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Photo: Tim Pierce, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Performances of the Blue Man Group and Shear Madness play here. The building first opened in 1839 as a church, and was converted to a performing arts space in 1957.
The Charles Playhouse is a theater at 74 Warrenton Street Boston in the Boston Theater District. The venue comprises an approximately 500-seat mainstage, which hosted the long-running Blue Man Group, and a 200-seat second stage branded as the comedy club Lil Chuck. The second stage previously hosted Shear Madness for 40 years, one of the longest runs in American theater history.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Until August 1775, a beautiful old elm tree graced this spot. During the Revolutionary era, Bostonians met in the shelter of the tree, or as they called it: "Liberty Hall". Here they discussed new ways to flummox, humiliate, and resist the British at every opportunity. The tree—and the events that transpired here—became so popular in the minds of colonists that folks from Rhode Island to South Carolina soon christened liberty trees of their own. This particular tree was so hated by the British that it was quickly chopped down and used for firewood once the Redcoats captured Boston. Over the centuries the importance of this rebellious symbol has waned, and today it's been all but forgotten. The site's primary theme of overthrowing the government was deemed too incendiary for inclusion with the popular Freedom Trail. There is, however, a bronze plaque fixed in the ground nearby. You can also look above the Chinatown station entrance, as there's another marker for the Liberty Tree embedded within the brickwork. It's not much of a remembrance considering the site's import, but it's there and always worth a visit.