Best theaters in Montgomery County brings lots of choices to mind from the Adventure Theater for children at Glen Echo to Strathmore to the Olney Theater. There are several choices in Montgomery County for children’s theater, musical venues and dramatic performances. Who needs to go to downtown DC when we have so many choices here in Montgomery County!
Children’s Theater Choices in Montgomery County
The best theaters in Montgomery County offer lots of opportunities for children to see a variety of productions from actors on stage to puppet theater. There are even classes and summer camps for children offered in connection with Imagination Stage in Bethesda.
Adventure Theater-MTC
Adventure Theater – MTC in the historic Glen Echo Park is definitely one of the best theaters in Montgomery County! The theater presents professional productions for children and offers training for budding actors and actresses.
Adventure Theatre was founded in 1951 and merged with the Musical Theater Center in 2012 to form Adventure Theatre MTC. Adventure Theatre MTC is the longest-running theater program for children and families in the Washington metropolitan area and has been one of the main attractions at Glen Echo Park since 1971.
The idea of quality theater for children in the Washington, DC metropolitan area was born when a group of women met at their children’s nursery school. They believed that children deserved to experience quality theater designed especially for them. Adventure Theatre opened its first season in February 1952 with a production of “Jack and the Beanstalk” at a local high school. After years of producing shows at various locations, Adventure Theatre found its permanent home at Glen Echo Park. Since 1972, the theater has been in continuous operation, offering seven or eight productions each season.
The Puppet Theater
The Puppet Co. was founded in 1983 by Allan Stevens and Christopher and MayField Piper, as a non-profit puppet theater that uses hand puppets, rod puppets, body puppets, marionettes, and shadow puppets to stage both original works and traditional children’s stories. The Puppet Co. Playhouse, which has been at Glen Echo Park since it was founded, operates in a 250-seat theater designed exclusively for puppet shows. It is the only year-round theater between New York and Atlanta dedicated entirely to the art of puppetry. You can expect professional puppetry productions based on fairy tales and classic children’s literature, plus a variety of Tiny Tots performances designed for children 18 months to 4 years old. Productions change every 4-7 weeks, and performances total more than 300 each year.
Adventure Theater-MTC and the Puppet Theater are both located in the Glen Echo Park at 7300 MacArthur Boulevard, Glen Echo.
Imagination Stage
Imagination Stage offers year-round professional theater for young audiences, and also classes in acting, musical theater and dance for ages 1-18. Productions in the winter of 2025 include Tuck Everlasting, put on by students at Imagination Stage, Paper Dreams, perfect for children as young as one year old and Petite Rouge, about a Cajun Red Riding Hood. Imagination Stage offers class to inspire youth of all ages and abilities to grow as artists and innovators. Spanning acting and musical theatre, dance, and filmmaking, the classes are offered year-round, while camps are held each summer. Imagination Stage is located at 4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda, 301-961-6060,
Best Theaters In Montgomery County, MD
The best theaters in Montgomery County offer a variety of genres from live music, including blues and jazz to world class productions such as A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream at the Olney Theater to King James, a play celebrating sports fandom, friendship and LeBron James.
Bethesda Theater
Formerly a historic art deco movie palace, the venue was home to the Bethesda Blues & Jazz Club until July 2023, when it rebranded to more fully encompass the variety of genres. The blues and jazz haven’t gone away, but now there are also Motown, R&B, rock and comedy acts. Upcoming events include a celebration of Bob Marley’s 80th birthday on February 1st, Ingratitude – A Tribute to Earth, Wind and Fire on March 7th and an Otis Redding Tribute Band.
7719 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, 240-330-4500, bethesdatheater.com
BlackRock Center for the Arts
Established in 2002 as a home for performing and visual arts, the venue has evolved to present concerts by regional, national and international talent plus contemporary theatrical performances and its own professional productions. Best-selling shows have included the Red Hot Chilli Pipers and the Ladies of Hip Hop Drag Show.
12901 Town Commons Drive, Germantown, 301-528-2260, blackrockcenter.org
Cultural Arts Center–Montgomery College
The complex includes a 500-seat theater and concert hall, and a 116-seat lecture hall and lab theater space. See future professionals perfect their craft in student productions, or catch a regional or national touring act, such as the musical show Fairytales on Ice, which covered the stage with a synthetic “ice” surface, allowing performers to skate.
7995 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, 240-567-5775, mcblogs.montgomerycollege.edu/cac
The Fillmore Silver Spring
A spin-off of the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco, the 2,000-capacity venue honors its rock ’n’ roll heritage with vintage posters on the walls and large chandeliers hanging over the dance floor, a nod to the original. In the past, notable acts included Lil Wayne, Ava Max, Bryson Tiller, Brett Young, and Coheed and Cambria.
8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, 301-960-9999, fillmoresilverspring.com
F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre
The 428-seat theater is the home stage for community groups including Rockville Musical Theatre, Rockville Little Theatre, Rockville Civic Ballet, Victorian Lyric Opera Co. and Rockville Chorus. National touring groups also perform there occasionally.
603 Edmonston Drive, Rockville, 240-314-8690, rockvillemd.gov/382/F-Scott-Fitzgerald-Theatre
Olney Theatre Center
Founded in 1938 as a summer playhouse, Olney Theatre Center (OTC) now produces year-round world and American premieres of plays and musicals, and reimaginations of familiar titles; presents the work of leading companies; tours nationally and locally; teaches students of all ages; and mentors the next generation of theatre makers. For more than 8 decades, OTC has brought impactful theater performance and education to the community in central Maryland.
Over the years, some of the biggest names in theater and film have appeared on Olney’s stages, including Tallulah Bankhead, Helen Hayes, Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn, Bob Fosse, Eve Arden, Eva Gabor, Burl Ives, Jose Ferrer, Carol Channing, Olivia d’Havilland, Tony Randall, Paulette Goddard, Dorothy and Lillian Gish, Jane Seymour, Olympia Dukakis, Sir Ian McKellen.
Olney Theatre is now the cultural anchor of a rapidly changing region and serves one of the most diverse, best educated, and wealthiest counties in the country. The Olney area was once a rural farming community with a unique Quaker heritage. Now the area is occupied by every kind of family that makes up 21st Century America, along with major corporations, shopping districts, civic associations, non profit organizations and a diverse collection of houses of worship. 2001 Olney Sandy Spring Road, Olney, 301-924-3400, olneytheatre.org
Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center
On the Rockville campus of Montgomery College, the center hosts concerts, dance and theatrical productions by student, community and touring groups. Performances by the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine; Dublin Irish Dance; and Bruce Campbell all sold out in the 2022-2023 season. 51 Mannakee St., Rockville, 240-567-5301, mcblogs.montgomerycollege.edu/reppac
Round House Theatre
With more than 200 nominations for Helen Hayes Awards and 42 wins, Round House Theatre presents a six-show season of new plays, modern classics and musicals, including many world and regional premieres. The Round House Theater also offers classes and camps for children as young as 3 years old at their education center at 925 Wayne Avenue in Silver Spring.
4545 East West Highway, Bethesda, 240-644-1100, roundhousetheatre.org
Silver Spring Black Box Theatre
The intimate space is home to the Theatre Consortium of Silver Spring, which includes resident companies. The theater hosts everything from magic, improv and stand-up comedy shows to plays, concerts, dance shows and youth performances.
8641 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, 301-588-8279, silverspringblackbox.com
Silver Spring Stage
Silver Spring Stage is a community theater with a mission to present contemporary plays. It produces a season of full-length productions and a one-act festival. The 2022-2023 season included Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Baker, an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and The Revolutionists by Lauren Gunderson.
10145 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, 301-593-6036, ssstage.org
Strathmore
The Music Center presents major international folk, blues, pop, R&B, jazz, world and classical music, and show tunes artists. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the National Philharmonic also perform there. Popular shows of the 2022-2023 season included Afro-Cuban All Stars, The Manhattan Transfer, Mandy Patinkin and Angélique Kidjo.
5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda
The Mansion, built in 1899, consists of the 100-seat Dorothy M. and Maurice C. Shapiro Music Room, a tearoom, The Shop at Strathmore and art galleries.
10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda, 301-581-5100, strathmore.org

