The Histrionic Academy

I took my Mom on the Histrionic Academy Freedom Trail tour for Mothers Day. As much as we enjoyed being outside and learning about the history of Boston, we found the tour guide to be way too chatty. What I mean by this is there was too much useless information given which kept us from seeing more of the freedom trail. We enjoyed the important facts of the places we visited and the important people along the way but we didn’t need to know most of the information that was given. Because of this we stayed at the different sites way too long and the guide lost most of us to boredom. At the end of the 2 hours there was still a lot of the freedom trail to see but we were on our own after that. I would not take this tour again. They should shorten the information to important pertinent points only and move further along the trail.

This review is for the Boston Freedom Trail tour. We purchased tickets for the 10:30 am tour starting at the Boston Visitor Center. The colonial dressed guide met the large group of people. Our purchased tickets were not collected which wasn’t a good sign. The young guide was not only in costume but in character. She seem pleasant and enthusiastic and encouraged questions. Unfortunately, she was either yelling in an old English accent or yelling by enunciating each word between pauses. Despite her well meaning effort her speech was difficult to understand at times and grating. Likewise, from what I understood she was relying more on story telling rather than the historic narrative. In the middle of the second stop we went over to another tour group and could hear their speaker clearly without the shouting and dramatics. We left our tour early after this comparison. Likewise, a family from our original tour group commented negatively and left too. «Warning», the Boston Visitor center sells for 4 different tour groups. After researching the reviews, decide what company you wish to lead you make sure you purchase tickets with the company you want. The visitor center says all the tours are identical but I disagree.

Great guide on the Sunday daytime tour — wonderful story teller and a great command of the history. Highly recommended!

I attempted to redeem a Living Social two-​for-​one Freedom Trail Tour on the day of expiration. I called ahead on Friday to confirm that no reservation was necessary. When we arrived at the Boston Common visitor center the following damp, cold Sunday morning for the second tour at 11:30 am, we were advised that the 10:30 am tour had run, but the 11:30 am tour was cancelled. The visitor center serves as the point of sale for four different roughly equivalent tours, and since we’d commuted all the way in on a weekend, we took a competitor’s tour. It is extremely unprofessional of the Histrionic Academy to cancel tours on short notice without a way to check their status, especially on the day of expiration of a limited promotion!

We took the Freedom Trail Tour with our guide Colonial Cal and had the best time. He was so knowledgeable, funny and did a great job of keeping non-​paying people from joining the group. Great tour!

I bought tickets to the Histrionic Academy’s Boston Night Tour via a deal on BuyWithMe a couple of weeks ago, thinking «Hey, why not — I like a good ghost tour as much as anyone else…» I figured it would give me something fun and seasonally-​appropriate to do after work some night.
The first red flag should have been raised when I looked on the company’s website and they didn’t even have a «Boston Night Tour» listed as an option. The website lists «Boston Historic Trail,» «Salem Ghost Tour,» and «Salem’s 1692 Tour»… but when I called to make my reservations, sure enough the woman on the phone knew what I was talking about anyway. The night tour exists, but apparently it’s pretty new.
We showed up for our tour about 15 minutes before the assigned start time and it departed right at 8 PM sharp, as promised.
From the very beginning when our tour guide explained to us that he also conducts the daytime Freedom Trail tours, and that he’s a «paranormal investigator,» and has also been an archaeologist, the temptation was to call out «WHOA THERE, Indiana Jones — I call bull$#*t.» But of course, I kept my mouth shut and did my best to keep an open mind. I figured it was just a cheesy start to what might be an informative tour.
Then we made our first stop near the Old State House. Our guide told the story of the Boston Massacre, and explained how once in a while people see the ghost of — wait for it — «Christopher Attucks» standing in a nearby intersection. Christopher. Not Crispus (his actual name), but «Christopher.» And he went on to repeat that name at least another half dozen times during this story.
I made the decision that I just couldn’t stand in the cold and watch this guy embarrass himself any longer than I already had (about 10 minutes, mind you), and as the tour group left the corner of Congress and State, my boyfriend I turned right around and walked back toward the closest Orange Line station.
The moral of this story is: If you want to go on a ghost tour in Boston, do yourself a favor and go with a well-​rated company that’s been doing it for a while.