Reno Nightlife

The Theater Coalition provides live theater in Reno. The Lear Theater is named for one of its early benefactors (not Shakespeare's King Lear, as I thought). Built in 1938, it's currently being renovated and prepared for future performances. It will have 425 seats. Donations are needed.

If you enjoy live theater then you're in for a treat at Reno's Riverfront Theatre. For community theater, the caliber of acting, singing and direction is superb. Their selection of shows has been wholesome and delightful. If you can manage to attend one of their performances, you will have a fond memory of your visit to Reno.

Even though the setting is relaxed and very casual, you'll get a high-energy performance full of talent and enthusiasm. In recent months I've seen "Gypsy" and "Forever Patsy Cline" - two delightful, traditional musicals. This is a small, intimate theatre - you can feel the intensity the cast puts into their performances. And these shows are wholesome entertainment - not like many casino shows that open with a toilet-mouth comedian. I liked casual atmosphere - no Tuxedo-clad Maitre d's with hands out for tips - just casual open seating and all seats are good. Don't expect fancy sets or lavish costumes - not at the Riverfront Theatre. But you won't be paying fancy prices either. Ticket prices are only $15-20. Seats are often, but not always, available right up to show time. The theater is in the midst of downtown Reno, an easy walk from all central casino hotels. The Riverfront Theater does not have it's own web site (shame!), but you can find performance details at other web sites shown below.
The management of this community theater is as casual as the venue, so I recommend you call ahead to confirm show times.

Dress Code: Verrrry casual.

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The main attraction of Reno are its casinos. There are half a dozen casinos downtown, 3 of which, Circus Circus, El Dorado and the Silver Legacy are interconnected. Another half dozen "resort" casinos are scattered throughout the city.

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like in other casino oriented areas of Las Vegas and Atlantic City, Reno has its share of strip clubs which are legalized (strip clubs in the US are bland, mainly just topless pole dancing and lap dance for a song for $ 25 unlike in other countries where strip club really means strip club plus something more! pls see my atlantic city and las vegas tips). here there is a no touch policy so that touching the babes will lead you to jail, strip clubs are different from prostitution clubs ok! and these prostitution clubs are not located in reno proper since they are banned here (underground escort services still proliferates). still these kinds of clubs are popular for single adult males in the reno area. As with other clubs, they have an $ 10 entrance charge except when you are a regular patron.

Dress Code: no slippers allowed, the main attire must be smart casual and no picture and video taking inside, you must surrender your cameras and mobile phones at the counter.

If your looking for a place to hang out, enjoy some conversation, and listen to live music try Roxy's Lounge in the Eldorado Hotel and Casino. It has a pleasant atmosphere and often has live performances in the evenings. These are often jazz. You may end up paying a little more for a drink than in a typical pub though.

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I went to Reno to see my friend vocalist Sony Holland http://www.sonyholland.com
(little plug there) performing at the Tahoe Ballroom in the Peppermill Casino. The room is large and probably has a capacity of about 250 or so. The stage lighting is great which I was surprised to see. Most venues are too dark or have bad lighting but this room had exceptional stage lighting. The sound was right on key. The acoustics were perfect. Great seating. Whether in front or the back, it didn't matter. You had a great seat. What I really liked about it was there was a bar outside the room where you could buy your drinks and bring them into the ballroom with you. I loved this because most venues have waitstaff running around the room during the shows which gets extremely annoying when you are trying to enjoy the performance. This was well though out. The CD table after the show, which I was working, was right outside the ballroom and long enough where we were able to spread out the cd's, advertising materials, and sign autographs etc... A great experience and one that I will hopefully experience again.

Dress Code: I would say there really isn't a dress code as there were people dressed up and some dressed down. There were people in jeans. Most people however were dressed appropriately.

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Hot August Nights is an annual celebration of the music, cars and lifestyle of the 1950's and 1960's in America and it features over 5,500 classic cars, bands from those era's and a chance to learn about life before computers, color TV's and emission control devices on cars.

Places to observe the sights and sounds of Hot August Nights include the Atlantis Casino on South Virginia Street, the Peppermill Casino on South Virginia Street, downtown Reno near Harrah's & the Silver Legacy & El Dorado, the Reno Hilton on Mill Street at US 395, and downtown Sparks near John Ascuaga's Nugget Casino and Karl's Silver Club on Victorian Square.

If you plan to visit, you cannot reserve a hotel room too soon as the cities are sold out almost a year in advance for this event.

Dress Code: There is no specific dress code but wearing period costumes or clothes are always appreciated.

There is a couple that offers ghost tours of Reno. This year (2005) tickets are available via the El Dorado Casino ticket office. I'd have to assume this will happen again next year. The other night I was at the Levy Mansion when the tour came through and they had at least 40 people.

The Levy Mansion (121 California Street) is one of the stops on the tour. I took this image during the day so you could see details, but it is at night the most activity is known to happen. This mansion was built in 1906 by William Levy, an influential business man in old Reno. Some people would be interested in seeing this Classic Revival mansion not just because its a spooky place, but because it's on the National Register of Historic Places. It's a beautiful building!

If you come to Reno at another time of the year, the Levy Mansion is home to the Metro Salon & Day Spa. You can see what they offer for services on their website at... http://www.metrosalonanddayspa.com/ (Ghost tours is not on their list of services, by the way.)

I also attended a seance hosted by medium that owns the website Spirits-Speak website in the Levy Mansion. She thinks there are between 6-8 spirits in the house. It was an interesting evening if you believe in this kind of thing. As an author of paranormal fiction, I was there! Call it research. Most of my published work is about vampires though.

There was a party going on when I was there hosted by the Metro Spa folks so I couldn't hear much but loud music. But, I did feel a chill and the very top of my head hurt. I've never had a headache focused in that spot before. That was interesting. Several individuals involved in the seance had stronger reactions than I did.

Dress Code: Sneakers a must... so you can sneak past the ghosts. Actually, since the the Levy Mansion is haunted on the 3rd floor and the stair cases are long and steep, you'll be thankful for comfortable walkign shoes on this tour.