Which Boston-area theater/performance/arts subscription should I buy?

December 17, 2012 7:46 PM

Which Boston-area theater/performance/arts subscription should I buy?

We are a young couple that likes occasionally having reasons to leave the house and go on a proper date.

My fiance just bought us a subscription to the A.R.T. season. I would like to buy something similar but complementary: another theater series, or a concert/dance series, or ... really anything that will get us out of the house once every month or two. I think my top leaning right now is a set of World Music/CRASHarts concerts.

I am open to things like museum memberships, as well, but it's probably best for us if we are committing to go to a specific event on a specific day. Wackier things -- cooking classes? drawing lessons? -- are on the table, too -- again, as long as we can commit to a set of them in advance.

We are in Somerville; anywhere subway-accessible would be good. The organization doesn't have to offer a formal subscription program; patching together a series of tickets to make our own is fine. We tend toward random hipsterish pursuits, but we don't mind pretending to be adults occasionally, either. Probably looking to spend about $100-200 per person.

posted by teditrix to media & arts (6 answers total)

Hmm~ If you joined the ICA Boston, you could have both - visits on weekend days, and frequent (terrific) events like First Fridays, free for members.
posted by Miko at 8:02 PM on December 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

Try the New Rep in Watertown. I really liked their production of "Art" this past spring. "Master Class" and "Amadeus" are coming up in spring 2013. I'd imagine you could get to Watertown on the bus from Somerville somehow.

Then go out for a Persian dinner here - it's informal but the food is wonderful.
posted by Currer Belfry at 5:57 AM on December 18, 2012

Kind of a semi-self-link as I'm a member and I've worked on their shows in the past, but right in Somerville, Theatre @ First is a community theatre group that puts up shows every couple of months, and a membership gets you in the door for all of them. Performances are generally in one of the churches up College Ave from Davis Square - lately, the Unity church at the corner of College Ave and William St.
posted by rmd1023 at 9:27 AM on December 18, 2012

I also think the ICA and its First Fridays would be great -- the ICA is one of my favorite local museums.

There's also the Brattle and the Coolidge -- the Brattle might be relatively close to you.
posted by lillygog at 1:17 PM on December 18, 2012

Thanks, these are all great answers. (I hadn't thought of movies ... or Persian food!)

rmd1023, is there a list of shows Theatre @ First will be doing in the next year somewhere?
posted by teditrix at 7:35 AM on December 19, 2012

I know they've scheduled the Vagina Monologues and Lysistrata, but I don't think they've selected things beyond that. There's usually a couple of full stagings, and then smaller scale staged readings that they do as well (usually the cast sitting or standing on the stage with minimal stage movement and scenery). Their livejournal community will generally have announcements when they schedule a new show or when they're soliciting suggestions.
posted by rmd1023 at 9:06 AM on December 19, 2012