Pioneer Valley
Offering 'booze, blues and BBQ,' this joint is a gem. Truly great blues and jazz acts get booked in the lively bar, and the barbecue is finger-lickin'…
Must-see entertainment in Massachusetts
Cambridge
The legendary Club Passim is a holdout from the days when folk music was a staple in Cambridge (and around the country). The club continues to book top…
Back Bay
Run by Berklee students, the Red Room @ Cafe 939 has emerged as one of Boston's least predictable and most enjoyable music venues. It has an excellent…
South End & Chinatown
When Wally's opened in 1947, Barbadian immigrant Joseph Walcott became the first African American to own a nightclub in New England. Old-school, gritty…
The Berkshires
The old church made famous in Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant hosts a beloved Troubadour series, featuring folk concerts by the likes of Tom Chapin,…
Cape Cod
On the grounds of the Cape Playhouse, this vintage movie theater shows foreign and independent films. It's a true art house: the entire ceiling is covered…
Kenmore Square & Fenway
From April to September you can watch the Red Sox play at Fenway Park, the nation’s oldest and most storied ballpark. Unfortunately it is also the most…
Kenmore Square & Fenway
Flawless acoustics match the ambitious programs of the world-renowned Boston Symphony Orchestra. From September to April, the BSO performs in the…
Streetcar Suburbs
An art deco neighborhood palace, this old theater blazes with exterior neon. Inside, view select Hollywood hits, cult flicks, popular independent fare and…
Cambridge
This low-budget, cutting-edge comedy gem moved out of its Harvard Square noodle-house digs in 2018 and settled into happening Union Sq, Somerville…
Boston
Boston’s skillful ballet troupe performs modern and classic works at the Opera House. The program varies every year, but at Christmas they always put on a…
Cambridge
There isn’t a bad seat in the house at the Loeb Drama Theater, where the prestigious ART stages new plays and experimental interpretations of classics…
South End & Chinatown
This radical theater company strives to be at the 'intersection of art and social change' by offering provocative performances and fostering socially…
Sanders Theatre at Memorial Hall
Cambridge
Set inside the magnificent Memorial Hall, this beautiful, 1166-seat, wood-paneled theater is known for its acoustics. It is frequently used for classical…
Cambridge
Lily Pad is a tiny space that fills up with music and performance art, whether it’s tango dancing or narrated jazz storytelling. You might also hear indie…
Boston
This lavish theater has been restored to its 1928 glory, complete with mural-painted ceiling, gilded molding and plush velvet curtains. The glitzy venue…
Back Bay
Free summer concerts take place at this outdoor bandstand on the banks of the Charles River. Most famously, there's Boston's biggest annual music event,…
Pioneer Valley
Here's an independent, nonprofit theater that uses solar panels to help power the films. That's all good, but the real reason to come here is for the…
Boston
The six-time Super Bowl champs play football in the state-of-the-art Gillette Stadium, which is just 50 minutes south of Boston, but it’s hard to get a…
Barbara Lee Family Foundation Theater
Boston
Against a gorgeous, blue-water backdrop, the glass theater at the ICA is one of its coolest features and a venue for dance, music and other performance…
Beacon Hill & Boston Common
Each summer, the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company stages a major production on the Boston Common, drawing crowds for (free) Shakespeare under the stars…
Streetcar Suburbs
Top bands rock at this landmark club – like U2, whose first gig in the USA was on this stage. Nowadays, you're more likely to hear the likes of Lucinda…
Massachusetts
This company stages excellent small-theater productions of classics and modern works. It's a small venue known for top-notch acting. Excellent summer…
South End & Chinatown
Boston’s biggest music and dance venue, the Boch Center is comprised of two theaters that face off across Tremont St. The main stage is the enormous,…
Cape Cod
By night, park your car at the 1950s-era Wellfleet Drive-In, where everything except the feature flick is true to the era. Grab a bite to eat at the old…
Kenmore Square & Fenway
Boston's leading theater company, the award-winning Huntington specializes in developing new plays, staging many shows before they're transferred to…
Cambridge
This classic neighborhood movie house dates from 1914 and features plenty of well-preserved gilding and pastel murals of muses. On offer are first- and…
South End & Chinatown
There’s rarely a dull moment at the BCA, which serves as a nexus for excellent small theater productions. Over 20 companies present more than 45 separate…
Cambridge
The underground Lizard Lounge doubles as a rock and jazz venue. The big drawcard is the Sunday-night poetry slam. Also popular are the Monday open-mike…
South End & Chinatown
Built in 1839, the Charles Playhouse was originally a speakeasy, later a jazz club and finally a theater. With its backstreet location and underground…
Cambridge
Five nights a week, the cinematheque presents retrospectives of distinguished actors, screenings of rare films, thematic groupings and special events…
Cambridge
This excellent (free) series brings speakers on a weekly basis to talk in the meeting house at First Parish in Cambridge. Speakers have included such…
Cambridge
This tiny, laid-back place is beloved for its excellent lineup of music (seven nights a week) and its no-cover-charge policy. (Ever. At all.) Among the…
Boston
At the New England Aquarium, this IMAX cinema plays mostly educational 3D films on a six-story screen (the largest in New England). Many shows have an…
Payomet Performing Arts Center
Cape Cod
The center's theme – 'national talent on a local stage' – rings true, with performances by everyone from folk icons Arlo Guthrie and Ani DiFranco to…
Cape Cod
The Cape Playhouse is the oldest operating professional summer theater (since 1927) in the US. Bette Davis once worked here as an usher, and some of the…
Cambridge
The second stage of the American Repertory Theater, this black box is ideally suited for flashy song and dance performances and interactive, acrobatic…
Boston
The Modern Theatre dates to 1876 and showed Boston's first 'talkie' in 1928. Nearly a century later, the building opened its doors again as a venue for…
South End & Chinatown
The colonial-style Wilbur Theatre dates from 1914, and over the years has hosted many prominent theatrical productions. These days it is Boston’s premier…
Streetcar Suburbs
In addition to hosting a kick-ass `Queeraoke' party (Thursday), a Grateful Dead–themed 'hippie hour' (Friday), and a regular open mic (Sunday), this queer…
