Does anyone know which theater companies are the best in Boston? May is a difficult month to find shows (past the "high" season) and I would love to see a show while in town. Even the symphony seems to not be playing mid May.

Depending on when in May you'll be in Boston, here are a few options for you:

If you'd like to see a musical, starting on May 16 - June 15 the Huntington Theater, an excellent professional company based at Boston University, will perform "She Loves Me", which is a delightful musical based on the play "Parfumerie", which inspired the Jimmy Stewart film "The Shop Around the Corner" and the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan film "You've Got Mail". Their web site: www.huntingtontheatre.org

Boston Lyric Stage, another excellent company, will perform Oscar Wilde's very funny "The Importance of Being Earnest" from May 9 -June 7. They have a small, intimate theater, with the audience on three sides of the stage. Their web site: http://lyricstage.com/

The Speakeasy Stage Co. will perform the Tony Award winning play "The History Boys" from May 2 - June 14 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. My son saw this play on Broadway in 2006 and thought it was fantastic. Their web site: www.speakeasystage.com

Of course, there's always the long-running "Blue Man Group" at the Charles Street Playhouse, that's wacky and fun, or "Shear Madness" (www.shearmadness.com/), which has been playing forever. I've never seen it, although I've always meant to go; there must be a reason it's popular enough to continue running for so many years.

If you want to venture to Harvard Square in Cambridge, the American Repertory Theater has a play called "Cardenio" from May 8 -June 10. I don't know anything about it, but it sounds intriguing from the description on their web site: http://www.amrep.org/cardenio/

Good luck, and enjoy Boston!

Note that tickets to "Blue Man Group" and "Shear Madness" are almost always available at Bostix for half price.

In addition to the above, "Menopause, the Musical" is at the Stuart Street Playhouse until June 29th, and "Love, Janis" (Joplin) will be at the Cutler Majestic May 7-11. We saw "Love, Janis" in NYC and loved it.

boston.com

arts and entertainment link - should keep you up to date with links for purchasing. browse the sight, it has some good listings of lesser known spots also.

Also, do check the musuems - the Isabella Stewart Gardner often has beautiful musical and theatrical /dance performances - and check the MFA and ICA too for special visual events/dance/music/movies

http://www.bso.org/bso/index.jsp?id=bcat5220105

The BSO is taken over by the Boston Pops in the spring.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions - this is what I was looking for. I will definitely check out these local theaters. Would love to hear the boston pops, but no performances are scheduled the week we will be in town - May 12-16. Shear Madness and Menopause the Musical won't interest my husband - can't get him to go here at home. Hopefully we can arrange some theater time this visit. Thanks again.

Check out the Pops again in a few weeks. They always have performances almost every day in May. No reason why they won't this year.

Well, there are other venues, such as the Berklee Performance Center, Sculler's Jazz Club, etc.

If you go to Boston.com, then "Calendar", you can see the venues. This is updated every Thursday. But, to see what may be on during May, most of the venues have their own websites.

These all look great. We also enjoy piano bars/clubs. Any recommendations for these?

Our favorite piano bar is the Julien at the Langham. Gorgeous space, piano nightly.

There are great places for piano and for music/jazz/blues in Boston.

Some of our favorite spots are:

The Beehive: Tremont St, Boston - you can google it and see what they have for food, menu and entertainment.
The line to get in can be long , even in cool and cold weather (hence the outside space heaters) - so we usually make a reservation on www.opentable.com - and time it so we are just finishing when the set starts.
you can also request a table inside the rail/tableclothed/closer to stage if you like or anywhere downstairs or some prefer upstairs and near the railing -

Another option - quieter piano music - but expensive drinks - is the bar at the Taj (old Ritz) on corner of Arlington and Newbury

The Oak Bar at the Fairmont Copley Plaza - again drinks are not for the faint of heart price wise, but you can google the menu/info - and they have light dinner fare - and light jazz trio/ etc you can see the line up

Jake Ivory's is one of those dueling piano bars but can get loud and crazy with the 'younger set' but maybe you like that - google that one also

if you google piano bars, boston - or ten best, - there was a list done not long ago -

and another on a thread here if you do a search for jazz music, boston and see what comes up

i can't believe I forgot Johnny D"s -
that one I know

www.johnnyds.com

You guys are the best - I will definitely check out your suggestions - wow, we are going to be busy every night Can't wait to go!