The Best of Boston Theater

Boston's Theatre District - Better than Broadway!

The vibrant Boston theater scene includes more than a dozen performance venues where you can enjoy top productions ranging from popular musical shows to avant-garde experimental productions.

Most of the city's theaters cluster around Boston's historic downtown Theatre District, while others are in nearby Fenway, the South End, and Cambridge. 

For theater tickets in all price ranges, even for sold-out shows, check Stubhub. 

For last minute same-day half-price tickets, stop by Bostix locations in Boston.

Many theater-goers combine a show with dinner and perhaps after-theater drinks and dessert - so be sure to check out Theatre District restaurants. 

Summer brings the much-loved Shakespeare on the Common, when the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company gives free performances of the Bard's most popular plays for a couple of weeks on Boston Common.

Quick Links to information on this page:   About the Theatre District   l   Theater Guide - Boston Theatre District   l   Theater Guide - Beyond the Theatre District  

About Boston's Theatre District

Boston theater reached its height of popularity in 1900 when 31 theaters offered 50,000 seats to theater-loving Bostonians.  But by 1980, the downtown Theatre District teetered on the verge of extinction. 

Today, the restoration of many of the city's splendid historic theaters means that Boston theater is again strong and thriving.  One of the truly great things about Boston is our large number of top-notch theaters.

Despite its popularity today, theater had a rocky road in Boston.  The Puritans banned theater along with most other forms of entertainment until 1792 (more than 100 years after the Restoration of the monarchy in England eliminated Oliver Cromwell's Puritan ban on theater there). 

But by the 1850s theatrical performances - especially farces and melodramas - enjoyed immense popularity in Boston. Lots and lots of theaters began to cluster along several blocks of Washington Street and Tremont Street in what became known as the "Theatre District" - note the British-French spelling of "theater" still in use in Boston in the nineteenth century!

Unfortunately, late-Victorian concerns about propriety and no doubt lingering Puritan sensitivities led to a "banned in Boston" phase.  This period in Boston theater, lasting to some degree into the 1970s, led even playwrights like Edward Albee to prepare special profanity-free versions so that their work could be performed in Boston. 

Today, Boston has the largest group of architecturally outstanding early theaters in North America.  Many of them have been meticulously - and magnificantly - restored during recent years, and restorations of a couple are still underway.

You'll still find most Boston theaters clustered within the Theatre District, now confined to several blocks along Washington and Tremont Streets between Boylston and Stuart Streets. 

However, you'll find a huge range of restaurant choices within a short walking distance.  And you'll also find a number of top-notch comedy clubs in this area as well.   

With recent additions such as the glitzy new W Hotel Boston and Residences and the expansion of premier performing arts school Emerson College in this area, this part of town is suddenly quite trendy again.

Boston Theater Guide - Theatre District

These are the theaters that you'll find in or near Boston's Theatre District. 

Even if you don't have the opportunity to attend a show while visiting Boston, take a few moments if at all possible to walk through the lobbies of some of these beauties.  The Colonial, the Opera House, the Schubert, and the Wang are especially gorgeous. 

Charles Playhouse

Originally built as Boston's Fifth Universalist Church in 1839, this lovely-proportioned Greek Revival building became the city's first synogogue, home to the Ohabei Shalom congregation. 

After a stint during Prohibition as the "Lido Venice" speakeasy, the building became a nightclub called "Storyland" where jazz musicians such as Fats Waller played.  Finally, in 1958, it became a theater. 

The "black box" theater is home to two long-running and apparently non-ending shows.  If you're looking for an evening of good humor and reasonably funny jokes, this is the place to come. 

Note:  Although the shows occupy the same performance space, they are independently managed, and you must book tickets through their separate booking channels.

Shear Magic, a pun-filled mystery set in a hair salon, has played in the Charles since 1980.  The audience gets to participate in solving the crime.

Blue Man Group, a trio of bald blue-painted performers backed up by a 3-piece band, performs a series of skits and funny pieces.  If you sit in the - this is a warning - poncho section, you may not want to wear your best clothes!  Actually, wherever you sit, you should probably dress casually.

Address:  74 Warrenton Street, Theatre District
Nearest T station:  Green Line/Boylston
Parking:  Boston parking garages near Theatre District and Chinatown
For ticket information: 
    Blue Man Group:  Discounted tickets are often available. Check Goldstar for half-price tickets (free sign-up).  If you don't find tickets for the date you want, look on StubHub for below face-value tickets.  If you don't find what you want, check the regular box office sales, which are done through Ticketmaster
   Shear Madness:  617-426-5225;
Other information:  Blue Man Group website and Shear Madness website

Colonial Theatre

As New England's oldest continously operating theater, the dazzling 1,700 seat gold and marble Colonial Theatre lends itself to over-the-edge lavish spectacle productions. 

When you look at the outside of the Colonial, you may think that it looks nice, but kind of small and slightly plain - so get ready for a wonderful surprise as soon as you walk through the doors and and then into the large theater.

Built in 1900, with its interior lovingly restored in 1995 by artisans from Conrad Schmitt Studios, the Colonial boasts elaborate paneling, mosaic floors, even more elaborate and fabulous murals covering the walls and ceiling, and lots and lots of gold.  And also lots of mirrors, multiplying the gold and murals.

From 2004 - 2006, Conrad Schmitt Studios returned to refurbish the lobby, surprising everyone by uncovering more forgotten hand-painted murals and gold leaf.  Now restored to its original splendor, the magnificent barrel-vaulted lobby is stunning. 

The Colonial is a popular Boston theater venue for Broadway shows such as Mamma Mia!, Les Miserables, and Hairspray.  In addition to musicals and plays, the Colonial also hosts concerts, comedy acts, and film festivals.

Even if you don't attend a performance here, be sure to walk through the front lobby and admire the murals and opulent decor.

Address:  106 Boylston; Theatre District
Nearest T station:  Green Line/Boylston
Parking:  Boston parking garages near Theatre District and Chinatown
For ticket information:  617-880-2460; website

Cutler Majestic Theatre at Emerson College

Designed by John Galen Howard and built in 1903 as a venue for opera performances, the ornate gray terracotta Cutler Majestic Theatre features fluted columns and high arched windows topped with masked faces. 

It was the first Boston building designed for electric lights, and is the second oldest theater in the Theatre District. 

Because the Majestic was orginally designed for opera, it was also the first Boston theater designed without support pillars, so sight lines from all seats are excellent.  Because of this design, the acoustics are also absolutely wonderful.

Emerson College bought the building in 1983 as part of its expansion in Boston's Downtown Theatre District, and completely restored it over a 20 year period, finishing only in 2003. 

The pink and gold opulence of the beaux-arts interior is spectacular.  Emerson's award-winning $10 million restoration has restored the Majestic to its former splendor.

Emerson College performance groups as well as other non-profit arts and performance groups hold their productions here. 

If you're interested in serious theater, opera, or dance, be sure to check the Cutler Majestic's schedule.

The Majestic is the only Boston theater where opera is normally performed, and many of their productions are spectacular, with world-class opera stars and magnificent orchestras. 

You can hear the Teatro Lirico d'Europa, Opera Boston, and the New England Conservatory perform opera here. 

You can also attend performances by several other renowned Boston groups in the Majestic:  the historic Handel and Haydn Society, the Boston Early Music Festival, the Boston Gay Men's Chorus, Emerson Stage, the Celebrity Series of Boston, and World Music, as well as other non-profit performance groups that call the Majestic "home." 

Address:  219 Tremont Street, Theatre District
Nearest T station:  Green Line/Boylston
Parking:  Boston parking garages near Theatre District and Chinatown
For ticket information:  617-824-8000; www.maj.org

Lyric Stage Company of Boston

The Lyric Stage Company is Boston's oldest theater company, founded in 1974.  Under the leadership of Artistic Director Spiro Veloudos, the Lyric Stage Company produces 7 shows each season that emphasize contemporary playwrights - or contemporary updates to classics - with a special focus on emerging and established local talent. 

Each season's productions usually include at least a couple of musicals.  The  Lyric Stage Company's most successful show to date was Boston-based playwright David Kruh's The Curse of the Bambino.

This mid-sized theater has a convenient location in the recently renovated YWCA building next to Copley Square.

Address:  2nd floor of YMCA building, 140 Clarendon Street (corner of Clarendon and Stuart Street), Back Bay - this is what you might call the "far end" of the Theatre District!
Nearest T station:  Orange Line/Back Bay
For more information:  617-585-5678; website
Good to know: Discounted parking is available at The Garage @ 100 Clarendon. Check Lyric Stage's website for details, as rates change periodically.

Modern Theatre

One of Boston's first movie theaters, the Modern Theatre was developed by architect C.H. Blacknell in 1913 within a Ruskinian High Victorian Gothic style furniture store and warehouse built in 1876. 

Blacknell added the elegant 2-story white marble Florentine Renaissance front facade as part of his renovation. 

The name, "Modern Theatre," must have been kind of a joke because this gorgeous building does certainly not look modern!

The original 800 seat theater did not have a stage but was designed to maximize the acoustical properties by a Harvard professor, Wallace Sabine, a specialist in the application of scientific principles to sound and space.

After The Jazz Singer, the first talking film, premiered here in the late 1920s, the Modern turned into a "talkie" cinema.  By the 1950s, it had morphed into the Mayflower Theater, becoming in the 1970s a rather notorious adults-only movie venue at the seedy edge of Boston's former Combat Zone - the kind of place where moms had to cover their children's eyes as they walked past the posters.

Eventually, the Modern fell into disrepair and disuse in 1980, becoming a vacant and somewhat menacing eyesore for almost 30 years.  I used to hate walking by it.  The crumbling Boston theater was considered beyond repair by 2007, when Suffolk University the space in order to create dorms for its students. 

In one of the city's most interesting and challenging projects, Suffolk is restoring the Modern's elegant facade even as it erects a sleek 12-floor tower behind it.   A new 185 seat theater along with a lobby, balcony, and gallery will occupy the first two levels of the building.  Plans call for a grand curving staircase and hand-painted theatrical scenes on the walls.  Construction began in September 2009, and the theater is scheduled to reopen in fall, 2010.

Seeing the work progress on this Boston theater treasure is exciting, and its small-space venue is sure to bring some interesting additions to the Theatre District's offerings.

Address:  523 Washington Street; Theatre District
Parking:  Boston parking garages near Theatre District and Chinatown
Nearest T station:  Red Line/Downtown Crossing
For more information:  www.suffolk.edu

Opera House

Boston's original Opera House, built in 1901 on Huntington Avenue near Symphony Hall, was demolished in 1957 and Northeastern University replaced it with a dorm. 

The current Opera House started its life as the B.F. Keith Memorial Theatre, named in honor of the introducer of "vaudeville" and proponent of "wholesome" entertainment, and later renamed the Savoy Theatre. 

After being shuttered, dark, and seemingly destined for demolition for several years, the 2,500 seat Opera House reopened in 2004 after an extensive $35 million renovation. 

This money was well-spent!  The Spanish Baroque wedding cake-like exterior pales in comparison with the beaux art interior, filled with gold leaf, rococo ornamentation, and 16 Italian marble columns that each weigh 7 tons. 

The Boston Opera House specializes in big-name performances, well-known performers, and lavish productions.  This magnificent Boston theater is where you'll see Broadway musicals, dance, and musical performances.  Past shows include Lion King, Phantom of the Opera (about as close as the Opera House gets to showing actual opera), the Beastie Boys, and My Fair Lady.

Address:  539 Washington Street, Theatre District
Parking:  Boston parking garages near Theatre District and Chinatown
Nearest T station:  Red Line/Downtown Crossing
For ticket information:  617-259-3400; www.bostonoperahouse.com

Orpheum Theatre

If you're walking past the Park Street Church and happen to glance across Tremont Street and see the Orpheum Theatre at the end of a short alley, you'll probably logically assume that it's a theater.

But despite its name, you won't see theatrical performances at the Orpheum . . . unless you consider rock concerts to be a form of theater.  However, you can hear world-class musicians in this rather special concert venue, where the small, intimate setting brings you close to the performers. 

Built in 1852, the Orpheum is one of the oldest theaters in Boston, as well as in the United States.  Originally called the Boston Music Hall, the Orpheum served as home to the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1881 until 1900, when it was converted to a vaudeville theater and given its present name. 

Although the Orpheum used to face onto Washington Street, its former front entrance has been converted to retail space and you now enter through the back alley entrance.   

During recent decades, the Orpheum has been the setting of stellar performances by Bruce Springsteen, The Police, Kiss, the Grateful Dead, U2, and others.  Lenny Kravitz performed here in 2009 to rave reviews (that's his crew unloading the truck in the photo below).

Orpheum Theatre - Lenny Kravitz's crew is unloading the truck before his show

Address:  1 Hamilton Place, Theatre District
Parking:  Boston parking garages near Theatre District and Chinatown
Nearest T station:  Red Line/Downtown Crossing
For ticket information:  617-259-3400; www.bostonoperahouse.com

Shubert Theatre (now part of Citi Performing Arts Center)

The 1,500 seat Shubert Theatre, built in 1910, was once one of 7 Boston theaters owned by the New York-based Shubert brothers. 

During the days when pre-Broadway productions played first in Boston, the Shubert hosted numerous famous actors such as Richard Burton, Angela Lansbury, and Julie Andrews. 

Multiple renovations have ensured that the cream-and-gold Shubert retains its original gleam and sparkle.  The ornate lobby and marble entrance area look unchanged. 

But that's part of the Shubert's charm.  It's an elegant, intimate space that gives you a glimpse of what gala evenings must have felt like 100 years ago. 

In 1996, the larger Wang Theatre across the street took over the management and operations of the Shubert as part of a 40-year contract.  In recent years, the Citi Performing Arts Center has served as guardian for both of these Boston theaters. 

The Shubert is the home of the Boston Lyric Opera, as well as many local community arts programs, and also hosts touring companies that present Broadway, theater, music, dance, and other performances.

Address: 265 Tremont, Theatre District
Nearest T station:  Green Line/Boylston
Parking:  Boston parking garages near Theatre District and Chinatown
For more information:  617-482-9393; website
Also good to know:  Discounted tickets and preferred seats are available to members of the Citi Performing Arts Center Club, which helps support the theaters.  See the website for more details.

Stuart Street Playhouse

The Stuart Street Playhouse (200 Stuart Street, Bay Village) has closed as a live theater . . . but reopened as an art house cinema and the newest Boston movie theater. 

With the opening of the nearby W Boston Hotel, this part of the city is generating a lot of excitement these days, and the neighborhood is looking quite spiffy.  

The "new" Stuart Street Playhouse may be in the right place at the right time!

Wang Center for Performing Arts (now part of Citi Performing Arts Center)

The Wang Center, originally called the Metropolitan Theater and later called the Music Hall, is Boston's largest performance space in the Theatre District, seating about 3,700 people.  Originally built in 1925 as a fancy variety show and movie theater venue, the Wang (renamed in honor of patron An Wang) has been expensively and extensively restored.

The theater itself was designed to emulate the Paris Opera House, and the Grand Lobby - which is very grand indeed - was based on Versailles.

As you walk into the Grand Lobby, your eyes will immediately be drawn up to the opulent painted ceiling. 

Sometimes, when I happen to pass by the Wang during the day, I pop in for a couple of moments just to admire the ceiling and walls.  It's always a transporting experience - plus it also helps to avoid gawking when attending a performance.

The gold-plated chandeliers weighing almost a ton each (you don't want to be thinking about this while standing under one of them), the rose jasper pillars, the marble doorways, and the general plushness are worthy of a grand ballroom.

The Wang is where you'll see the huge extravaganzas put on by touring national and international theater, ballet, and opera companies.  You can also enjoy productions by local groups, such as the Boston Ballet.  The Boston Lyric Opera, whose "home" is across the street at the Shubert, also holds some concerts and events here.  A speakers series, "The Minds that Move the World," currently underway features speakers of international stature, such as Al Gore.   

Even if you don't have a chance to attend a performance at this venerable Boston theater, pop into the lobby if you're passing by and admire by-gone era opulence that's still splendid today.

Address:  270 Tremont, Boston Theatre District
Nearest T station:  Green Line/Boylston
Parking:  Boston parking garages near Theatre District and Chinatown
For more information:  617-482-9393 ; www.citicenter.org
Also good to know: Discounted tickets and preferred seats are available to members of the Citi Performing Arts Center Club, which helps support the theaters.  See website for more details.

Wilbur Theatre

Boston's renowned Comedy Connection  moved into the historic Wilbur Theatre and breated new life into this section of the Theatre District.

Built in 1914 by the New York Wilbur family and designed by architect Clarence H. Blackall, the Wilbur was the first theater in the United States to be based on American Colonial architecture rather than European influences.  With its Federal Revival design, supposedly based on Beacon Hill houses for authenticity, the Wilbur is a better stylistic fit with the rest of Boston's architecture than the other ultra-ornate Boston Theatre District theaters. 

Renovations in the 1980s and 1990s positioned the Wilbur to host a number of well-received pre-Broadway and off-Broadway touring productions. Unfortunately, after the management company that produced these shifted to other Boston theater venues, the Wilbur went dark.  After a rather grim interlude, the Wilbur was put up for sale in 2007.

Happily, the owner of Boston's Comedy Connection leased the property in 2008 and immediately began renovations.  In this gorgeous-again venue, Comedy Connection showcases musical as well as comic talent, and brings an interesting mix of big-name international stars as well as emerging local stars.

Address:  246 Tremont Street, Theatre District, Boston
Nearest T station:  Green Line/Boylston
Parking:  Boston parking garages near Theatre District and Chinatown
For more information:  617-931 2000; www.thewilburtheatre.com

Other Boston Theater Options Beyond the Theatre District

American Repertory Theatre

In contrast with the Theatre District theaters, which are mostly about entertainment and spectacle, the American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.) focuses on serious and sometimes edgy or experimental drama. 

This is where you'll see plays by playwrights such as Samuel Beckett, David Mamet, Anton Checkov, and even Shakespeare.  Recent productions of this renowned Boston theater include Julius Caesar, Aurelia's Oratorio, and Copenhagen. 

Founded in 1980, the A.R.T. is affiliated with Harvard University's Loeb Drama Center.  Roughly half of its productions are original works, translations, or interpretations.  It's considered one of the top rep companies in the country. 

Address:  64 Brattle Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge
Nearest T station:  Red Line/Harvard
For more information:  617-547-8300; www.amrep.org
Also good to know:  If you're a full-time college or university student, you may be able to get a discounted pass. Check the website for details.

Boston Center for the Arts (BCA)

The Boston Center for the Arts is a large complex in Boston's South End neighborhood that contains 4 small to mid-sized theaters in the Calderwood Pavilion. 

The BCA also is the home of several resident Boston theater groups, including the Huntington Theatre Company, and a number of other performing artists. 

Address:  539 Tremont
Nearest T station:  Orange Line/Back Bay
For more information:  617-426-5000; www.bcaonline.org
Also good to know:  Discounted tickets may be available to students.  See website for more details.

The Factory Theatre

If you like innovative theater, try Boston's version of Off-Off Broadway.

This tiny 49-seat black-box Boston theater in the South End, housed in the old Jonas Chickering Pianoforte building, is where a lot of small Boston area theater groups put on their plays.

One of the South End's most popular art galleries is also located in this building.

Address:  791 Tremont St, near the intersection of Mass Ave and Tremont.  To enter, go through the parking lot off Northhampton Street, which you'll find between Tremont and Columbus Ave.
Nearest T station:  Orange Line/Back Bay
For more information:  www.thefactorytheatre.org
Also good to know:  The Pianoforte building was the second largest building in the world, after the US Capitol building, when it was built in 1854.  Through the early 20th century, it was at the center of Boston's flourishing early music industry, producing viols, lutes, harpsichords, and clavichords.  In the early 1970s, a "repurposing" effort transformed it into the Piano Craft Guild (PCG), which provides affordable housing and workspace for artists.

Boston University Theatre

The 890-seat Boston University Theatre, founded by BU in 1982 but now operating as an independent non-profit with support from the university, is home to BU's Huntington Theatre Company, the largest resident Boston theater group. 

The Huntington also performs at the smaller Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. 

The Huntington Theatre Company creates seven fairly eclectic productions each season, often featuring nationally and internationally renowned performers. 

Address:  264 Huntington Ave, Fenway, Boston
Nearest T station:  Green Line E/Symphony
For more information:  617-266-0800; website

Wheelock Family Theatre

This award-winning professional Equity theater has been located on the campus of Wheelock College since 1981.  With 650 seats in a comfortable tiered auditorium, theater-goer has an excellent view of the stage.

Wheelock Family Theatre's productions usually include at least one each year based on novels that local middle and high schools students read, such as Dickens' A Christmas Carol and A Tale of Two Cities, as well as productions based on younger childrens' books, such as Hans Christian Anderson's "The Ugly Duckling." 

The excellent performances are designed to please adults, teens, and children alike, while enchanting everyone with the magic of live theater.

Location:  On the Wheelock campus at 200 Riverway, Fenway, Boston; you'll see signs pointing to the theater
Nearest T station:  Green Line D/Fenway or Longwood (5 minute walk from either stop
For more information:  Wheelock College website
Parking:  Forget on-the-street parking in this part of Boston.  You can get discounted parking at the MASCO garage at 375 Longwood Avenue, just a short walk to the theater.  To get the discount, ask for the discounted parking ticket at the theater's Box Office on the date of the performance.  See our Boston parking garages in Fenway section to get a map and location details for the MASCO garage.
Discount tickets:  I often find significant (around 50%) discounts to Wheelock productions through Goldstar Events.