Walkin' Broadway - New York

 

    Broadway like you've never heard it before!

Walkin Broadway is a self guided walking tour which brings Broadway's fans and visitors closer to the day-to-day life, the infamous tales and backstage secrets of Broadway. All shared by the very stars and creative teams that have created 'your' favorite shows'.

 

 

Production quality on thhe audio is excellent and extremely professional. There are over 40 voices featured- including producers, actors, directors, designers, theater owners, and industry specialists - that are woven into the tour hosted by A&E Television personality Elliott Forrest. You'll hear the stories from 39 theaters, 26 of them over 80 years old, all related to you by the people who were there. Music from over sixty soundtracks will send a chill down your spine and make you dance in the streets. In addition to a look into Broadway's history, Walkin' Broadway also provides stories about the plays and musicals currently on the boards!

It took partners Don Frantz and Elliott Forrest three years of interviewing actors, producers, directors, choreographers composers and others who were directly involved in making the magic of theatre happen. When it wasn't possible to directly interview people due to illness or death they interviewed close friends and relatives.  The results of this extensive process has turned these men into historians and have garnered the general public over a hundred hours of interviews with Broadways greatest artists.  One of the most difficult tasks they found was to sift through the interviews and compile them into a one hour tour. Frantz told me he realized the wealth of the stories and interviews they had and knew wouldn't possibly be able to use it all. So he and his partner contacted the Museum of the City of New York and established a partnership where the interviews would be preserved and available to the public.

Frantz, a Broadway producer himself wanted to have the tour of the Broadway theaters as interactive as possible and to do so, has used the latest in audio technology to bring you into the stories as much as possible. You are lead through the streets of the Theatre District, instructed when to walk turn and stop, whether to go right or left, uptown or downtown, it even instructs you to stop for traffic lights. While on this journey you will find yourself in front of the legendary theatres, listening to great Broadway soundtracks and the voices of those who were living the stories you are hearing.

A few of the famous voices you'll hear are:

? Antonio Banderas - Actor (Nine)
? Gary Beach - Actor (The Producers)
? Tom Jones - Lyricist (The Fantastiks, I Do I Do)
? Alan Menken - Composer (Beauty and the Beast)
? Hal Prince - Director (The Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Sweeney Todd, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret)
? Chita Rivera - Actress (Nine, Chicago, West Side Story)
? Stephen Schwartz - Lyricist, Composer, (Godspell, Pippin)

     

Interesting facts you'll learn about:

Who some of the famous actresses that got their start in the musical "Annie" are.
Which musical, playing at what theatre, had audience members taking their clothes off along with the performers.

Which Barrymore Ethel, John or Drew, the Barrymore Theatre is named after.

Which of May West's plays in 1928 was closed by the police because of its overt sexual content.

Why during a performance of "Chicago" Hilary Clinton had to hold President Clinton back from storming the stage at the Ambassador Theatre.

Full of infamous tales and backstage secrets Walkin' Broadway is an exciting interactive lesson in history and a study in our nations collective consciousness that is continually being formed through the music, dance and drama that is American Theater. Whether you are a Broadway enthusiast, or just curious to learn more about popular culture this tour is educational, interesting and fun.

It's great entertainement that will have you singing and dancing down the great white way!

  

Tour Length: 60 minutes
Price: $10 + tax (group rates available)
Times: During the day, Every Day!
Departure Point: Colony Music
1691 Broadway at 49th street
Contact phone: 212 997 5004
www.walkinbroadway.com