The Charles Playhouse Went From an 1839 Church to Blue Man Group and 40 Years of Shear Madness
Asher Benjamin designed it as a church in 1839. It became a theater in 1958, hosted Blue Man Group for nearly 30 years, and now has a comedy club.
The Charles Playhouse at 74 Warrenton Street, in the Theater District, didn’t start as a theater. Asher Benjamin designed it in 1839 as the Fifth Universalist Church.
The Charles Playhouse company started on Charles Street in 1957 and moved into the old church the next year. It has two stages: a main stage of about 500 seats and a second stage of about 200.
Two record runs
Shear Madness, the audience-participation comedy-mystery, opened on the second stage in January 1980 and ran for 40 years, until March 2020: often called the longest-running nonmusical play in the country. On the main stage, Blue Man Group ran for nearly 30 years, ending on July 6, 2025, after 13,030 shows.
Now
In October 2024 the second stage reopened as Lil Chuck, a comedy club. For stand-up this week, see our comedy shows page; Nick’s Comedy Stop is on the same block.
Sources: Wikipedia: Charles Playhouse, Wikipedia: Shear Madness.
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