Must-see entertainment in New England

  • Bantam Cinema

    Connecticut

    Housed in a converted red barn on the shores of Lake Bantam, the oldest continuously operating movie theater in Connecticut is a real Litchfield…

  • Wally’s Café

    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…

  • Westport Country Playhouse

    Connecticut

    Since its founding in 1931 this well-respected playhouse has staged hundreds of productions attracting big-name Broadway talent. It's hardly surprising…

  • Flynn Center for the Performing Arts

    Burlington

    Broadway hits, international acts, music, dance and theater grace the stage at this art-deco masterpiece. Expect anything from King Lear to Ladysmith…

  • Theatre by the Sea

    Rhode Island

    For more than 60 years, Theatre By the Sea has entertained families with Broadway musicals and new plays. Recent hits have included Hair, Annie and Andrew…

  • Providence Performing Arts Center

    Providence

    This popular venue for touring Broadway musicals and other big-name performances is in a former Loew's Theater dating from 1928. It has a lavish art-deco…

  • Cape Cinema

    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…

  • Real Art Ways

    Connecticut

    Contemporary-media works find an outlet at this consistently offbeat and adventurous gallery/cinema/performance space/lounge. Sip wine or beer as you…

  • Boston Ballet

    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…

  • ArtsRiot

    Burlington

    This brick-walled, exuberantly frescoed former timber warehouse in Burlington's South End is the venue for myriad events, from live music to storytelling…

  • Light Club Lamp Shop

    Burlington

    This cool and quirky place doubles – well, OK, triples – as a lamp shop (witness the amazing, densely packed lighting collection suspended from the walls…

  • Company One

    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…

  • New Haven Symphony Orchestra

    New Haven

    Yale's Woolsey Hall is home to most performances by this orchestra, whose season runs from October through April. Outside of season, crowds flock to the…

  • Red River Theatres

    New Hampshire

    Enjoy a beer with your popcorn at this welcoming indie movie theater not far from the State House. A seven-year community project, the state-of-the-art…

  • Shubert Theater

    New Haven

    Dubbed 'Birthplace of the Nation's Greatest Hits,' the Shubert has, since 1914, been hosting ballet and Broadway musicals on their trial runs before…

  • Opera House

    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…

  • Gillette Stadium

    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…

  • Yale Repertory Theatre

    New Haven

    Performing classics and new works in a converted church, this Tony-winning repertory company has mounted more than 90 world premieres. Its varied program…

  • 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…

  • Toad's Place

    New Haven

    Toad's is arguably New England's premier music hall, having earned its rep hosting the likes of the Rolling Stones, U2 and Bob Dylan. These days, an…

  • Café Nine

    New Haven

    An old-school beatnik dive with a roadhouse feel, this is the heart of New Haven's local music scene (it dubs itself the 'musician's living room'). It's…

  • Colonial Theater

    New Hampshire

    After 90 years, this classic Main St theater is still going strong. A diverse lineup of off-Broadway musicals, African and Eastern dance troupes, jazz…

  • Hopkins Center for the Arts

    New Hampshire

    A long way from the big-city lights of New York and Boston, Dartmouth hosts its own entertainment at this outstanding performing-arts venue. The season…

  • Gloucester Stage Company

    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…

  • Hartford Symphony

    Connecticut

    The well-respected Hartford Symphony stages performances in the Bushnell all year-round.

  • McGrath's Irish Pub

    Vermont

    Guinness on tap, Vermont's largest selection of Irish whiskies, and live Irish music on Friday and Saturday evenings.

  • Boch Center

    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,…

  • Speakers

    Wellfleet Drive-In

    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…

  • Boston Center for the Arts

    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…

  • Charles Playhouse

    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…

  • Simons IMAX Theatre

    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…

  • Sidedoor

    Connecticut

    Top-notch jazzers have been taking the stage at Ken Kitching’s 75-seat venue since its 2011 inception in the renovated Old Lyme Inn. Kitchings, the spirit…

  • Cape Playhouse

    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…

  • Goodspeed Opera House

    Connecticut

    This 1876 Victorian music hall is known as 'the birthplace of the American musical,' and it still produces a full schedule of shows: Man of La Mancha and…

  • Modern Theatre

    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…

  • Wilbur Theatre

    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…

  • Improv Asylum

    Boston

    A basement theater is somehow the perfect setting for the dark humor spewing from the mouths of this offbeat crew. No topic is too touchy, no politics too…

  • Cutler Majestic Theatre

    South End & Chinatown

    This beautiful beaux-arts-style opera house dates to 1903. A century after its construction, the theater was sumptuously renovated and reopened by Emerson…

  • Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center

    Connecticut

    Named for the town’s most famous thespian, ‘The Kate’ sprang to life in 2005 from the former Old Saybrook Town Hall and includes a museum in tribute to…