Entertainment in Rhode Island
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A
Cardines Field
Likely the third-oldest-standing baseball field in the US (after Wrigley Field in Chicago and Fenway Park in Boston), this relic, home to the Newport Gulls, allows you to see some surprisingly skilled ball for cheap. Because of the seating’s close proximity to the field and because the games are sparsely attended, you can easily hear the players trash-talk each other. According to local legend, Babe Ruth once played a game here.
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B
West Deck
With lots of open-air seating at the end of a wharf, the West Deck attracts big crowds ordering bottles of beer from two separate bars. Most evenings you can find Rhode Island’s preferred form of entertainment – lame cover acts playing the tunes of stereotypical bands from the last half of the 1980s. The crowd ranges from young guns to dudes with overdeveloped retirement plans.
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Newport International Polo
Tranquilly set amid the stone barns and walls of the 100-acre Glen Farm (established in the 1600s), bring a picnic basket for a fieldside tailgate and watch the US team take on Egypt, Jamaica and other Olympic-caliber squads. Crowds aren’t large and you’ll be close enough to hear snorting horses and walloping mallets. The season runs from May to September.
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C
Cable Car Cinema
This theater screens offbeat and foreign films. Inside, patrons sit on couches and sometimes listen to a lovable weirdo sing ‘Teddy Bears Picnic’ before the show. The attached sidewalk café brews excellent coffee, and serves sandwiches and baked goods. It’s a good place to hang out, even if you aren’t catching a flick.
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Wild Colonial
Come inside the basement level of a 19th-century warehouse to find a spacious tavern with a pool table and two dart boards. A patchwork of walls appears to use every masonry device available, from giant rocks to cobblestones to crumbing brick – so crumbing that you can look through a gaping hole behind the bar to see an office beyond.
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D
Trinity Repertory Company
Trinity performs classic and contemporary plays (Some Things are Private, A Christmas Carol) in the stunning and historic Lederer Theater downtown. It’s a favorite try-out space for Broadway productions, and it’s not unusual for well-known stars to turn up in a performance. Student discounts available.
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Lili Marlene’s
If you've dropped food on your pants, fear not – this bar is so dark that no one will notice the stain. Here, Atwells Ave looses the Italian feel and becomes either a Victorian parlor or a bordello with imitation tiffany lamps casting a faint glow on red walls set above rich wainscoting. Sit at the bar or in leather booths.
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E
Red Fez
Packed full of Hasbro copywriters who work on the packaging for Transformers action figures, this dark, spooky bar makes stiff drinks and fantastic grilled cheese sandwiches. What little light exists is red, by which short RISD girls with interesting hair draw crap on napkins. Upstairs is cooler than downstairs.
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F
Roxy
In the same building as Lupo’s, stop by this popular meat market for the usual hits on a loud sound system. Expect liberal use of laser lighting and, depending on the night, paid dancers wearing tiny, uncomfortable outfits. Ironically, there is a dress code for guests (no sneaks, baggy clothes etc).
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G
Perishable Theater
This small theater programs experimental plays as well as improv comedy groups. It conducts an annual Women’s Playwriting Festival and the Fledgling Festival, where you can see up-and-coming artists involved in burlesque puppetry and oddities of the stage.
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H
Jane Pickens Theater
This nicely restored one-screen art house used to be an Episcopalian church, built around 1834. Simple, pretty and old, the theater contains an organ and balcony. They screen both popular and art films, such as Evening, filmed in Newport and Tiverton.
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I
Living Room
You’ll want to be careful – some nights amazing indie acts make tracking down this hard-to-find joint worth the effort. But on others you might be exposed to some local high-school punks trying to piece together their first set.
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J
Mirabar
This venerable bar for gay fellows attracts devoted regulars, many on a first-name basis with the bartenders. It’s got two floors – the second, a sort of promenade, overlooks the action of the main level’s dance floor.
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K
Gamm Theatre
Several smaller theater companies stage contemporary and avant-garde productions, in particular this intimate space, whose often intelligent and exquisitely acted experimental and mainstream plays make the drive to Pawtucket worthwhile.
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L
Mudville’s Pub
With a back porch sitting about 10ft from the foul line of Cardines Field’s outfield, this bar fills many local sports fans with pub food and beer. It even sponsors a team (the Mudville Nine) that plays in a local league.
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M
Dunkin’ Donuts Center
This arena is the place to see sporting events such as the Providence College Friars (a basketball squad) and Providence Bruins, occasional big-name music groups, and boat shows.
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N
Avon Cinema
On College Hill, Avon’s single screen features foreign films, cult classics and experimental movies in an old single-screen movie house from 1938.
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Dark Lady
If Mirabar isn’t your scene, there are half a dozen other queer joints on or near Richmond St, such as Dark Lady, for dancing, drag and karaoke.
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O
AS220
An alternative space abuzz with experimental bands, offbeat films, poetry slams - you never know what you'll find here.
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P
Trinity Brewhouse
This microbrewery in the entertainment district brews terrific British-style beers. Don't miss the stouts.
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Q
Providence Performing Arts Center
Concerts, comedy and Broadway musicals take the stage at this beautifully restored 1928 art-deco theater.
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R
Newport Blues Café
Intimate atmosphere and one of the best blues and R&B scenes this side of New York City.
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O'brien's Pub
The frat-house crowd comes here for live bands like Dogie & the Cowpie Poachers.
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Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel
Providence's legendary music venue features top rock bands and indie acts.
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U
One Pelham East
This romping bar has rock and indie bands several nights a week.
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