The weak dollar makes it a great time to visit New York. Deirdre Falveytakes in a Broadway show or two and Marion McKeoneexplains how to live like a New Yorker
NEW YORK, NEW YORK: it may be the city that never sleeps, but after a long flight, and with the five-hour time difference, my eyes drooped and I felt as if I'd never slept, ever. And yet something about the city is vitalising, and I shrugged off the exhaustion, kept going and enjoyed a Broadway show that my body clock told me was taking place in the middle of the night.
New York is a city where many worlds coexist in close quarters, where whatever it is you're looking for can be found. One of those worlds is theatre. Shuffle the deck and you can choose from mainstream Broadway theatre, great off-Broadway shows in smaller venues, avant-garde off-off Broadway production or, for this visit, big brassy musicals.
The weak dollar is drawing people on combined shopping, theatre and sightseeing trips to New York. They may not be looking for a cutting-edge show; instead, a bit of top-class glossy entertainment to pep them up at the weary end of a day scouring Century 21 or tramping around MoMA. And nobody does glossy entertainment like they do it on Broadway.
Last year Broadway was heading for another record season, with 12.3m tickets sold in 2006-7, and although November's stagehands' strike turned the lights off for 19 days, costing the city $2 million a day, Broadway is back in business.
Its heart runs through the neon-lit Times Square, and even on a cold blustery night the buzz of just wandering around Broadway is energising. Is it the concentration of so many high showbiz hopes and top production values - not to mention clever marketing - that creates that magic? If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere.
The theatres I was at, the Shubert and the Ambassador, were full mid-week, with queues to get in before the shows started. They are both lovely early-20th century theatres with very small foyers, so there's little social milling about before curtain.
Chicago, Bob Fosse's musical, which is playing at the Ambassador, has been running for 11 years, making it the eighth-longest run in Broadway history.
Aside from its strong story, the charm of this show is in its reliance on sheer skill: top singing and dancing, with a black theme, no costume changes and a simple set that has the band as its central motif, facing the audience.
The entertainment value comes down to terrific songs and knockout performances from a great ensemble. The current leads are the Tony-winning Brenda Braxton, as Velma, John Schneider (the posters outside excitedly describe him as a "sexy TV star!" - he's been in Nip/Tuck), as Billy Flynn, and Bianca Marroquin, as Roxie Hart. Marroquin, who is from Mexico, where she played the role in Spanish, is a fantastic dancer with a great voice and real star quality.
You might think of Monty Python's Spamalot as Eric Idle's retirement plan (it probably is) and of Monty Python's silly humour as quintessentially English (it certainly is), yet the big-budget stage variation on Monty Python and the Holy Grail has been a big hit in New York, complete with American twists: cheerleaders do a twirl at one stage, Camelot is a version of Las Vegas and they eventually find the Grail on Broadway (groan). It is all good fun, suitably silly and often enjoyable, although with varying standards of performance, but you get the strong feeling that the anarchy of the original Pythons sits ill at ease in this sweetened, commercialised version.
With the dollar in the doldrums, this is a good time to visit the US. Last year 291,000 Irish people visited New York, ranking us as the seventh in terms of international arrivals in the city. Airline capacity at the city's airports has increased enormously over the past year or so. With an average spend of $2,400 a trip, no wonder the retailers, hoteliers and theatres are taking notice of the business they're getting from such a tiny country.
The ultimate insider's guide to the Big Apple
New Yorkers live in dog years. A year in the city is like seven anywhere else. After eight years here - or 56 dog years, and it's showing - I say you can call yourself a New Yorker only when you know where to get a vintage Pucci dress for $150, a killer Martini and a bowl of nuts for $10 and a night at the opera for less than $20.
Yoga
Because we're talking New York, take a yoga class and steam session, complete with towels, mats, robes and as much organic tea as you can drink - and as much detox as you can stomach - for $20.
If you wake up with a hammering in your head and a hole in your pocket - and, believe me, at some point here you will - don't worry, because you can make all that pain and self-loathing disappear at Exhale (150 Central Park South, between 6th and 7th Avenues, www.exhalespa.com).
This is it. Nirvana, New York style, with yoga classes that are held in an enormous tranquil space, all hardwood floors, candles and the best-qualified yoga teachers in the city.
No quacks here, thank you, and the going ain't easy. Unless you've done a few tours with Cirque du Soleil, I recommend sticking to classes at levels one or two. You'll raise a sweat but exude Zen calm for a week.
Afterwards, blast out those toxins with a steam and shower, then take your pick of the half-dozen organic teas while you laze around in a complimentary robe. Allow yourself two hours, including class time. It will be the best $20 you ever spend.
Shopping
New York is full of consignment stores, where designers offload samples and the super-rich shed last season's skins. If Barneys' twice-yearly warehouse sale (February and August) isn't on, it's the only way to shop.
During my introduction to Designer Resale (on East 81st Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues, www.designerresale consignment.com) I was steered me towards a corner where a pair of lurid pink and red patent stiletto boots - labels still attached, showing an original price tag of $1,675 - stood resplendent in all their tacky glory, priced at just $30.
So I took them, and as it would have seemed churlish to leave without emptying my wallet, I also bought a new Sonia Rykiel cashmere cardigan - originally $745 - for $75, a Dries Van Noten jacket - with store tags still on; originally $695 - for $85, and a Serge & Real couture skirt - originally $1,325 - for $125. It didn't take a mathematical genius to work out that I had snapped up almost $4,500 worth of clothes for just over $300.
Celebrity spotting
If you want to do some good old-fashioned celebrity rubbernecking, go to Joe Allen (326 West 46th Street, www.joeallenrestaurant.com). This is the best of the Broadway post-theatre restaurants. Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, Danny DeVito, Kathleen Turner and Jessica Lange are regulars.
To make a night of celebrity gawking, finish up at Elaine's, (East 87th Street and 2nd Avenue). From Bill Clinton to James Gandolfini, you never know who you'll end up chatting with at the bar. Recently I picked up some boxing tips from Jake LaMotta.
Another hidden treasure is 92nd Street Y (www.92y.org), where New Yorkers go for their brain food. Hear Madeleine Albright chat about the Middle East or watch Salman Rushdie, Umberto Eco and Maria Vargas Llosa share a podium. Tickets for most events cost $26. There is no better way to regenerate the brain cells you've been pulverising with Martinis and manhattans.
Staying
Hotel Beacon (www.beacon hotel.com), at 75th Street on the Upper West Side, is a perfect base if you are in town to shop and take in a show. It is in a real New York neighbourhood, two minutes from the subway and three blocks from Central Park, and it won't break the bank. It is also surrounded by some of Manhattan's best places to eat.
Opera and ballet
A trip to New York never seems complete without a trip to Broadway, but how about a trip to the opera or the ballet? This is where you'll find the real New York. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (www.lincolncenter.org) is, literally, one of the most dazzling places in New York. I wouldn't want its electricity bill, but it's worth going to the Metropolitan Opera (www.metoperafamily. org), which is based at the centre, just to see the chandeliers and the fabulous 1970s-kitsch decor. As you're there, you may as well stay for the performance - unlike on Broadway, you can see the world's most celebrated performers for the price of a cinema ticket. As long, of course, you don't mind bringing your own oxygen supply, as you'll be up in the nosebleed seats. Fourth-ring seats start at just $15. We caught the rapturously reviewed Otello last week for $22 a ticket.
Free events
The Lincoln Center peaks during the summer, when its Out of Doors season offers more than 100 free events, including music, dance and recitals. The Midsummer Night Swing season is the highlight. During July, New Yorkers from all neighbourhoods bring their dancing shoes and jive, salsa, swing or foxtrot to 36-piece bands. The exuberance is infectious: even if you thought salsa was something that accompanied a tortilla chip, you'll be out dancing in no time.
... MMcK
Where to start if you plan to catch a Broadway show
Show time
Broadway stages everything from glitzy musicals to straight theatre. And then there is off-Broadway (typically 200- to 500-seat theatres) and off-off-Broadway (even smaller, with more experimental work). If it's the big shows you're after, here's a selection.
August: Osage County Tracy Lett's dysfunctional family drama, a tragicomic triumph from Steppenwolf theatre company.
Spring Awakening Rock musical with a young cast, based on Frank Wedekind's 1891 teen tragedy.
Avenue Q Described as Rent crossed with Sesame Street, this is an irreverent, saucy comedy from puppets.
Jersey Boys Jukebox musical, a behind-the-music story of 1960s songs from The Four Seasons.
The Seafarer The British production of Conor McPherson's modern folk thriller, with David Morse, Ciarán Hinds and Jim Norton, has wowed Broadway. (The Abbey production opens in Dublin next month.)
Booking tickets
There are tons of ways to book theatre tickets. Keith Prowse Travel - an international agency with an office in the Irish Life Mall, in Dublin (01-8783500; www.keith prowse.com/ie) - has access to good seats.
Tickets are pricy. If you're flexible about what you see and have some time on your hands, the TKTS booths at Times Square Center and Downtown Theatre Center, at South Street Seaport, sell discounted tickets for performances that night, for cash or traveller's cheques.
Time Out New York magazine is invaluable for information on shows and ticket deals.
Behind the scenes
Continuing a showbiz theme, how about a daytime visit to Carnegie Hall, the glorious music venue with three auditoriums, at 57th Street and 7th Avenue?
Sit and eat
Eat in theatreland at least once. Sardi's, at 234 West 44th Street (www.sardis.com), opened in 1921 and has theatrical blood ingrained in its walls, which are lined with decades of caricatures of theatre folk who've visited.
Another historic eating house is Tavern on the Green (Central Park at West 67th Street, www.tavernonthe green.com), an over-the-top Victorian Gothic building with long mirrored corridors, chandeliers and stained glass, plus, outside, trees lit by fairylights.
There are funkier places, too. Try Good, on Greenwich Avenue, the sort of joint you might imagine seeing the Sex and the City crowd in. Or Bryant Park Grill (www.bryant park.org), on one of the city's many squares, for a good seafood lunch. The park often has outdoor film screenings.
Walk and eat
We took a walking-and-eating tour of Chelsea Market and the meat-packing district. The market is an indoor foodie experience, with large glass windows fronting on to the walkway through which you can watch the food preparation: a bakery, fishmonger's, specialist tea store, cookie-maker, wine store, tea-blender, Italian food importers and more. The market is in the old meat-packing district, which until recently was populated by prostitutes and transvestites. Our tour was by Foods of New York (www.foodsofny.com). The tour operator Next Stop New York (www.nextstopnew york.com) also organises customised private tours of other areas for groups of 10 or more.
Sightsee
A New York City Pass (www.citypass.com) gives access to six big attractions, including the Empire State Building, a Circle Line cruise and the Guggenheim Museum. It costs $65, half the price of the combined entrance fees.Before travelling, be sure to check out the New York tourist board's website, www.nycvisit.com. The NYC Visitor Center is at 810 Seventh Avenue.
For an alternative view of the city to the Empire State's, try the recently reopened Top of the Rock (www.topoftherock nyc.com), at the Rockefeller Centre, with three outdoor viewing floors.
There is also some great art, an ice-skating rink (in summer it's a garden) and the ubiquitous mall at ground level.
Go there
Deirdre Falvey flew with Continental Airlines to Newark airport. It's about the same distance from downtown Manhattan as JFK by train, taxi or shared ride. www.continental.com
She stayed in Fitzpatrick Manhattan on Lexington Avenue, a central location with life on the street and close to lots of shops (including Bloomingdales) and MoMA. Its a sort of magnet for the Irish in NY and has just refurbished the bar/restaurant and is halfway through re-doing the bedrooms.