Entertainment -Performing Arts

• Actors Theatre has received international recognition for its Humana Festival of New American Plays, held each February and March, as well as for regular-season offerings highlighted by sharp scripts and polished, professional productions.
• Kentucky Center for the Arts is the performance home of many of the city's major arts organizations. The KCA also produces programming of its own, ranging from the Bank One Lonesome Pine Specials (featuring music from around the world) to the KCA New Masters series featuring classical entertainment. Performances are held in Whitney Hall, the Bomhard Theater, the Boyd Martin Experimental (MeX) Theater and Clark-Todd Hall.
• Louisville Ballet's headquarters and studio are located 315 East Main. The company boasts one of the largest per-capita subscription bases in the country, and brings in renowned national and international performers while producing its own series of works each season.
• The Louisville Orchestra, which is headquartered at 300 West Main, offers a variety of musical series. These include the MasterWorks and Coffee Concerts series (classical music), the Louisville Pops (popular music), NightLites (light classics) and OrKIDStra. Most performances are held in Whitney Hall at the Kentucky Center for the Arts. The orchestra also performs at the Louisville Palace Theatre and the W.L. Lyons Brown Theatre.
• PNC Bank Broadway Series has for more than two decades brought big-name Broadway stage hits to Louisville. In 2000, they'll include Titanic, Cabaret and Ragtime. Performances are staged in the Kentucky Center for the Arts' Whitney Hall.
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Nightlife

• Club X at 303 E. Main St.,
  is a new addition to the downtown club scene. It features high-energy recorded dance music with a DJ.
• Connection at 130 S. Floyd St.
  features five bars and a showroom floor that accommodates 500 dancers (and female-impersonator revues) shaking it to DJ-driven music. The club recently added an upscale bar, Doc’s, that features music videos and an Egyptian theme.
• Coyote's Music & Dance Hall at 2^nd and Liberty St.,
  offers a variety of styles of country music, ranging from the legendary Merle Haggard to the Dixie Chicks. Coyote's offers free country line-dancing lessons Wednesday through Friday, and on most Thursday nights features some of the hottest music out of Nashville. On Sundays the club hosts an alcohol-free show for ages 13 and up.
• Sparks at 104 W. Main St.,
  was once primarily a gay club, Sparks has grown to encompass a variety of styles. The club features two rooms, each with its own bar. The back room features the latest techno and jungle sounds. The front room, which is smaller, usually features a band (occasionally touring national acts), and Saturdays are hip-hop nights.
• Stevie Ray's Blues Bar at 230 E. Main St.,
  is another prime blues spot in Louisville. Stevie Ray's books local, regional and national blues acts and attracts a sophisticated, knowledgeable crowd.
• Zena's at 122 W. Main St.,
  582-3074, has been a Louisville blues and jazz institution for decades. Favorite performers include Tanita Gaines and the Accused and Smoketown Red and his So-Called Blues Band.
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Art Galleries

• Galerie Hertz at 327 E. Market St.,
  showcases contemporary, realist and surreal paintings, drawings and sculpture in a unique post-Civil-War warehouse. Roughly half of the works are by local and regional artists.
• Swanson Cralle East Market at 638 E. Market St.,
  has regularly changing exhibits of contemporary fine art with a backyard urban-sculpture garden.
• Vine Gallery at 620 E. Market St.,
  gallery features works by local, national and international artists in painting, fiber, mixed media and large-scale public sculpture. A Twice-Told Cafe coffee bar shares space with the gallery.
• Zephyr Gallery at 610 E. Market St.,
  is a lively cooperative gallery featuring an eclectic variety of fine art by local and regional artists.
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Restaurants

• Bearno’s Pizza at 131 W. Main St.,
  offers some of the best pizza in town — in addition to stromboli sandwiches, lasagna and spaghetti.
• Deke's Marketplace Grill at 301 W. Market St.
  offers such favorites as paella, jambalaya, Jamaican pork chops and a spicy tortellini diablo
• Joe's Crab Shack at 131 E. River Rd.,
  offers stupendous crab served in a raucous "don't worry, be happy" atmosphere.
• Mayan Gypsy at 624 E. Market St.,
  offers Yucatan specialties that are Mexican food transposed into a new and more pleasing key — including the city’s most pleasing array of vegetable side dishes.
• Old Spaghetti Factory at 235 W. Market St.,
  offers inexpensive and plentiful pasta dishes, which draws locals here in droves.
• Restaurant at Actors Theatre at 316 W. Main St.,
  is open during performances. The seasonally changing menu has enough to tempt you even when you’ve got no theatrical plans.
• Star of Louisville at 2^nd St. and River Rd.,
  offers dining cruises on the waters of the Ohio River aboard a 130-foot boat.
• The Artistic Catering Grande Dame Café at 815 E. Market St.,
  offers a tasty, beautifully presented buffet in this whimsical downtown cafe.
• The Flagship, at The Galt House, 4^th St. and River Rd.,
  which along with a view of the River, offers an inventive, seasonal menu that will certainly excite the senses.
• Twice Told Café at 620 E. Market St.,
  offers excellent coffee, sandwiches and art at the Vine Gallary’s new café.
• Towboat Annie’s River Café at 210 West River Rd.,
  offers a laid-back meal of diner favorites on the Ohio River.
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Waterfront Park Waterfront Park, along the Ohio River in downtown Louisville, is a $60 million recreational area that includes a 14-acre Great Lawn for picnics and gatherings, and miles of walking and biking paths.
A marina, shops, restaurants and a residential development area also planned.
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Slugger Field
Louisville Slugger Field will be the newest addition to the $60 million Waterfront Park. The Louisville Riverbats will play their season-opener in the new stadium when it opens April 12, 2000.
Some of the features are:

• 12,500 permanent seats + room for 2,000 people on outfield berms
• Natural-grass field
• Children’s play area
• Picnic area
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Muhammad Ali Center
The site for the proposed Muhammad Ali Center is on the West Belvedere, directly behind the Kentucky Center for the Arts. The multimillion-dollar state-of-the-art facility is being designed by Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership.
The Center will include:

• An interactive museum
• An institute promoting good sportmanship
• Retreats aimed at helping young people develop self esteem
• A symposium hall
• A community garden.
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Extreme Sports
After successfully hosting the four-day X Trials in 1999, the City of Louisville has designated two acres located along I-65 at Witherspoon and Clay streets as the site for a new extreme sports park.
Features include:

• 20,000 square feet of outdoor ramps, railings, steps and other configurations
• 20,000 square feet of similar features inside a Quonset-hut structure
• Spectator seating, restrooms, a concession stand and lights

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