Please enjoy the “Artists & Productions” timeline documenting performances held at the famous performance hall. As research proceeds, the list will continue to be updated. Everyone is invited to share information, such as ticket stubs, images, posters or other items that could verify productions or events. Feel free to contact and or share details by emailing (Kelly@lmaky.com).
Artists & Productions
1929: Opening Ceremonies for the community public auditorium and WWI War Memorial are held.
1930s: Mae West in “Diamond Lil” the stage play
1931: Sergei Rachmaninoff
1931: Lawrence Tibbett & Stewart Willie
1933: Ignace Paderewski
1934: George Gershwin
1935: Ethel Barrymore, George M. Cohan and Helen Hays
1937 – 1946: Louisville Civic Orchestra
1939: Gladys Swarthout
1939: Marian Anderson
1939: Maxine Sullivan and Her Broadway Show
1939: Harlan Leonard and His Orchestra
1939: Sue Hastings’ Marionettes
1943: William G. Meyer Presents Jose’ Iturbi
1943: Boris Karloff in Arsenic and Old Lace
1943: The General Platoff: Don Cossack Chorus
1943: Charles L. Wagner Presents FAUST: An Opera in Four Acts
1944: Philadelphia Opera Company Presents “The Bat”
1944: 4th War Loan Revue and Radio Broadcast WHAS
1944: St. X Music Department’s Band Concert & Minstrel Show
1945: Louisville Girls High School Commencement
1948: Arthur Rubenstein
1948: Gladys Swarthoust
1948: Jean Parker
1948: Lon Chaney
1948 – 1958: Louisville Philharmonic Society
1948-2019: The Thoroughbreds
1950: Judith Evelyn in “A Street Car Names Desire” stage play
1953: South Pacific
1954: The King and I
- Patricia Morison
- Leonard Graves
- Terry Saunders
1954 – 1974: WHAS Crusade for Children 1954- 1974 (order of appearance)
- Pat O’Brien and Pedro Gonzalez
- Don Cherry
- Eydie Gorme
- Professor Backwards (Jimmy Edmonson)
- Rosemary DeCamp
- Hal Leroy
- Leo Carrillo
- Ish Kabibble
- Cab Calloway
- Steve Lawrence
- Captain Kangaroo
- Zippy the Chimp
- Homer and Jethro
- Sergeant Preston (Richard Simmons)
- Jonah Jones
- Jimmy Nelson
- Marvin Miller
- Bobby Hackett
- Gretchen Wyler
- Lee Marvin
- Peg Leg Bates
- Popeye
- Dick Roman
- Molly Bee
- John Bubbles
- Johnny Nash
- The Eddie Heywood Trio
- Buffalo Bill
- The Chipmunks
- Cozy Cole
- Henry “Red” Allen
- The Irvin Twins
- June Valli
- Johnny Johnson
- Don Goldie
- Jack Haskell
- Bobby Lewis
- Doc Severinsen
- Grady Nutt
- Paula Wayne
- Clark Terry and Marilyn Maye
- Johnny Hartman
- Jo Ann Hale
- Linda Bennett
- Judy Marshall
- Sherry Sizemore
- Diana Trask
- Hal Frazier
- Bobby Lewis
- Chuck Woolery
- Merv Griffin
- Clyde McCoy
- Urbie Green
- Frank Linkenberg
- No national entertainers participated in Crusade 19 ( 1972 )
- Marla Adams
- McLean Stevenson
- Jo Anne Worley
- Tommy Leonetti
- Mary Stuart
- Arnie Lawrence
1955: Norman Ganz’ Jazz at the Philharmonic, Featuring:
- Ella Fitzgerald
- The Gene Krupa Quartet
- Buddy Rich
- Lester Young
- Dizzy Gillespie
- Oscar Peterson
- Flip Eldridge
- Illinois Jacquet
- Ray Brown
- Herb Ellis
1957: Bill Haley and His Comets
1956: The Modern Jazz Quartet
1959: The Crickets, Dion & The Belmonts, Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Sardo, Frankie Avalon, Fabian (Buddy Holly scheduled to perform on February 11, 1959, but died in a plane crash on February 3, 1959)
1959: Fabian
1959: Frankie Sardo
1959: Jimmy Clanta
1960: World of Suzie Wong
1960: “The Chuckles of 1960,” county teenage talent show featuring original song and dance acts with a Melange and Modern Vaudeville theme.
1962: Dave Brubeck
1964: Tickets to the Rolling Stones show cost $4. (Collectors today are offering $5,000 for the show’s poster)
1966: Lovin’ Spoonful
Mid-70s: The new Louisville Ballet begins performing
1972: Roberta Flack
1972: Hollies & Raspberries with Danny O’ Keefe
1973: Super Session featuring Mike Bloomfield & Friends
1973: Slade & Marshall Tucker Band
1974: Aerosmith
1974: Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes
1974: Irish Rovers
1974: Shawn Phillips
1974: Elephant’s Memory
1975: Alice Cooper
1975: Jimmy Buffett
1975: John Prine
1975: Kiss and Rush
1976: John Mellencamp & Tiger Force
1977: Supertramp
1977: Billy Joel
1977: The Babys, Piper
1977: Burton Cummings
1977: Weather Report & Al Di Meola
1977: David Allan Coe
1978: U.K.
1978: Leon Redbone & Tom Waits
1978: Midnight Star
1978: Cactus with Bob Seger
1978: The Outlaws, Travers Band, Head East
1978: Starz
1978: Ramsey Lewis
1978: Patti Smith Group performs.
1978: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
1978: Martin Mull
1978: Mikhail Baryshnikov performs with the Louisville Ballet.
1978: Tom Waits
1979: Triumph
1979: Elvis Costello & The Attractions, The Robinoos
1979: Alex Bevan, Phoebe Snow
1979: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Fabulous Poodles
1980: The Peking Opera performs
1980: Robert Palmer
1980: The Pretenders
1981: Leon Russell & New Grass Revival
1981: Boxcar Willie with Robyn Young & Allen McCoy
1982: UFO and Saxon
1982: Rainbow, Iron Maiden, 38 Special
1983: The ballet leaves for the new Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts.
1983: Servant, DeGarmo & Key, Randy Matthews
1984 -1985: Ebony Fashion Fair
1985: Steve Taylor
1986: Stryper
1986: Arlo Guthrie and John Price
1986: REM
1986: Michael W. Smith
1989: John Prine & David Bromberg
1989: Violent Femmes
1989: Petra
1996: Poet Ron Whitehead hosts the Official Hunter S. Thompson Tribute. Johnny Depp, Roxanne Pulitzer and David Amram attend. Writer Paul McDonald says, “It was a wild evening” and that Thompson was “blasting anyone within close range with a fire extinguisher.”
1996: Warren Zevon
1997: Ani DiFranco
2004: Shelly Garrett’s “Beauty Shop: Under New Management”
2010: University of Louisville National Pan-Hellenic Council’s Annual “Homecoming Step Show”
2010: Miss Kentucky Teen USA and Miss Kentucky USA Pageants
2016-2019: Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker
2018-2019: Stage One Family Theatre Presents “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” & “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing”
2018: State Ballet Theatre of Russia’s Swan Lake
2019: Louisville Children’s Film Festival presented premiere of “Through the Rainbow,” award-winning and popular short film from the “Children’s Film Festival Seattle.”
2019: Honor Flight Bluegrass Presents WWII 75th D-Day Celebration Concert
2019: Louisville Chorus
2020: The auditorium hosts professional boxing for the first time with Carlos Dixon, WBC Youth Super Featherweight
2021: WLOU 104.7 Father’s Day Concert featuring Delfonics, The Ultimate Show Band (Don Wright, Robin Shaw, Jocque Smith & Bennie Jay).
2021: Louisville Chorus performs a memorial concert honoring 20th Anniversary Tribute of 9/11 on Saturday, September 11, 2021.
2021: Kids Art Academy Tiny Tykes and Youth Repertory Troupe perform “A Tale of Two Plays (Goldilocks on Trial & The Little Mermaid Jr.).
2021: TRANSITION the Stage Play premieres in Louisville with two performances of the production by Director/Actor Angelo Robinson.
2021: Kentucky Muscle Championships, a top-rated IFBB PRO event with world-class competitors, participated to qualify for the 2022 Olympia Competition.
2021: “A Night of Soul” concert starring Freddie Jackson with Shirley Murdock, Keyona LaShawn and The Sheryl Rouse Band.
2021: “Justice on Trial: The Stage Play” produced by Chad Lawson Cooper and Harry Lennix features Alan Conley, Alicia Robinson Cooper, Troy Escoda, Jeff Majors, Leofric Thomas.
2021: “It’s A Pilcher Pipe Organ Holiday Concert” featuring award-winning organist Margaret Dickison with Tim Jones, Timothy Baker and David Pilkinton playing seasonal arrangements on the World’s Largest Pipe Organ.
2021: “Christmas Wonderland” was presented by LMPD Resources Officers for students and their families attending local schools. Timothy Baker played a festive arrangement on the World’s Largest Pilcher Pipe Organ” followed by Presentation Academy’s Pres Girl Choir who performed a holiday concert with special guest, Santa Claus.
2022: Songwriter Shadwick Wilde and his band Quiet Hollers shot the music video for their fourth studio album at the auditorium. The uniqueness of the historic performance hall provided a background for “Addicted,” featuring Scott Carney of Wax Fang on the Theremin, who also directed the video.
2022: “A NIght of Soul” returns with The Whispers and Sheryl Rouse for an evening of class.
2022: “CloZet Confessions: The Stage Play” premieres at the auditorium for a memorable performance. Award-winning producer and playwright, Renza Yarbrough-Bing also stars in the visionary production.
2022: Miss Black Kentucky USA debuts at the auditorium with immense support from the community and sponsors. Fifteen outstanding contestants competed for scholarships and other prizes.