Boston After Dark - Boston 2009 - page 226

Dessert Alert
Finale is one of the best debuts Boston's Theater District has seen in many years.
It's a “desserterie” that serves a mouth-watering variety of glorious desserts in
elegant, romantic surroundings with lots of velvet and soft lighting. Yes, it's a tad
expensive. No, this is not a balanced meal. But the sweet tooths (sweet teeth?)
who flock here don't care. The original is at 1 Columbus Ave., in the pointy end
of the Park Plaza Building ( & 617/423-3184; www.finaledesserts.com), with
branches at 30 Dunster St., Harvard Square ( & 617/441-9797 ), and 1306 Beacon
St., Coolidge Corner, Brookline ( & 617/232-3233 ). Finale also serves real food,
such as salads and pizzas, but the desserts are the real draw.

Finds

and $48; student rush $25 when available. Shear Madness $40; student rush $20 when available. T: Green
Line to Boylston.
Le Grand David and His Own Spectacular Magic Company Three
generations of magicians make up this company, a nationally acclaimed troupe of illu-
sionists that has delighted families since 1977. The ever-changing 2-hour shows,
directed by master magician Marco the Magi, take place on Sunday afternoon and
Thursday evening at two historic theaters in Beverly, about 40 minutes from Boston
by car. It makes a perfect stop after a sightseeing excursion to the North Shore (see
chapter 11). Cabot Street Cinema Theater, 286 Cabot St., Beverly; and Larcom Theatre, 13 Wallis St.,
Beverly. & 978/927-3677. www.legranddavid.com. Tickets $20 adults, $12 children under 12.
Puppet Showplace Theatre The Puppet Showplace presents favorite fables,
ethnic legends, and folktales and fairy tales from around the world. Professional pup-
peteers put on creative, engaging shows year-round in a lovely 100-seat theater. The
theater displays historic puppets and puppet posters, offers puppet-making work-
shops, and sells toy puppets. Family performances take place on weekends, with shows
for toddlers on weekdays. Adult-oriented “Puppets at Night” shows play this theater
and at other local venues. Call for schedules and reservations. 32 Station St., Brookline.
& 617/731-6400. www.puppetshowplace.org. Tickets $10 for children's shows, $13-$20 for adult
shows. T: Green Line D to Brookline Village.

Kids

Kids

3 The Club & Music Scene
The Boston-area club scene is multifaceted and constantly changing. As a rule, live
music is more compelling than the dance-club scene by several orders of magnitude,
but somewhere out there is a good time for anyone, regardless of age, musical taste, or
budget. Check the “Sidekick” section of the daily Globe, the “Edge” section of Friday's
Herald, the Phoenix, Stuff@Night, or the Improper Bostonian for ideas.
Clubs cluster on Lansdowne Street, near Boston's Kenmore Square, and on Boyl-
ston Place, off Boylston Street near Boston Common. The center of the local live-
music universe is Central Square in Cambridge. Rowdy college bars and clubs
abound near the intersection of Harvard and Brighton avenues in Allston (T: Green
Line B to Harvard Ave.). That makes club-hopping easy, but it also means dealing
with swarms of teenagers, students, and recent college grads. To steer clear, stick
to slightly more upscale and less centrally located nightspots. If you do like teenagers