The arts-and-entertainment scene is extensive, and you'll find listings of music, theater, film, and other entertainment in the monthly Agenda Cultural booklet, available from the tourist office. Also, the Friday editions of both the Diario de Noticias and O Independente newspapers have separate magazines with entertainment listings. Although written in Portuguese, listings are fairly easy to decipher.
It's best to buy tickets to musical and theatrical performances at the box offices, but you can also get them at special booths around the city: there's one in Praca dos Restauradores, near the main post office, called ABEP (21/347-5824 or 21/342-5360).
The prime mover behind Lisbon's artistic and cultural scenes is the Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian (Av. de Berna 45, tel: 21/793-5131), which not only presents exhibitions and concerts in its buildings but also sponsors events throughout the city. The foundation publishes a frequently updated schedule of activities, which you can pick up at the reception desk. The tourist-information office can also assist with inquiries about upcoming events.
Music
The Centro Cutural de Belem (Praca do Imperio, Belem, tel: 21/361-2400) puts on a full range of reasonably priced concerts and exhibitions, featuring national and international artists and musicians. Its monthly program of events is available at the reception desk inside the center.
There's a major concert and exhibition program mounted at Culturgest (Caixa Geral de Depositos, Rua Arco do Cego, tel: 21/795-3000; Saldanha), an auditorium and exhibition center sponsored by a Portuguese bank.
Theater
Plays are performed in Portuguese at the Teatro Nacional de Dona Maria II (Praca Dom Pedro V, Baixa, tel: 21/347-2246), Lisbon's principal theater. Performances are given August-June, and there's the occasional foreign-language production, too.
The Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos (Rua Serpa Pinto 9, Baixa, tel: 21/346-5914) hosts an opera season September-June.
Cinema
A modern cinema complex in the Amoreiras Shopping Center (Av. Eng. Duarte Pacheco, tel: 21/383-1275) has 10 screens.
There's a multiscreen cinema at the Colombo Shopping Center (Av. Col. Militar, Benfica, tel: 21/711-3200).
Portugal's national film theater, the Instituto da Cinemanteca Portuguesa (Rua Barata Salgueiro 39, tel: 21/354-6279), has regular daily screenings: this is the place to catch contemporary Portuguese films and art-house reruns.
