Things to Do This Weekend in Boston
Plan the perfect weekend in Boston with our list of weekend events and activities.
Keep your weekend full with our roundup of fun events around Boston. And don’t miss our list of iconic things to do around Boston.
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Photo via Broadway in Boston
MULTIPLE DAYS
THEATER
This adaptation of the popular 1990 rom com Pretty Woman stays true to its roots, with a book by Garry Marshall and J.F. Lawton, the director and screenwriter, respectively, of the original film, and music by Bryan Adams, the king of 80s and 90s power balladry. Adam Pascal (Rent, Aida) stars as the wealthy Edward Lewis in this production, and relative newcomer Olivia Valli, granddaughter of Frankie Valli, plays Vivian Ward, the spunky sex worker he falls in love with.
$35-$185, Tuesday through January 30, Citizens Bank Opera House, 539 Washington St., Boston
GAMES
Mysteries on the Move: Scavenger Hunt in Boston
Who killed filmmaker Rex King? This app-based outdoor scavenger hunt sends you and your team around downtown Boston on a quest to solve a murder mystery from the 1920s, stopping at 10 famous spots along the way, which you’ll have to investigate to access the next set of clues. The 1.3 mile walk starts at the Visitors’ Information Center on Boston Common.
$15, ongoing, Boston Common Visitor’s Information Center, 139 Tremont St., Boston
Image via TBS
COMEDY
Countering the stereotype of the reserved Midwesterner, Minnesota comedian Chad Daniels is candid and gregarious on stage, covering everyday topics like aging and parenting with honesty and humility. “One of my mental illnesses is patience—I don’t have any,” he jokes in in middle of his latest album, Twelfth Night. He may not suffer fools, but he can’t help but come off as a nice guy.
$35, Friday and Saturday, Laugh Boston, 425 Summer St., Boston
Image via Janus Films
MOVIES
Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi brought this adaptation of a Haruki Murakami story to the screen. Our protagonist is Yusuke, a popular actor grieving the loss of his wife. He takes a job directing a play in Hiroshima, and one of the conditions is that he’s assigned a chauffeur, Misake. He’s not initially pleased with this arrangement, but eventually she becomes a much-needed confidant.
$15-$17, now playing, Coolidge Corner Theater, 290 Harvard St., Brookline
Photo provided
THURSDAY
COMEDY
This NYC comedian hails from Vermont, where he won the title of Vermont’s Funniest Comedian, pretty much demanding he leave home. New York also seems to have been a friendlier place for a gay man than his conservative home environment. Describing going home for the holidays in a video from 2020, he quips: “It’s a lot of weird pressure being the only gay person that 30 people have ever met.”
$20, 8 p.m., The White Bull Tavern, 1 Union St., Boston
FRIDAY
MUSIC
Despite earning critical respect, getting his songs featured on popular TV shows, and scoring high-profile opening slots for artists like The Cranberries, Josh Ritter, and John Mellencamp, singer-songwriter Griffin House remains a cult phenomenon as his career approaches the two decade mark. It’s hard to see why, because his folksy but pop-friendly style is immediately appealing. He’s got a good sense of humor about it, though—he ironically titled his last album Rising Star.
$20-$35, 8 p.m., City Winery, 80 Beverly St., Boston
This Los Angeles band throws back hard to smooth grooves of the 1970s—they even gave their video for “Fever” the appearance of a band doing a vintage TV spot—but it’s a 1970s filtered through the colder moods of 80s new wave, with occasional spacey psych-pop exercises thrown in for good measure. It seems like a fair bet that they’re big fans of Tame Impala, a band that also draws these influences together. Their latest album is 2021’s Apoptosis.
$19, 8 p.m., Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theater, 55 Davis Sq., Somerville
SATURDAY
MUSIC
50 Cent became one of the biggest rappers of his era with his 2003 hit “In da Club”, bringing the other members of his G-Unit posse along with him. He hasn’t released a studio album since 2014’s Animal Ambition, and in 2021 he confirmed that his long-awaited album Street King Immortal would never be released. Fans have still gotten new music, though—just last week, he dropped the track “Power, Powder, Respect”, featuring Lil Durk and Jeremih.
$55, 9:30 p.m., Big Night Live, 110 Causeway St., Boston
Photo by Prune Nourry
Free Events
MOVIES
This new documentary follows the French visual artist known simply as JR as he travels across the world creating monumental works that engage local communities in France, Mexico, Brazil, and the United States, attempting to use art to draw attention to forms of suffering that it’s all too easy to turn away from. JR may already be familiar to some cinephiles from the late Agnes Varda’s second-to-last film, 2017’s Faces Places.
Thursday, 6 p.m., MIT List Visual Arts Center, 20 Ames St., Cambridge
Family-Friendly Events
ART
This tour is designed for parents with infants. You’ll stay in your car the whole time, dialing into an audio call on your phone and following the tour guide from spot to spot, checking out some of Boston’s coolest street art and learning about how it connects to surrealist artists like Dali, Magritte, and Kahlo. Everyone will be on the call, so you’ll get to ask questions and hear others’ thoughts (and probably a few baby noises too).
$12, Saturday, 11 a.m., starting location TBA, Boston
Photo by Robert Day
ENTERTAINMENT
This interactive show, using advanced puppetry to bring dinosaurs to life, sets up shop for one day this weekend, not far from its natural rival, the ongoing Dino Safari at Faneuil Hall Marketplace. It’s a bit different, however, taking the form of a stage show with a backstory rather than an exhibition. Featured creatures include Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Giraffatitan, Microraptor, and Segnosaurus.
$35-$75, Saturday, 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., Emerson Colonial Theater, 106 Boylston St., Boston