been to quite a few productions for kids around town, and they are pretty hit or miss. Every single production we’ve seen at the Scottish Rite, however, has been awesome. I never hesitate before taking the family to see a play here because they are always high quality and very enjoyable. The venue itself is beautiful and there doesn’t seem to be a bad seat in the house.

This little gem of a venue is located on the sleepy end of Lavaca just north of The Texas Chili Parlor. It’s got an amazing stage with some backdrops that are over 100 years old!
I love taking my nephew to the plays for kids. Most recently we saw Frog and Toad and it was so awesome!

Saw a show here during Out of Bounds. It’s a really cool building with lots of history. Lots of couches and places to hang out outside the theater, pictures of lots of old people on the wall. Definitely not your average venue!

for a live music venue, this place is great! sound is decent and room set up so we can all see (short people are not so disadvantaged by the tall) the backdrops, costumes and lighting…
parking is not a big hassle and several great pre-​show dinner options…

A nice, if a little strange, place for a rock concert. Plenty of free parking is a plus. Plenty of comfy seating areas if you want to lounge outside of the auditorium. Lots of Freemason pictures and stuff to look at while you’re out there. A very fancy place indeed.
In the auditorium there’s comfortable seating in the back and around the sides. I debated over 2 or 3 stars and went with 3 due to the above good things. The reason this venue doesn’t get a full 5 star rating is it’s major failing, good sound. They have plenty of nice speakers and a large soundboard, however, a good soundboard engineer would be a very welcome addition.

Three free backdrops from which to choose, including a forest! What?
That’s right, if you rent the Scottish Rite Theater for a performance or event they give you a choice of three backdrops. I learned this from the Gourds, who held an awesomely-​fun New Year’s Eve show here. They let their fans help choose … drumroll please … the forest backdrop. It’s red and green and kinda’ hologram-​my. This is befitting considering that it self describes as «21^st century arts, 19^th century opera house.»
As far as a non-​bar venue for music, this place is the bee’s knees. The bathrooms are large, the chandeliers are fancy, and oh, those leather couches. You just kinda sink into them. The makeshift bar had a hard time keeping up with all of the New Year’s Eve drinking needs of the Gourds fans, but they remained cheerful and while standing in the long line you could still hear the music and enjoy the fancy environment.
This was not my first rode at the Scottish Rite, oh no. It was my second … the first event I went to was the UT Law School’s annual theater production, Assault and Flattery where students lampoon one another and their professors. This was a decidedly raucous sit-​down affair, but it was great because they have balcony and floor seating I can’t *actually* remember which of the three free backgrounds they chose, but because the forest is so enchanting I’m currently choosing to selectively remember that it was probably the forest.
Anyway, what I’m really saying is get thee to Scottish Rite Theater, it’s fancy and fun for all kinds of events.

Is it just me or was it sort of funny that in the walls of this former 19^th century opera house turned Scottish Rite (read: Freemason) theater I saw Henry Rollins?
When you walk into the dark hallways you will see imposing oil portraits of grandfatherly figures who must be the keepers of lots of secrets. They don’t fully look you in the eye. There are plush couches and thick carpeting and lamps. Oh if these walls could talk.
The inside of the theater itself is really pretty. I had no idea such a venue existed in Austin. There are 2 levels: floor and balcony. Even with all that seating the place is cozy enough without being too imposing. The only major downside is that the antique wooden seats, though adorable, are very uncomfortable.
At the Henry Rollins show they had a folding table set up outside the theater in the hallway that sold alcohol so it seems that this is possible here though it will probably depend on the show. Scottish Rite Theater does a lot of local plays and such but I wouldn’t be surprised to see broader events coming in the future. Supposedly this is the oldest operating theater in Austin. Now that’s pretty cool.

I had the pleasure to see Mark Kozelek here a week or two ago and it was honestly one of the great hidden gems of a venue. It felt as if I were in a school auditorium with a serious sound system and lighting. The ornamentation of this venue is truly unique and interesting as well. I’d suggest going to any play or show here that you can. It was one of the most intimate shows I’ve had the luck to see in the city. Thank you Transmission Entertainment for using this place for a real intimate setting and thanks for the No Cell phone, no photos, no video rules for this show. I’m sure the artist had more to do with it though. Can’t wait to hopefully see another show here!