3 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.