Riverside Theatre Visitor Guide, Vero Beach, Florida

Riverside Theatre is at 3250 Riverside Park Drive, Vero Beach, FL 32963, inside the city's Riverside Park (Riverside Theatre), on the beachside east of the Merrill Barber bridge (Vero Beach Museum of Art).

The theatre shares Riverside Park with the Vero Beach Museum of Art, whose directions page gives the simplest drive: from I-95 exit 147 and US 1, follow State Road 60 east to the beachside, cross the Merrill Barber bridge and turn right at the first traffic light into Riverside Park (Vero Beach Museum of Art). The museum is at 3001 Riverside Park Drive (Vero Beach Museum of Art).

The park itself is a City of Vero Beach facility. The city lists Riverside Park at 3200 Riverside Park Drive, contact the Recreation Department at 772-567-2144, and names boat ramps, a museum, a theater, a playground, a walking track, tennis courts, picnic shelters and parking among its features (City of Vero Beach). For a Riverside Theatre patron that means the grounds outside the box office are a public park with its own rules, set by the city rather than the theatre.

Questions about a seat or an order go to the Riverside Theatre box office at 772-231-6990 or [email protected]; the administration office is (772) 231-5860, open Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Riverside Theatre contact page).

Riverside Theatre's 2026 to 2027 season has six productions on two stages, opening October 15, 2026, and closing May 9, 2027 (Riverside Theatre season page).

The season alternates its two professional stages. My Vaudeville Man! is a two-person musical about the vaudeville performer Jack Donahue and his mother; The Mouse and the Mustache imagines the 1946 partnership of Walt Disney and Salvador Dali on the animated short Destino; The Light in the Piazza, set in 1950s Florence, is shared with Palm Beach Dramaworks; and Hairspray is set in 1962 Baltimore (Riverside Theatre). The schedule puts two shows on the Riverside Theatre calendar at once in late January and again in March 2027, when Waxlax and Stark runs overlap.

The six productions are not the whole Riverside Theatre calendar. Riverside Children's Theatre added education and programming for children in 1980, though the history page says classes and productions starring local children truly began in 1985, and in 1983 the Friends of Riverside Theatre started the Celebrity Series with an appearance by Ray Charles (Riverside Theatre history). Comedy Zone shows happen on the Waxlax and Live in the Loop concerts at the outdoor Loop venue (Riverside Theatre campus page), and for Loop concerts and Comedy Zone nights the box office opens Thursday 5 to 7 p.m. and reopens Friday and Saturday evenings 5 to 8 p.m. (Riverside Theatre).

Single tickets for the large Stark Stage shows at Riverside Theatre run from $55 to $120 by section, and the smaller Waxlax Stage shows are $85 general admission, on the 2026 to 2027 price chart (Riverside Theatre).

Buying four or more shows takes 20 percent off and a three show bundle takes 10 percent off; season holders also get one free exchange per show, with $10 for each additional exchange (Riverside Theatre season page). Riverside Theatre sells its own tickets only by phone at 772-231-6990, at the box office window, and on riversidetheatre.com and my.riversidetheatre.com, and its policy says it does not honor tickets bought from third parties (Riverside Theatre ticket policy). Ages 17 and under pay half price except at special events, children under 5 are not admitted to the professional productions on the Stark and Waxlax stages, and a photo ID is required to pick up tickets.

The two Riverside Theatre pages give different fees. The season page lists a 3 percent service fee per ticket, while the ticket policy page lists a 4 percent processing fee on tickets or classes priced above $20 and none on those at $20 or less (Riverside Theatre); the box office at 772-231-6990 can confirm which applies at checkout. Since January 2026, exchanges are allowed only to a new date of the same show and must be made at least 48 hours before the original date, using the theatre's exchange form rather than the phone.

Section 817.36 of the Florida Statutes lets a reseller charge only $1 above the original admission price for event tickets originally issued by a charitable organization exempt from taxation under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code for which no more than 3,000 tickets are issued per performance, and requires that organization to print the $1 statement conspicuously on the face or back of the ticket (Florida Statutes s. 817.36). Riverside Theatre's ticket policy states that, pursuant to s. 817.36, its tickets may not be resold for more than $1 over the original admission price, and the same policy tells buyers to avoid concierge ticket websites (Riverside Theatre ticket policy).

In the winter and spring season the Riverside Theatre box office opens weekdays from 9 a.m., adds evening hours on show nights, and opens Sundays only one hour before showtime (Riverside Theatre).

The Riverside Theatre summer schedule is shorter: Monday to Wednesday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thursday and Friday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. plus 5 to 8:30 p.m., Saturday 5 to 8:30 p.m., and one hour before every children's show (Riverside Theatre contact page). The page lists both schedules without dates, so with My Vaudeville Man! opening October 15, 2026, a call to 772-231-6990 confirms which set of hours is in force that week.

On performance days the lobby opens one hour before showtime, and seating for musicals and plays on the Stark and Waxlax stages opens 30 minutes before; Riverside Theatre asks patrons to allow time to park, collect tickets and sit down (Riverside Theatre ticket policy). Recording of any kind is prohibited inside the theatre, and pets are not allowed on the campus except certified service dogs.

Parking at Riverside Theatre is free: the theatre has a handicap lot on the southeast side of the building, and ample free city parking sits across from it in Riverside Park (Riverside Theatre).

The free parking is city parking in Riverside Park, a public park whose City of Vero Beach listing also names boat ramps, a playground, tennis courts and a walking track (City of Vero Beach). Riverside Theatre asks patrons to allow enough time to park, pick up tickets and be seated, and its lobby opens one hour before showtime (Riverside Theatre contact page). The city allows on-leash dogs only in Riverside North Park, north of Dahlia Lane, and the theatre bans pets on its campus apart from service dogs, so a dog walk before a show belongs on the north side of the park.

Riverside Theatre lists accessible parking spaces for cars and vans, an accessible entrance and route to the second floor, a central elevator, and accessible restrooms on both levels of the lobby, with two private restrooms for patrons who need assistance (Riverside Theatre accessibility page). Wheelchair spaces and one companion seat per patron are sold first come, first served at the box office only, so they cannot be chosen online. Free sound enhancement headsets are available at the Guest Services counter, with a photo ID held as a deposit.

The Riverside Theatre campus in Vero Beach has two professional stages, the Stark and the Waxlax, plus the Anne Morton Theatre, which seats 300 as a proscenium, an outdoor venue called Live in the Loop and a youth playhouse (Riverside Theatre).

Seat counts differ between Riverside Theatre pages. The campus facilities page puts the Stark Stage at 692 seats after its 2007 renovation and the Waxlax Stage at up to 250 depending on configuration (Riverside Theatre campus page), while the 2026 to 2027 season page describes them as 600+ seats and about 200 seats (Riverside Theatre season page). The Waxlax changes shape by show: My Vaudeville Man! plays it in the round, and The Mouse and the Mustache and The Light in the Piazza use a proscenium setup, which matters when choosing a general admission seat.

Food and drink rules depend on the event. The Orchid Lobby Bar opens an hour before every show, but food and drinks are not allowed at seats during musicals, plays and lectures; at Comedy Zone and Live in the Loop shows they are allowed with table service (Riverside Theatre). The Loop Kitchen and Bar serves casual dining Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 5:00 to 8:30 p.m., and all purchases at Riverside Theatre are cashless (Riverside Theatre Loop page).

The present building dates from March 2007, when the all new Riverside Theatre opened with a renovated lobby and mainstage audience chamber; the first theatre went up in 1973 on a 54-acre tract the City of Vero Beach designated as a cultural park, built with $1.5 million in private donations (Riverside Theatre history). By 1987 to 1988 it had its first letter of agreement with Actors' Equity and describes itself as the first and only Equity theatre company on Florida's Treasure Coast. For overnight visitors, the theatre's Star Suites hotel has 60 suites at 2550 Flight Safety Drive near the Vero Beach Airport and the Jackie Robinson Baseball Training Complex, reservations (772) 410-3700 (Riverside Theatre Star Suites page).

Last verified: October 18, 2026, against the Riverside Theatre box office, ticket policy, season, campus and accessibility pages, the City of Vero Beach Riverside Park listing and section 817.36 of the Florida Statutes.