THE MUSIC HALL

The Music Hall is an 895-seat theater located at 28 Chestnut Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Built in 1878, it is the oldest operating theater in New Hampshire and the 14th-oldest in the United States. The organization also operates The Music Hall Lounge, a smaller second venue nearby.

The Music Hall presents a year-round program of concerts, film screenings, comedy, author readings, and theater. The venue draws approximately 130,000 visitors per year. The historic theater features 516 orchestra seats and 379 horseshoe balcony seats, providing an intimate audience experience for a wide range of performances.

The theater was built in 1878 by members of the prominent Peirce family to replace Portsmouth's previous entertainment venue, which had burned the year before. It premiered to a full house on January 30, 1878. In its early decades, the hall hosted the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show, and touring Broadway productions. The building was expanded by ale tycoon Frank Jones in 1901.