Fountain Square Theatre

I recently rented the Fountain Square Theatre for a corporate event I was organizing. You can rent the main floor, balcony and mezzanine during the week for a grand total of $ 750. What a steal!
From floor plan to food choices, their team of events coordinators made the process of getting everything organized extremely simple. They were also quite responsive to emails and phone calls.
My first thoughts were to have a «Discover Fountain Square» experience, complete with food catered in from Kuma’s Corner and drinks provided by New Day Meadery, Fountain Square Brewery and Handcrafted Beverages. I was disappointed to discover that FST did not allow outside food, and booze from local establishments would result in a hefty up-​charge. So, I didn’t have much choice other than to stick with generic beer and the food options provided by their in-​house catering staff. I get it, I suppose, they have to make their money SOMEWHERE.
I arrived early the day of the event to make sure everything was ready to go, and the space looked wonderful. I even noticed how miraculously clean the floors were (which I noticed because my feet eventually got really tired and I started wandering around in my socks). The staff was working on setting out the food I had selected, and the presentation was beautiful. FST’s food, by the way, ended up being delicious, and I received many compliments on the chicken wings and pulled pork I had decided to serve.
I had been notified in advance that the band I had hired would need to bring their own PA system, as the venue had very little AV equipment. Day of, I set up a PowerPoint presentation which was to loop until we began formal presentations. Not long after I got this set up did the projector start burning out repeatedly. After deciding the issue was going to continue, the FST staff took swift action to run out and grab a new projector for my group. While I would have preferred the venue to have a backup onsite, I appreciated the gesture.
After formal presentations came to a close, the band began and as did Atomic Duckpin Bowling, which I had rented for three hours. The music sounded great, and folks really enjoyed the experience of bowling downstairs.
The total cost for venue rental, bowling, food, A/​V and beverages ended up being a couple thousand dollars less than what I estimated, which I was very happy about. Additionally, I was able to get a credit toward my final balance after I had prepaid for more folks than ended up registering for the event. Many places might not be willing to work with something like that.
I got a ton of compliments on hosting the event at such a cool location. And despite a couple of very minor hiccups and the fact that you have to stick with the FST menu, I would absolutely recommend this venue for an event! Cost-​effective, a fun space and a great menu!

Swing Dance Fridays are a blast from the past but yet a modern day feel. Fountain Square Theatre is a beautiful setting and a piece of history so it is the perfect atmosphere for this event. There are many guest bands but one of my favorites is the Ball State Jazz band. This group not only play great music but are extremely fun to watch. There are HS swing dance kids in attendance and it goes up from there. Some dancers are seasoned while others are still learning. It is great night and if you go, you won’t be disappointed.

The entirety of my handful of experiences at Fountain Square Theatre is from the Friday night swing dancing events that take place on the 2^nd and 4^th Fridays of each month, but that is enough to get high praise from me.
First of all, the theatre itself is great. It is made for hosting events that involve dancing. There is a bunch of space towards the back of the main floor with plenty of round tables to seat about 8 people each, and in front of that is the enormous wooden dance floor. The large stage sits above that and the large swing bands that they have play regularly have no issues fitting up there. The back of the room has a large balcony that overlooks the dance floor and has a couple large open rooms on the second floor to be used for whatever you feel like. The ornate molding and amazing paintings on the walls make this feel like it could just as easily be used as a space to immerse you in a Shakespeare reenactment as it could be the set of a Disney fairytale. It really is worth at least taking a look on their website to see the pictures of this magnificent place. My only complaint is that the bathroom facilities here are in serious need of an update. Their large bar in the back is very accommodating and large enough to handle a big crowd, and drink prices aren’t too bad for events like this. This is definitely a space that we should all be thankful somebody had the foresight to ensure that it lasted through Fountain Squares rougher times so that we can all enjoy it now.
The swing dancing night itself is a lot of fun. It is one of the more unique events in the city, and draws a large crowd. They even put on an hour lesson before the band starts so that even somebody with no experience can come in and pick up enough dance knowledge to have a great time for the main event. As of this review, the price for the 3 hours of dancing to live music is $ 10 a person, and to attend the lesson before hand is an extra $ 2. Not a bad price to pay for 4 hours of amazing entertainment with great music. The swing dancing is all ages, so anybody can come attend. The crowd seems predominantly made up of young adults, but it is certainly welcoming to anybody. It’s an event where everybody in the place is having fun, and there are a lot of great dancers to watch and learn from. On the busiest of nights, it can get a little crowded, but most of the time there is plenty of room to show off your dance moves.
The rest of the building houses a handful of restaurants and bars, and there is plenty more in the surrounding area. Parking is mostly held to street parking but I think all of it is free. There is a large public lot not too far from here, but it can fill up on busier nights. There is also plenty of bike parking in the Fountain Square area.
If you haven’t been here yet, put it on your calendar now.

A little piece of Disney World is tucked inside the walls of the Fountain Square Theater on Prospect Street– at least that’s what I told my fun company immediately after entering the charming and historical building — — and several times thereafter. Lucky for me, Unilocalers Stephanie and Andrew D. persisted on getting us all together to go swing dancing at one of the Theater’s 2^nd and 4^th Saturday Swing Nights.
Please note that I have absolutely no swing dancing experience, so this beautiful gathering is open to all. And by «all», I mean everyone from ages 21 to 60 — dressed up/​casual, experienced/​not experienced, sober/​drunk, etc. My step touch skills were looking mighty miserable when the Swingmeister straight out of Springfield, Illinois asked me to dance. Scenario: Me: «Oh no, no — you don’t want to dance with me — I have no idea what I’m doing (not to mention, I have about a foot on ya)!» But with this fella «No» was unacceptable. Before I knew it he had me out on the dance floor swinging left and right. Fortunately, I had a Long Island under my belt at this point and was willing to go along with whatever he thought fit the music. It was such an amazing thing to completely let go of control and let this stranger take the lead. From his suspenders to his willingness to drive hours and hours twice a month for the Theater’s Swing Night, this gentleman sparked a new interest in swing for me.
I can’t wait to take other people to experience this fun mesh of demographics tucked away right in Fountain Square.
Note to self: Next time Andrew D. asks if I want to pay $ 2 extra for the pre-​event swing lessons, stop being a tight ass and whip out the 8 quarters.
admission: $ 10

Grab a good dress or skirt with some heels and come over for some swing dancing! It is every 2^nd and 4^th Saturday and always a ton of people show up from all over the place. They give lessons for an hour, or you can opt out for a little less. There is a full bar which is nice and plenty of seating.
I really enjoy that our neighborhood has something funky like this going on. The music is always good and fun to dance too and it’s a great people watch place too! I also like that there are all sorts of people, young, old, single, married, party people, people watchers, etc. etc. It’s by far one of the big draws of the Square and I really appreciate the great atmosphere going on here.
I definitely recommend taking the lessons if you haven’t done swing before, but there are plenty of people there to help you or grab you and dance with you. So, grab your friends and dress up for a night of swing sometime!

This is a gorgeous landmark building in Fountain Square.
I am writing this review not for the theater, but the rooftop bar, which is one of my favorite spots in all of Indianapolis. The view is great, and I love Brian the bartender — ask him for a tequila and cranberry juice, the «what she’s having».
The duckpin bowling is fun too, but kind of expensive at $ 30/​hour. The shoes are free though!

Beautiful Venue that hosts live Swing band every other Friday. Perfect for dates and birthday parties, and there is a beginning lesson too! The instructors are super nice, and everyone just has a great time, all for a measly $ 10! could not ask for more.
It can get a little hot though

Some friends of mine got married here in March. They had to change their venue last minute and while I never saw the original venue, I was really impressed with the Fountain Square Theater.
The walls are painted so that you feel like you’re in a courtyard in Spain and the sky is painted like, well, a sky. Little lights in the ceiling gave off the appearance of stars when the room was dark.
I’m not sure if the Theater itself provided the catering at the wedding but if they did then I give them a solid four stars — delicious food in a great buffet setup that was easy to navigate with a lot of different options. The servers were extremely friendly… except for the bartender but whatevs, when you’re working an open bar at a wedding with a lot of drunk people I guess you reserve the right to be a bit of a grouch.

There’s a lot going on at Fountain Square. The theater – which is the part that I’m most familiar with – is cute. I think it’s supposed to look the courtyard of a European villa (or something); it’s painted with a sky-​and-​trees mural, and there are building facades all around the walls. I wish I had a good picture of it, which would be much more helpful than my blundering attempts at a description, but I don’t.
What I usually come down here for is swing dancing, which generally takes place at least one Friday per month. There’s always a live band, and people of all ages and levels break it down on the dance floor. Even if you’re a beginner, or don’t have a partner, you’ll still have a great time here – people are super friendly, understanding and happy to dance with people they don’t know. It’s a really nice little circle.
There’s also duckpin bowling inside the theater building, which is wonderful for those of us who like to bowl but whose dainty little wrists have trouble handling the standard sized balls. If you get hungry, there’s a café/​bistro and an old-​school diner with a soda fountain. And if you’re planning a huge event, you can rent out the theater – with catering, too.