BROADWAY (Dinner & Musicals)- Manhattan Island, New York

Broadway Theater Musicals Shows & Plays paired with Restaurants – Manhattan Island, New York

My career as a fashion designer brought me to Manhattan more times than I can count. Problem was, I never had the time to do and see all the great things that Manhattan had to offer. I told myself, one day I would fly out just to be a tourist. This was that time (except I did sneak in the NOW market).

BROADWAY THEATERS

If you don’t attend a broadway musical show in Manhattan, you haven’t really experienced Manhattan at its finest. This is where theater received its name in America and embedded itself into the hearts of Americans. Historic venues stage bold new musicals, seven days a week. Pair that with a great restaurant within walking distance of the musical and you are set for a perfect night.

broadway, new york, plays musicals theater

What’s the difference between ON BROADWAY verses OFF BROADWAY?

The first thing a person should know is the difference between what is considered an On-Broadway show and what is Off-Broadway. According to the Broadway League (the national trade association for the Broadway industry), there are only 41 true “Broadway” theaters and all are on Manhattan island. You can find a list of them here. Most are located between West 40th and West 53rd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. This is referred to as the Broadway district. There is an actual street running through the district named Broadway Street. However, most of the theaters are not located on that street, just close by. In order to be considered On-Broadway, the theatre must seat over 500 people. Off-Broadway seats 499 people or less. The venue must also host plays and musicals more than dance shows or concerts. Just because a musical is labeled Off-Broadway, do not rule it out. Many times these musicals have proven to be so good, they’ve moved up to On-Broadway status. However, you have to officially be considered On-Broadway to win a Tony Award. The Tony Award is the most prestigious awards for Broadway performers and productions.

THE MUSICALS & RESTAURANTS

The musical Anastasia & Sardi’s Restaurant We always try to find a restaurant close to the production we are planning on attending. It’s always good to purchase your tickets well in advance AND make your dinner reservations at the same time. There always seems to be tickets available (for most shows with a few exceptions). However, if you reserve your seats in advance you obtain better seats. Don’t rely on scalpers to sell tickets outside the theaters. Scalpers are illegal in NYC and they could be fined. We chose our first play to be Anastasia (considered on-broadway with a seating capacity of 1,156) at The Broadhurst Theatre located at 235 West 44th Street. We made dinner reservations at 6pm for Sardi’s (right across from the theater). Its interior was a perfect start to a perfect evening with caricatures of famous people all over the walls. It has been in existence for over 90 years and caters to those going to Broadway plays. They get the food out on time, hot and with smiles on all the waitstaff’s faces. The food was good like home cooking. I’ve been to some of the top restaurants in the world, so “good” to me is probably spectacular to others. Anastasia , the musical was amazing. The large movie-like background made you feel like you were right on stage living this with the performers. The musical Chicago & Da Marino Restaurant Before dinner we went to the play Chicago at the on-broadway Ambassador Theater located at 219 W 44th St. I had seen the play at a different theater and also the movie starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and really liked it so I knew I was going to love this play. Unfortunately, I was sadly disappointed. The energy of the actors seemed low and it wasn’t at all the same play I had seen in the past. Across the Street was Da Marino NYC (220 W 49th St – tele: 212-541-6601). It has a very New York setting as you have to walk down a few steps then enter a darker cozy wood stained bar with smaller tables in the back. We sat down at our table and I had a total Deja Vu moment. Problem is, I knew I had never been there before (at least in this lifetime) but I knew I had been inside this restaurant before. It was the oddest feeling. I just couldn’t help but ask the Manager, Tom, about the restaurant and he asked me if I had ever seen the TV show, “Sex in the City“. BINGO! Tom had sat us at the exact same table as Mr. Big (played by Chris North) and Carrie Bradshaw (Sara Jessica Parker) had sat at during filming.

SexAndTheCityWasfilmedHere — Sex and the City was filmed at this table in Da Marino Restaurant in New York City.

DaMarinoRestaurantNewYrok — Da Marino Restaurant in New York.

Chris North typically can be seen eating here at least once a week as he is best friends with the manager and lives not far away. I ate angel hair pasta, it was very rich and al dente (which in my world is undercooked pasta), but it was good.

The musical Phantom of the Opera & Carmines Restaurant

Phantom of the Opera was at the Majestic Theater at 245 W 44th St. Built in 1927, the Majestic Theater is one of the largest theaters with a seating capacity of 1,681. I loved the look of this old theater with it’s domed ceiling. I could envision what it must have been like when it was new sitting in the state box to the left of the stage. There were three levels of seating (first level is called the dress circle, next level called loge and the second tier the mezzanine. The Phantom of the Opera’s first performance here was in 1988. I knew they were going to have trouble beating the Las Vegas performance of Phantom of the Opera because it was my favorite. Again I was sad to say, the Vegas performance of the show was much better as were the props and staging. It was good, just not as good. We went to Carmines across the street for dinner 220 W 44th St. It looked very Italian with gold tablecloths and white napkins, wood floors with dark mahogany wainscoting on the walls and bar. It was packed and we were directed upstairs. The seating was tight (I felt like we had people sitting almost on our laps from the table next to us) however, I had lasagne and there was enough to feed 4-5 people. I highly suggest to bring more than two people with you to this restaurant. If you’d like wine with your dinner and don’t want to order a bottle, you have to ask for a wine glass, then they will come around. The bill for both of us with wine was only $59. which seems unheard of!

A quick word about the Manhattan homeless.

As you roam the streets of Manhattan you will see a lot of homeless people. Because I still had a 7″x12″ pan full of lasagne left (you cut your portion out of the pan so I only ate about 4″ x 4″, my mother reminded me that this time it wasn’t about the homeless dogs, we needed to see if any homeless people wanted this excellent dish. So we had it boxed up and as we walked back to our hotel, we asked 4 to 5 different homeless people if they would like our lasagne. We were not able to figure out why everyone turned us down. They were dirty, unkept and sitting on the curbs, so they at least looked like they really needed it. Finally on the 6th homeless girl (who was pregnant sitting on a mattress with her boyfriend), I asked, “You know this is really good lasagne and I cannot figure out why everyone is turning it down including you?” Her response will remain with me forever, she said, “Lady, I make over $100,000 cash and tax free dollars a year sitting here on my corner, why the hell would I want your scraps?” The next homeless person I saw was a black man sleeping. I didn’t disturb him but just set the lasagne down next to him and left. Perhaps there is someone out there that really needs it? Back to “Top things to do in Manhattan, New York” blog page.

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