Oxford Performing Arts Center is city’s centerpiece of entertainment, education
by Brian Graves
June 18, 2025
The Oxford Performing Arts Center has cemented itself as one of the preeminent entertainment venues in Alabama since its first season in 2013 and is widely credited with raising the curtain on a revitalized downtown.
Staffed by some of the area’s best technicians and stagehands, the OPAC stage now hosts more than 130 events a year between the state-of-the-art 1,215-seat theater and the more intimate 200-seat Studio level.
The performances through the years have been a variety of styles ranging from pop, rock, country, tributes, classical, and Broadway – all selected with the aid of a citizens’ advisory council.
The Atlanta Pops Orchestra also calls OPAC its “Alabama home,” playing several concerts each season.
Tickets are sold without fees and at below-average prices thanks to the generous sponsorship of many individuals and businesses.
OPAC also contributes to public education by annually providing summer theater camps which offer instruction in both the technical and performance sides of theater, and free performances to thousands of school children, giving many their first exposure to the performing arts. Plans are also underway to increase the educational arm of OPAC with the construction of the Alabama Discovery Center & Children’s Museum and school of the arts.
Since its inception in 2022, the Rubato International Piano Competition has drawn dozens of pianists from around the world and continues to bring a new international prestige to the OPAC stage.
“The OPAC staff has done such a professional job in creating the busiest stage in Alabama by hosting some of entertainment’s greatest artists and shows,” said Mayor Alton Craft. “OPAC has not only far surpassed what I thought it could do, but what the whole community thought it could do. We look forward to how the planned Alabama Discovery Center & Children’s Museum and school of the arts will add an even more vibrant educational and tourism aspect to OPAC.”
The Oxford Performing Arts Center is a venue making Oxford into Alabama at its best!