Mac Rating: 5.00 | Votes: 1 | Date: 10/07/2026 05:03:00

The Strand Ballroom and Theatre is a nearly 2,000-capacity live music venue at 79 Washington Street in downtown Providence, Rhode Island, making it the city's oldest surviving theatre. Designed by architect Thomas J. Hill Pierce and built for seventy-five thousand dollars, it opened on June 12, 1915, as a vaudeville house. The Strand became the Paramount Theatre from 1930 to 1934 when it converted to talking pictures, then reverted to its original name. It closed as a cinema in 1978, briefly became an adult movie theatre, and then found new life in the music world. From 2003 to 2017 the space operated as Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, one of New England's most beloved rock clubs. After extensive renovations it relaunched as The Strand Ballroom and Theatre in September 2017. Over its century-plus life the stage has hosted Johnny Cash, Ice Cube, Kings of Leon, Oasis, Notorious B.I.G., Pantera, Kendrick Lamar, The Strokes, and in its vaudeville days, The Three Stooges. The venue sits directly behind the historic Biltmore Hotel.