New York — Performing Arts

Places, everyone

Arrival in New York

UK · New York · Times Square

• Morning · Fly from the UK

  Depart from the UK on a direct flight to New York. Recent groups have flown from Manchester.

• Afternoon · Arrive and check in

  Met on arrival and transferred to your accommodation to check in and settle.

• Evening · Times Square

  A first look at the Theatre District as the lights come on, and a chance to spot the marquees of the shows you'll be seeing.

The show behind the show

Broadway, behind the curtain

Theatre District

• Morning · Broadway workshop

  After breakfast at your accommodation, a practical workshop with a Broadway professional. Students work on the songs, scenes and choreography of a current show and learn how a Broadway company rehearses.

• Afternoon · Museum of Broadway and the Drama Book Shop

  Follow the story of the American musical from its first productions to today's hits, then browse the Drama Book Shop, New York's specialist theatre bookshop for scripts, scores and theatre writing.

• Evening · A Broadway show

  The first of the tour's two shows, chosen with your group leader to fit your syllabus and students' ages.

High notes and higher floors

Midtown icons and the Village

Rockefeller Center · Empire State Building · Greenwich Village

• Morning · Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center

  After breakfast, a tour of Radio City Music Hall, the 1932 Art Deco home of the Rockettes, then time around Rockefeller Center.

• Afternoon · Lunch at Ellen's Stardust Diner

  A Broadway favourite where the waiting staff sing between orders. Many are performers working towards their own Broadway break.

• Empire State Building

  Up to the observatory for views across Manhattan, the rivers and beyond.

• Evening · Greenwich Village and Café Wha?

  Explore the Village's streets and Washington Square Park, then live music at Café Wha? on MacDougal Street, where Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix played early in their careers.

From opera house to warehouse

Lincoln Center to Brooklyn

Upper West Side · Theatre District · DUMBO · Little Italy

• Morning · Lincoln Center tour

  After breakfast, a guided tour of the campus that houses the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet and The Juilliard School.

• Afternoon · Your second show

  An off-Broadway production or a Broadway matinee, giving students a contrast in scale and style with Day 2.

• Evening · DUMBO, the Brooklyn Bridge and Little Italy

  Subway to DUMBO for Time Out Market and the waterfront views, then walk back across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan for dinner in Little Italy.

It’s showtime at the Apollo

Harlem and the Apollo

Harlem

Amateur Night runs on Wednesdays, so Day 5 is planned to fall on a Wednesday.

• Morning · Historic tour of the Apollo Theater

  After breakfast, take the subway uptown for an 11am tour of the Apollo, one of America's most important stages for Black music and performance.

• Afternoon · Lunch in Harlem

  Raising Cane's, or soul food at Manna's or Jacob Restaurant.

• Hip-hop tour of Harlem and live jazz

  A guided hip-hop tour through the neighbourhood where much of the music's story was written, followed by live jazz. Recent groups have enjoyed sets at Silvana on 116th Street.

• Evening · Amateur Night at the Apollo

  Back to the Apollo at 7pm for Amateur Night. Running since 1934, its winners include Ella Fitzgerald, and the audience decides who stays on stage.

Take a bow, then take off

Fifth Avenue and farewell

Herald Square · Fifth Avenue · Rockefeller Center

• Morning · Free time for shopping

  After breakfast at the hotel, free time at Macy's Herald Square and along Fifth Avenue, including Rockefeller Center.

• Afternoon · Coach to the airport

  Private coach transfer to the airport for check-in.

• Evening · Fly home

  Overnight flight back to the UK.

Exit, stage left

Arrive back in the UK

The flight home

• Morning

  Land in the UK, with plenty to bring back to the rehearsal room.