New Orleans' theatrical crown jewel began life in 1973 as the New Orleans Theater for the Performing Arts, only to be renamed in 1995 for the city's gospel queen.

The 2,100-seat venue opened with Norman Treigle, a New Orleans bass-baritone, thundering through Verdi's Messa da Requiem alongside the city's symphony orchestra. Hurricane Katrina dealt the theater a devastating blow in 2005, sending fourteen feet of water cascading through its plush red interior and silencing performances for four years.

The theater's resurrection in 2009 proved as dramatic as any opera it hosts. Local legends Kermit Ruffins, Irma Thomas and Allen Toussaint christened the renovated hall, making it the first major New Orleans theater to reopen after the storm. Today, architect William Bergman's modernist creation anchors Louis Armstrong Park, where bronze sculptures of jazz legends keep watch over the venue that bears their spiritual sister's name.

VoiceMap's Tremé walking tour places the theater within its cultural context, revealing how the venue connects to the neighborhood's legacy as jazz's birthplace and civil rights crucible.