Broadway in August
 

Hi
We will be in NYC in early August with teenagers. Will there be shows as usual or do they close down for the summer ? Are there other attractions which also close in August ? Thanks .

Everything is open. Playbill.com has information on what's playing now and things that will be opening between now and then. If you register for free there, you'll get emails on discounts and openings. Broadwaybox.com is another good place to look for discounts.

I can't think of anything that closes in Aug. nycvisit.com has a calendar of events that will tell you what's going on during your stay.

New York is a 24/7 city! Very little closes down any time of the year!

Thank you- good to know.

My brother will be in NYC late August/early September. He is disappointed that there does not appear to be any Opera available at that time. Is he mistaken?

Unfortunately for your brother's sake, he is not wrong. I believe the opera season starts in October.

One of the downs of traveling in the summer. Most major "cultural" things close down for the summer no matter where you are. Other than the special festivals it is usually hard to see prime ballet, opera, or major classical orchestra events during the summer anywhere in the world.
Broadway theatre is quite a different matter however, fortunately.

Only thing wrong with NYC in August is the humidity! Everything else is up and going. Just don't bring your ice skates, the rink at Rockefeller Center is closed!!Many locals are out of town for vacations, or just out to the Hamptons for the weekend.

Great place to get half price theatre tickets is the TKTS booth at Times Square the day of the show. All but the extremely popular shows are available. Line moves quickly.

If you are into fine dining, many of the top chefs are away during this period of time also. But since you are with teenagers, I doubt if this is going to be a problem.

Enjoy, and bring a water bottle!!

Neopolitan is correct about the "regular" cultural programs closing down in August. Unfortunately, all the special summer programs (like the Mostly Mozart series) will also be over by the time late August and early September roll around.

How about baseball ? Is it easy to get to the Yankee stadium from Manhantan ? Can we get discount baseball tickets ?

There are some great cultural summer programs in Manhattan!


The first three that come to mind are:

Museum Mile Festival
http://www.museummilefestival.org/


Midsummer Night Swing at Lincoln Center
http://www.lincolncenter.org/programs/swing_home.asp

Shakespeare In the Park
http://www.publictheater.org/

and these I found doing a quick search:

NY Philharmonic in the Parks
http://gonyc.about.com/od/summer/a/philharmonic.htm

Metropolitan Opra in the Parks
http://gonyc.about.com/od/summer/a/metinparks.htm

Discount Yankee or Mets baseball tickets are difficult, if not impossible, to come by. However, if it's any consolation, full-price tickets to the games are cheaper than tickets to Broadway shows.

Thnaks for all the good advice. We shall enjoy NYC.

GoTravel, is of course right about special festivals, just as I mentioned in my post. Thanks for some specific ones. But for me, seeing an opera in the park with all the distractions and horrible acoustics is nothing like seeing an opera IN the Met for example.

Neopolitan, I would think that would go unsaid, correct?

okoshi2002, as HowardR mentioned, getting discount baseball tickets is difficult. However, many of the seats in Yankee stadium are not expensive...so if you're willing to sit in the bleachers or the nosebleed sections (which can be a lot of fun!) you can find cheaper seats.

In addition, many of the games throughout the season have "special" nights. They won't be for the best seats, but again, it just depends on what you're looking for. Here is a link to specifics:
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASAp...g/specials.jsp

Enjoy your trip!

GoTravel, I agree. I don't think anyone would seriously expect opera in the park to compare to experiencing it in the Met - totally 2 different things. But if you have the chance to spend some time in the park, with a picnic, the opera and just soak it all in, it can be a fun way to spend some time.

Not all major cultural things close down for summer. The festivals mentioned are great, and the museums are open, cultural walking tours are frequently held and there is so much going on in the city. It's hardly a cultural graveyard!

Since you are traveling with teens, you might want to check into getting show & museum tickets through High Five Tix. Here is the website with more information: http://www.highfivetix.org/flash.html Through High 5, any teen (age 13 to 18) can buy $5 tickets to hundreds of dance, music, theater (yes, Broadway), film, museum and other events all year round (when accompanied by an adult). High 5 tickets to museums are two for $5 every day. It's an excellent program.

In case anyone thought I was an idiot for mentioning that opera in a park is different from opera at the Met, well, DUH. Of course I agree with Go Travel!

Why did I mention it? Because I was reaffirming a previous post questioning if such types of cultural events are available in the summer. If the original poster had asked if Broadway plays were playing in the summer and IF they were but only in scaled down productions set in Central Park, while all the actual Broadway theatres were completely shut down, don't you think it would be worth mentioning the difference?

Thank you for mentioning Highfivetix.

I just saw Mama Mia in NYC.....it seems teens would love it. I am not a teen but I sure did. I got my tickets through playbill.com.