karens

Has anyone been to an exhibit at the Discovery Times Square Exposition?

They have an upcoming show on Pompeii that I would like to see:

http://www.discoverytsx.com/

ggreen

karens, I meant to reply to your post yesterday; I see in the meantime no one else has!

Sadly, my input is rather secondhand. My friends went to the Tut exhibit there a few months ago. I intended to go with them, but balked at the price of the ticket. (Once all the fees were included plus an extra $5 or so for the movie, it was in the $35-40 dollar range. And to think, there was an uproar when the MoMA first started charging a mere $20! I just didn't have that much extra $$ at the time.) My friends had gotten a Groupon that gave them about 10% off.

At any rate, they were rather disappointed in the exhibition. I think this was mostly because the felt the advertising implied that the sarcophagus would be there but it wasn't. They said there were quite a lot of artifacts, but of minor importance. And that the movie was a waste of time. Of course, I can't say one way or another since I wasn't there!

The Pompeii exhibit looks intriguing. I wonder what caliber the "never-before-seen objects" are! It says the exhibit is organized in association with Soprintendenza Archeologica Napoli e Pompei. However, especially after my friends' experience, I do take the Discovery promotions with a grain of salt: they are a for-profit endeavor, more similar to their cable channel than to the Met or the AMNH... I guess I'll have to continue to get my Roman Antiquities fix at the Met for now, and wait to hear more about the Pompeii show once it opens!

doug_stallings

The problem with the Tut exhibit is that it didn't include any of the best pieces as the original did. It was a bid by Egypt simply to make money to build their new Grand Egyptian Museum. But even though the exhibit was at the Discovery center, it was a legitimately curated exhibition, albeit a for-profit one.

Pompeii hasn't opened yet, so it's very hard to say if it's worthwhile. But given that it costs $25, I think the cost is pretty steep.

ggreen

Interesting point, Doug. I have a sneaking feeling those factors would be much the same for the Pompeii exhibit: cash flow for the Neapolitan govt to continue to upgrade the archeological museum, but a legitimately curated exhibition nonetheless.

In this day and age when nonprofit museums can't afford the costs associated with putting together blockbuster shows with works from multiple institutions, I imagine we'll be seeing a lot more professionally curated for-profit exhibitions!

mlgb

HMM It sounds very much like the exhibit that I saw about a year ago in New Zealand's Te Papa museum, including the film and "250 artifacts". I wonder how then can call it a world premiere? Maybe they changed a handful of exhibits?

I thought the film was interesting, (it sounds like the same film) but I'm not sure I'd pay more than about $20 for the exhibit in total.

Anyways the Te Papa website has quite a bit of info that you can browse to see if it interests you.
http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/WhatsOn/ex...s/Default.aspx

ggreen

mlbg, thanks! It does look like the same show. I'm going to go poke through the info on the page you provided, very useful.

Not only is there the set ticket price (apparently $25), but the Discovery space adds taxes and other fees on top, inflating the cost!

mlgb

Yeah, I'm sure..and I was being generous about the price I'd pay. And if this is in NYC I'd just be going to the Metropolitan or one of the other museums with that $20, or an IMAX film!

Fra_Diavolo

Sounding quite lame.

For $17.95 buy a copy of Mary Beard's The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found. You'll save a few dollars and may actually learn something!

http://www.amazon.com/Fires-Vesuvius...9&sr=8-1-spell

ggreen

if this is in NYC I'd just be going to the Metropolitan or one of the other museums with that $20, or an IMAX film!

The Met has an amazing collection from Roman antiquity. I got quite a kick this past spring of seeing the Met's Pompeian mural collection referenced in the middle of the archeological museum in Naples!

(And you never ever have to pay the full "recommended" admission of $20 at the Met!)

Fra_Diavolo

"(And you never ever have to pay the full "recommended" admission of $20 at the Met!)"

I see this often, and usually want to add, "but you should."

The Met is required to merely "recommend" an admission price as part of the terms of its membership in the city's Cultural Institutions Group. It receives 11% of its operation budget from the city -- about $24,000,000.

Last year the Met laid off 250 employees and had an operating deficit of over $8 million. This was extremely high -- the year before was $1.9 million -- due largely to weak investment performance.

Personally I think $20 is a fair price for a half day or so wandering the galleries. Since I like to pop in pretty often for shorter visits, I became a member, a route I would recommend to any resident. Memberships begin at only $70 - attend the museum four times a year and you're ahead!

At any rate, I think tourists especially should pay the recommended rate if they can. (And if they can't, how in the world can they afford a vacation in NYC?) I think it is wonderful that the museum is open to all, but that the privilege should not be abused.

karens

Thanks, all. I know the Tut exhibit here in Philly disappointed some b/c the advertisements showed Tut's golden sarcophogus, but that was not there.

Tos1

Tourist Trap. Like everything else in Times Square it is geared to bring you in and take your money but does not deliver. $30 entry fee to see small artifacts, bland orange walls, and a "simulator" that is a puff of air. The casts were interesting but it would have been much better at the Met where you only pay a $1 donation. This place is a scam.

karens

I went to see this exhibit today and I thought it was worthwhile. It is expensive – when you add all the fees my ticket came to $26 – it would be, IMO, ridiculously expensive to take a family here.

I found the story of Pompeii – their daily life, the eruption of the volcano and the destruction afterwards , to be fascinating. I thought the exhibit was well laid out and had a lot of interesting objects. The frescoes and mosaics had such beautiful, vivid colors and the plaster casts of the people and animals who died were interesting to see.

I have never been to Pompeii, and don’t have any plans in the foreseeable to visit, so I was glad I was able to see the items in the exhibit and to learn more about it.

gailw

Karens: Thanks for posting this. I've been seeing the ads (full page ads in the NY Times -- big bucks!) and wondered if the exhibit would be worth a trip to NYC. I think if I were going for other reasons, I'd spring for a ticket but probably isn't worth the expense of a trip there just to see it.
Appreciate your review.
gail

tejana

I agree that you should spend your time at the Met instead of Times Square. Although the Pompeii exhibition at the Smithsonian in DC a couple of years ago was terrific, I don't think this is the same thing. And as far as the Met admission price and suggestions go, I have to say that DC really spoils you (with all of the Smithsonian Museums, including the National Zoo, being free to all), so I'm always a little shocked that other places charge $20 or $25 admission to visit a museum. Don't you want kids to go? Yes, I have paid the full admission at the Met a few times, but there have been times that I thought that $10 a person seemed far more reasonable.

Frank

Glad to hear you enjoyed Pompeii, we intend to see it sometime this Summer. We did see da Vinci and Tut at the Discovery Center and enjoyed them both.

Discounted tickets are available for $19.50 on weekdays (code STIXPTE).

When you consider a movie costs $13 in Manhattan, and don't mention the price of a Broadway ticket, the price doesn't seem out of line to me.

Margo_Chester

Today's Groupon is a disount for this exhibit.

•For $18, you get one ticket, usable anytime Monday-Friday (up to a $28.31 value).

•For $22, you get one ticket, usable after 3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday (up to a $28.31 value).

Groupon link: http://tinyurl.com/3laotwv