Naples - Safe to walk at night?

Why not just take a taxi?

How long is the walk? Did you trace it out in Google Street View? If you stick to main streets, I don't see any danger (unless maybe you're dressed in a way that makes you really stick out - more formal, that is - or are wearing expensive jewelry, etc.). To gauge your comfort level, walk around during the day first and see how you feel (you can even walk the route during daylight so that it's familiar later). Also, I'm not even sure if it's dark at 8:30pm or if the foot traffic is any less...every place I've been to in Italy (big cities) has plenty of foot traffic at all hours.

Just as an example: a few years ago I had a few days working at San Carlo, my hotel was booked on the sea in front of Castel dell'Ovo. My colleagues at San Carlo told me that walking along via Santa Lucia was relatively safe (I am a male, and a rather surly one, by the way), but the small streets around it (the Pallonetto area) were absolutely to avoid at any time.

Boston,

I found the area around Piazza del Plebiscito quite safe, but I'm not sure if the San Carlo Theatre is close to that. I was told that one area to avoid, especially at night, is the Spanish Quarter.

It's not the 8:30pm start that would bother me, but the 11:30pm or so finish to the concert. The OP asked about walking to/from.

There will likely be an opportunity to share a taxi back to the train station area.

LOL! I lived in the Spanish Quarter and walked it at night. But I wouldn't recommend it. I made sure I wore No jewelry and No expensive dress, day or night. And even though I wear money belts and neck wallets, I made sure they had very little money in case I had to reveal them. No purse or bags ever.

So if you want to dress up and wear dressy dress, purse, shoes, and jewelry, I say take a taxi. Have your hotel staff walk you to the taxi stand if one is nearby. They did that for me.

If you're dressing down with slacks and running shoes, I say first trial walk the route In the daytime and dusk to get to know it well, and talk to your hotel staff about it. At No time did my hotel advise me not to walk around at night. But I did a lot of trial runs to own the route.

You could walk to the theater and then take a taxi back to hotel too.

There's something more you can do, dress like your environment so you blend in. In my case, the women wore everything black even in the daytime. So I wore dark clothes day and night even in the summer daytime. But regardless of which quarter you live in, if you want to wear a sparkling neon top at nighttime, take a taxi going and returning.

Thanks everyone for your feedback. It sounds fine to walk to the theater since I won't be wearing expensive jewelry or a dressy dress. It sounds best to taxi back to the hotel.

Once you arrive in Naples you will get a sense of how safe or unsafe you actually feel.and this inner feeling should NEVER be ignored for the sake of saving a few dollars.

Enjoy the theater!