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There are some key things you should keep in mind when
choosing a show to see:
• Most theaters are dark on Mondays, as well as Sunday nights. • Many shows offer matinees (2 pm or 3 pm) on Wednesdays, Saturdays and/or Sundays. • While most evening performances begin at 8 pm, some theaters have begun start times of 7 pm on Tuesdays (and, more recently, Thursdays!). On behalf of all theater-goers: Please double-check your start time, and arrive at the theater no less than 15 minutes early (more if you need to use the bathroom); most theaters begin letting you in 30 minutes before show time. If you happen to be seeing a show at the American Airlines Theatre (227 W. 42), come even earlier, show your ticket, and head up to the fifth-floor lounge: You’ve got nothing to do but relax until you go to your seat.
The Theater District centers around Times Square, at the
intersection of Seventh Avenue and Broadway (diagonal!), named in the early 1900s for The
New York Times, shortly before the ball started dropping there on New Year’s Eve. It became
the city’s main theater hub after World War I, until the Great Depression, when it began a
steady decline into an “adult entertainment” hub. It was not until the 1980s and 1990s that
Times Square began to undergo what some call a “Disneyfication,” with family-friendly
entertainment, led by big-budget musicals, replacing seedier alternatives. That
redevelopment seemed to climax with the opening of gargantuan candy stores and the closing
of Broadway (the street) from 42nd to 47th streets to automobiles in 2009.
While it’s hard to argue with the safer feeling of Times Square and the whole Theater District today, making the crowded stretch around Duffy and Times squares an even-more crowded, pedestrian-only zone still raises the ire of some New Yorkers. Further, a growing cadre of giant costumed characters now makes the area their stomping grounds, bringing back some of the seedier elements of yesteryear. Please remember: Most of these characters are not “officially sanctioned.” Nor are they there for your benefit. It’s a hard-knock life, and they are there to make a buck; they’ve been known to become nasty or even violent if you don’t give them what they want. If you’re here with kids, think of the infamous molesting Elmo as a warning to keep your babes in arms. Tickle-you Elmo notwithstanding, the pedestrian area does offer the benefit of empty chairs at empty tables, where you can recalibrate and rest for free during warmer months. If you need a bathroom, try the Marriott Marquis, just a jump to the left of the TKTS booth. Nice bathrooms are open to the public on the main-lobby (eighth) floor of the hotel, which has housed its very own theater, the Marquis, since 1986. The Marquis is one of only three Broadway theaters that is, in fact, on Broadway (the street). Maybe Real Nearby
Once you have tickets in hand, you may want somewhere that’s
green for a respite. Consider nearby Bryant Park, between Fifth
and Sixth Avenues and 40th and 42nd Streets, behind the New York Public Library. Once known
as “Needle Park,” it underwent a renaissance of its own in the 1980s and 1990s. In winter,
it is taken over by an ice-skating rink, but during warmer months, it’s de-lovely, with
decidedly fewer crowds, peace and quiet and open air.
If it’s beginning to snow, or if it’s too darn hot to sit outside, go west to “Theater Row,” a group of off-Broadway theaters on 42nd Street, between Ninth and 10th Avenues. At 480 W. 42nd Street (closer to 10th, on the south side of the street), The Pershing Signature Center’s upstairs lounge offers comfy couches, a bookstore and a café/bar — all open to the public in a Frank Gehry–designed building. It is also home to the Signature Theatre Company (Sex and the City’s Cynthia Nixon directed a play here in early 2015), which makes a superb argument for considering an off-Broadway show. Another plus for off-Broadway: Many shows get their start in smaller venues before opening on Broadway. Case in point: Greenwich Village’s Public Theater debuted the brilliant (really brilliant) musical Hamilton; the show’s run at the Public quickly sold out, and it was set to transfer to a Broadway theater in summer 2015. There is nothing better than being able to say, “Oh yes, I saw it when it was off-Broadway,” when your friends mention a big Broadway smash.
You will surely want a nosh before or after your show.
Thinking about the Olive Garden, smack in the middle of Times Square? Tell me it’s not true.
There are so many real New York restaurants throughout the Theater District from which you
may choose. Maybe this time you could try one of the more than 20 dining options on
Restaurant Row (46th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues). If you are hoping for a
star-sighting, Joe Allen (326 W. 46th) and Sardi’s (234 W. 44th) are still popular (though
overpriced) hangouts for Broadway babies. Sardi’s reportedly offers a discounted Actor’s
Menu on Wednesdays, so actors can dine between their matinee and evening performances.
If you are not staying within walking distance of your theater, head east when your show lets out, as it will be much easier to catch a cab (look for one whose toplight is lit) away from the old time throng. With the lullaby of Broadway singing in your head, kiss today goodbye and start planning what to see tomorrow.
With thanks to veteran theater-goers Andrew Marcus, Marsha Mercant, Marco Baria and Aileen Zim.
Lauren Hauptman is a native New Yorker who is temporarily a long-term tourist in San
Francisco, where she lives with her husband and her dog, a tedoodle named Ezra. She has been
a contributing editor and writer for WHERE San Francisco and Pulse Guides, and is an
editorial and creative services consultant for numerous other publications and organizations
( http://www.laurenhauptmanink.com ). She
also wrote One Short Day in Midtown,
One Short Day on the Upper East Side,
High Line Highlights and
A New Yorker’s Top 10 Must-Dos in New York
City for Must See New York. She believes New York is the center of the universe.
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Broadway is, arguably, New York’s most famous street, making its way diagonally through the
island Manhattan. As it cuts through the west side of Midtown, it becomes the star — and
namesake — of one of the city’s biggest attractions: the Theater District, which runs
approximately from West 41st to West 54th Streets (south to north), and Sixth to Eighth
Avenues (east to west), and is home to myriad theaters of all sizes. 
