For such a small city, Gloucester has a very respectable number of entertainment and performance venues. The Gloucester Stage Company runs performances at 267 East Main Street during the summer months and around Christmas, with performances every day (and sometimes more than once per day) during the season. Stage backgrounds are usually minimalist and casts are small, but the actors are quite good. Previous shows have included classics by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Eugene O’Neill and Arthur Miller, as well as modern pieces by contemporary dramatists. Individual show tickets and season PlayPasses can be purchased on their website, www.gloucesterstage.org.The West End Theater provides a more relaxed evening, with locally produced and written theater pieces, music performances and such ongoing throught the year. Producers feature a large number of shows that run only a few performances each, with separate Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter seasons.

Every Tuesday evening at 7pm during the summer, the church Our Lady of Good Voyage Church holds a free carillon recital for the community, playing classical, folk and religious music on its set of 31 bells.

Also try the Windhover Center for the Performing Arts, which has its own summer dance company (a really neat outdoor stage) and performing arts classes.