36 Best Performing Arts in Boston, Massachusetts

Founded by Robert Brustein and since 2009 under the helm of Tony Award–winning director Diane Paulus, the ART is one of America’s most celebrated regional theaters, winning Tonys for Broadway originals All the Way and Once as well as revivals of The Glass Menagerie, Pippin, and The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. The ART often premieres new works and seeks to expand the boundaries of theater through productions such as Waitress, Finding Neverland, and Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 among others. The Loeb Drama Center, home of the ART, houses two theaters: the Mainstage and The Ex, a smaller black box often staging productions by the irreverent Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club. OBERON, the ART's "club theater" with flexible stage design, engages young audiences in immersive theater (and has attracted national acclaim for its groundbreaking model) with gay, alternative, and cutting-edge programming.

This gilt-wood jewel box of a stage is the preferred venue for many of Boston's classical orchestras and the home of Harvard University's many ensembles. Located in Memorial Hall, 180-degree stage design and superb acoustics afford intimacy and crystal projection. A favorite of folk, jazz, and world-music performers, the 1,000-seat Sanders hosts the holiday favorite Christmas Revels, a traditional participatory Yule celebration. Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr., Wynton Marsalis, Leonard Bernstein, and Oprah Winfrey have appeared at this famed seat of oratory and music.

One of the world's best acoustical concert halls—some say the best—has been home since 1900 to the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and the Boston Pops. Led by conductor Keith Lockhart, the Pops concerts take place in May and June and around the winter holidays. The hall is also used by visiting orchestras, chamber groups, soloists, and local ensembles. Rehearsals and daytime concerts for students are open to the public, with discounted tickets. If you can't attend a concert, you can still see the magnificent hall on a free guided tour. Visit the venue's website for dates and times.

The main stage for the internationally renowned Berklee College of Music, the "BPC" is best known for its jazz and pop programs, but also hosts folk, world, and rock acts, and pop stars like Talking Heads, Aimee Mann, Snarky Puppy, and Melody Gardot. Bargain alert: the BPC stages a wealth of excellent student and faculty shows and showcases sets and clinics by visiting artists that cost next to nothing. While the performance center is 1,215 seats strong, it's an intimate locale for any show.

This ArtsBoston outlet has two kiosk locations (Faneuil Hall Marketplace and Copley Square) that sell half-price tickets for same-day performances, as well as online ordering for select advance shows. Full-price tickets for local attractions like Boston Duck Tours, Freedom Trail Walking Tours, and New England Aquarium are available. On Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, show up a half hour before the booth opens.

The city's premier dance company performs at the Boston Opera House. Shows have included Romeo and Juliet, classic Balanchine, and La Sylphide. And, of course, if you're visiting during the holidays, be sure to score seats to The Nutcracker.

This group serves as a clearinghouse for an amazing array of local dance companies' classes, performances, and workshops. Visit the alliance's website for upcoming performances and venues.

With an aim to "inspire change, build community, and celebrate difference," the Boston Gay Men's Chorus has a repertoire that ranges from holiday favorites to show tunes to chamber selections to pop hits. With more than 300 members, the group performs at the New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall.

Bop along with the Boston Pops and other free orchestral concerts and films at the Hatch Memorial Shell June through August.

The meticulously renovated 2,700-seat, Beaux Arts building has been lavished with $35 million worth of gold leaf, lush carpeting, and rococo ornamentation. It features lavish musical productions such as Newsies, Kinky Boots, and Boston Ballet's The Nutcracker.

The charismatic Benjamin Zander—whose signature preconcert chats help audiences better understand the blockbuster symphonies they're about to hear—heads up the Boston Philharmonic. Performances at Harvard's Sanders Theatre, the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, Symphony Hall, and a variety of other locales often encompass symphonies by Beethoven, Mahler, Shostakovich, and Brahms, plus lots of concertos.

Under the agile baton of Keith Lockhart, Boston Pops (largely Boston Symphony musicians) perform a bracing blend of American standards, movie themes, and contemporary vocal numbers (with top-tier guests) during May and June at Symphony Hall, plus 40 festive holiday-season concerts. Outdoor concerts on July 3 and 4 at the Hatch Memorial Shell are followed by concerts at the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home, Tanglewood, in Lenox, Massachusetts, in July and August. The free outdoor concerts are packed; be sure to arrive early with blankets, folding chairs, and a picnic.

Founded in 1881, the Boston Symphony is one of America's oldest and most venerable orchestras, with dynamic Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons at the helm. Its home season at Symphony Hall runs from September through April. In July and August the music migrates to Tanglewood, the orchestra's bucolic summer home in the Berkshire Mountains in Lenox, Massachusetts. Including tours to Carnegie Hall and China, and the Boston Pops concerts, the BSO performs more than 250 concerts annually.

This organization brings Broadway shows to Boston in pre- and post-Broadway runs, including local mainstays Blue Man Group and Shear Madness, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running play in U.S. history. Call between 10 am and 5 pm on weekdays.

This group has presented early-music performances since 1980 and deserves much credit for early music's prominence in Boston's musical scene.

As the metro area's premier presenter of worldwide music and dance, Global Arts Live has a truly global roster featuring exciting contemporary artists in their Boston debuts (like The Bad Plus and Freshlyground), as well as world music icons, such as South Africa's Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Ireland's Mary Black. Performances unfold at many venues, such as Brighton Music Hall, the Berklee Performance Center, The Sinclair, Somerville Theatre, and the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre.

Acclaimed for performances of baroque and classical music, the Handel & Haydn Society is one of the country's oldest performing arts organizations in America. The annual performances of Handel's Messiah have been a holiday favorite since 1854, and all concerts feature antique or replica instruments so the music is performed as it was the day it was written. Performances are held at Symphony Hall and other Boston venues.

Screening independent, foreign, classic, and experimental films rarely seen in commercial cinemas, the Harvard Film Archive is open to the public Friday through Monday. The 188-seat theater, with pristine film and digital projection, is located in the basement of the stunning brick-and-glass Carpenter Center for Visual Arts, Le Corbusier's only American building. A division of Harvard Library, this is one of the country's largest and most significant university-based motion picture collections—more than 36,000 global audiovisual items from almost every period in film history. Tickets are $10; seniors and students, $8.

The oldest (1844) collegiate theatrical company in the United States still has all-male casts, though women participate in the troupe's staging and production. Its single annual madcap show plays at its theater in February and March, then tours to New York and Vegas. The troupe infamously honors actors as Man and Woman of the Year in an annual awards ceremony, complete with a celebrity roast and drag-queen and boa-laden party parade through the streets of Cambridge for the chosen woman. The 2021 honorees were Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner.

Boston's largest resident theater company consistently performs a high-quality mix of 21st-century plays and classics under the artistic direction of Loretta Greco, and commissions playwrights to produce original dramas. The Huntington performs at two locations: its own newly renovated theater at Boston University and the South End's Calderwood Theatre Pavilion.

This dazzling waterfront museum hosts experimental electronic, jazz, and world musicians, often in partnership with World Music/CRASHArts or Berklee College of Music. Expect the unexpected—concerts might contain a mix of disparate instruments, fusions of melody and spoken word, or DJs grooving electronica mashups. There are early evening concerts, and an open-air summertime series.

This troupe is building an exciting, contemporary repertory under Cuban-born José Mateo, the resident artistic director-choreographer. Performances, which include Dance Saturdays and an original Nutcracker, take place October through April at the Sanctuary Theatre, a beautifully converted Gothic revival church at Massachusetts Avenue and Harvard Street in Harvard Square. The vibe is intimate cabaret-style seating with 250 seats, each with its own perfect view.

This newly remodeled cinema's nine screens are devoted to first-run independent, avant-garde, and foreign films, and the concession stand offers hip goodies like coffee, empanadas, and homemade cookies. Their Kendall Bar now serves beer and wine. 1 Kendall Square stands where Hampshire Street meets Broadway, a 10-minute walk from the Kendall Square T station. Validated four-hour parking ($3) is available in an adjacent garage. If you're walking, be advised the area can get a bit desolate at night.

This huge ticket outlet handles top and trending tours of country, rock, and arena shows at major Boston venues such as TD Garden, Xfinity Center, Gillette Stadium, House of Blues, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, and Paradise Rock Club. Transactions are conducted online.

For almost 50 years, this company has mounted a top-notch mix of productions, classic and new, musical and non-musical. Performances over the years have included O'Neill's Death of a Salesman, Moss Hart's Light Up The Sky, and Sondheim's musical Into The Woods.

The MAC in East Cambridge supports diversity within the performing arts, engaging with the community through jazz, dance, and visiting programs. The two spacious galleries showcase international visual arts, and the theater itself is a showstopper with ornate Victorian details and theater lighting. Galleries are open Tuesday to Friday from 10 am to 6 pm (Wednesday until 8pm), and free performances are held throughout the year, including outdoor summer programming at nearby Centanni Park.

Recognized as one of the country's leading independent film showcases, MFA Film presents more than 500 screenings a year including foreign and classic films. They also host ten annual festivals including the Boston Jewish, French, Iranian, and Palestine film festivals. Theatergoers can grab snacks and drinks at the nearby Taste Café and Wine Bar, which is also a great spot for postfilm discussions.

One of the world's acoustic treasures, the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall is ideal for solo and string quartet recitals yet spacious enough for chamber and full orchestras. The pin-drop intimacy of this all-wood, 1,050-seat hall is in demand year-round for ensembles visiting and local. The New England Philharmonic and Boston Baroque perform here regularly. Dozens of free faculty and student concerts, jazz and classical, are a best-kept secret. The lobby box office is no longer open for purchasing tickets. All tickets must be purchased online.

Odyssey Opera, under the able leadership of founder and conductor Gil Rose, presents classic and modern operas at various venues throughout the city, including the Strand Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion at Boston Center for the Arts, Jordan Hall, B.U. Theatre, and Suffolk University's Modern Theatre.

At more than 170 years old, this midsize historic theater has hosted everything from vaudeville and film to opera and concerts. To visit the Orpheum today, you must have a ticket to an event.