FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. , The Broward Center for the Performing Arts is much more than a single theater in Downtown Fort Lauderdale. The organization operates one of South Florida’s most influential performing arts networks, connecting audiences to major concerts, Broadway productions, comedy, dance, theater and cultural programming across Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
In addition to its flagship waterfront campus in Fort Lauderdale, the Broward Center officially manages The Parker, the Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center and the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center.
Together, the venues give the organization a significant cultural footprint stretching from Fort Lauderdale and Davie to Aventura, serving different audiences and accommodating productions ranging from major touring shows to intimate performances and community programs.
Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Fort Lauderdale
Located at 201 SW Fifth Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, the Broward Center for the Performing Arts is the flagship of the organization and one of South Florida’s best-known cultural destinations.
The Broward Center reports presenting more than 850 performances annually and welcoming more than 600,000 patrons, while also operating one of the largest arts education programs in the United States.
Unlike a traditional single-auditorium theater, the Broward Center campus includes several performance and event spaces.
The Au-Rene Theater is the largest. With approximately 2,600 seats, it is designed for major productions including Broadway shows, ballet, opera, comedy, orchestral performances and major pop and rock concerts.
The Amaturo Theater provides a more intimate environment, commonly used for small and mid-sized productions, dance, lectures, cultural programming and theatrical performances.
Another distinctive space is the Abdo New River Room, a flexible venue capable of hosting cabaret-style performances, receptions, corporate events, meetings and interactive theater.
The campus also includes hospitality, educational and event areas, allowing the Broward Center to function as a complete entertainment and cultural complex rather than simply a theater.
The Parker, one of Fort Lauderdale’s historic theaters
Also in Fort Lauderdale, The Parker is one of the most recognizable theaters in the city.
Located inside Holiday Park, the venue is an affiliated property for which the Broward Center provides programming and management.
Its main auditorium, Lillian S. Wells Hall, offers an environment that is smaller than the Au-Rene Theater but large enough to host internationally recognized performers, musicians, comedians, orchestras and touring productions.
The theater underwent a major renovation completed in 2021, adding upgraded audience amenities while maintaining its historic identity.
Today, The Parker plays an important role in the entertainment scene of Fort Lauderdale and Broward County, particularly for concerts, comedy, dance and specialty performances.
Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center, Davie
The Broward Center’s reach also extends west to Davie, where it manages the Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center on the campus of Nova Southeastern University.
The theater has approximately 458 seats, including orchestra and balcony seating.
Its size makes the Miniaci Performing Arts Center particularly suited for university programs, cultural presentations, concerts, dance productions, theater, lectures and community events.
The venue allows the Broward Center network to reach audiences beyond Downtown Fort Lauderdale while maintaining professional theater infrastructure for smaller productions.
Aventura Arts & Cultural Center connects the network to Miami-Dade
South of Broward County, the organization manages the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center, extending the Broward Center’s presence directly into Miami-Dade County.
Located at 3385 NE 188th Street in Aventura, the waterfront cultural center opened in 2010 and features a technologically equipped 330-seat theater.
Its location is particularly strategic. Situated between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Aventura has become an important cultural market serving residents from northern Miami-Dade, Hallandale Beach, Hollywood, Sunny Isles Beach, North Miami Beach and surrounding communities.
The Aventura venue regularly presents music, theater, comedy, dance, family programming and international productions, including performances appealing to South Florida’s diverse Latin American and international communities.
Maria Fulfaro brings Brazilian roots and a multicultural perspective to Broward Center marketing
Among the professionals helping connect Broward Center productions with South Florida audiences is Maria Fulfaro, a Brazilian communications professional who currently serves as Senior Sales & Marketing Manager at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.
Fulfaro recently announced her promotion to the senior position after building a career in the United States that combines journalism, marketing, culture and community engagement. Before establishing herself in South Florida, she came to the United States from Brazil as a journalist covering sports for Band TV.
Her current work focuses on marketing live shows and performances at the Broward Center, helping promote entertainment and cultural programming to the diverse communities that make up the South Florida market. Her professional trajectory also reflects the increasingly multicultural profile of the region’s performing arts audience.
That connection is particularly relevant to South Florida’s Brazilian community. Fulfaro has been involved in the promotion of Brazilian cultural productions presented at the Broward Center, including projects celebrating Brazilian music and artists, while emphasizing the importance of cultural diversity on the stage.
Her relationship with the Brazilian-American business community also extends beyond the theater. Fulfaro is a member of the Advisory Council of the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce of Florida, while the Broward Center itself is listed as a patron member of the organization.
The connection illustrates how the Broward Center’s work reaches beyond traditional entertainment marketing. In a metropolitan area shaped by communities from Brazil, Latin America, the Caribbean and other parts of the world, professionals with multicultural backgrounds can play an important role in creating connections between productions, audiences, media outlets and community organizations.
For Fulfaro, marketing also brings together communication, culture, creativity, people and community, themes she highlighted while announcing her latest professional milestone.
Four venues, different audience experiences
Although the venues are connected through the Broward Center organization, they offer very different audience experiences.
The Au-Rene Theater can accommodate major touring productions and thousands of guests.
The Amaturo Theater provides a more intimate performance environment within the main Broward Center campus.
The Parker combines the character of a historic Fort Lauderdale theater with contemporary production capabilities.
The Miniaci Performing Arts Center offers an intimate university-based cultural setting in Davie.
And the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center brings the Broward Center’s programming and management experience into the Miami-Dade market through a smaller waterfront theater.
This multi-venue structure allows artists, producers and promoters to select a space according to the size, location and audience profile of each production.
Is Esplanade Park also part of the Broward Center?
Esplanade Park, located directly across the New River from the Broward Center in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, also appears in the Broward Center’s venue ecosystem and is used for outdoor events and cultural activities.
However, there is an important distinction.
In its institutional descriptions, the Broward Center identifies The Parker, the Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center and the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center as its affiliated venues, in addition to operating its own Broward Center campus.
Esplanade Park therefore belongs to the broader event ecosystem surrounding the Broward Center, but should not be described in the same way as those three managed performing arts facilities.
Which venues are managed by the Broward Center?
The Broward Center organization operates its flagship Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale and manages three affiliated performing arts facilities:
The Parker, Fort Lauderdale
Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center, Davie
Aventura Arts & Cultural Center, Aventura
That structure gives the organization a cultural presence across a significant portion of South Florida, from central Broward County to northern Miami-Dade.
Why the Broward Center network matters to South Florida
The Broward Center’s influence extends far beyond the stage of its main theater.
Through several venues with different capacities, locations and programming profiles, the organization has built an entertainment infrastructure capable of connecting artists, producers, cultural organizations, media partners and audiences throughout South Florida.
For residents and visitors, that means a Broward Center-related production may take place in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, at The Parker, on the Nova Southeastern University campus in Davie or farther south at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center.
At the same time, professionals such as Maria Fulfaro illustrate another important dimension of that structure, the ability to communicate with the multicultural communities that define the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area and introduce new audiences to performing arts and cultural experiences.
Understanding this network helps explain why the Broward Center has become an important cultural institution not only for Fort Lauderdale, but for the broader Miami metropolitan area and South Florida entertainment market.