NEW YORK - LOCATION GUIDE ENGLISH, DRAMA & PERFORMING ARTS Exceptional Tours Expertly Delivered Our location guide offers you information on the range of visits available in New York. All visits are selected with your subject and the curriculum in mind, along with the most popular choices for sightseeing, culture and leisure in the area. The information in your location guide has been provided by our partners in New York who have expert on the ground knowledge of the area, combined with advice from education professionals so that the visits and information recommended are the most relevant to meet your learning objectives. Making Life Easier for You This location guide is not a catalogue of opening times. Our Tour Experts will design your itinerary with opening times and location in mind so that you can really maximise your time on tour. Our location guides are designed to give you the information that you really need, including what are the highlights of the visit, location, suitability and educational resources. We’ll give you top tips like when is the best time to go, dress code and extra local knowledge. Peace of Mind So that you don’t need to carry additional money around with you we will state in your initial quote letter, which visits are included within your inclusive tour price and if there is anything that can’t be pre-paid we will advise you of the entrance fees so that you know how much money to take along. You also have the added reassurance that, WST is a member of the STF and our featured visits are all covered as part of our externally verified Safety Management System. BROADWAY THEATRE PRODUCTIONS Give your students an experience to remember by arranging a trip to a Broadway show. They’ll really go home with the ‘WOW’ factor. Here is a range of the most popular shows currently available on Broadway. Top Tip: Price vary with each show so recommend you budget approx. £45 per paying person to cover the cost of most shows. If you are there on Friday or Saturday then prices will be higher. Website: www.broadway.com Subway: Times Square – 42nd Street The Lion King Jersey Boys Chicago Mamma Mia Phantom of the Opera Wicked Annie Matilda Aladdin ALADDIN BACKSTAGE TOUR The New Amsterdam Theatre is offering a backstage tour which focuses on the costumes of the show Aladdin. This is a rare opportunity to go behind the scenes on Broadway and times are limited. Contact us for more details. THEATRE WORKSHOPS Your students can enjoy a tailored workshop with industry professionals. These workshops specialise in a variety of techniques to improve areas of study such as: Acting methods Audition coaching Character development Choreography Dance Improvisation Song writing Thematic Content Vocal techniques Popular workshop themes are: Meet the Artist Meet some of Broadway’s most gifted artists in an intimate setting, where you’ll hear the experiences of a professional actor, director, choreographer, casting director or agent. The artists will discuss the challenges of the business, backstage anecdotes and career choices. 60 minute class Theatre Games In a playful and fun environment, participants are encouraged to explore spontaneity, impulse, freedom, imagination and creativity with acting exercises and theatre games often used in professional rehearsals. 60 minute class Enter Acting This workshop is building trust in one’s talent, finding the truth of the moment and develops a whole actor by using the imagination. 90 minute class Quick Wits This introduction to the art of improvisation uses topical issues to build tolls in flexibility, concentration and spontaneity, while strengthening confidence and encouraging fun and humour. 90 minute class Wanted: Experienced Actor A casting director discusses being seen, how to market the working actor and what it takes to get the job. 60 minute class Let’s Get Technical A Broadway stage manager or set designer discusses the technical execution of a director’s vision and the collaborative process of lighting and designing a set for a production. 60 minute class Stage Combat A thrilling workshop. Designed to give you tools on collaboration and safety. You will be guided by a highly experienced professional on the skills of choreographing a fight. 90 minute class Make Up The world of theatre and film is constantly changing with new technology. Make up is also changing, with high definition and new inventive lighting in the theatre, the actor’s face has become more specific. A professional from theatre or film will demonstrate on one or more students new ways to apply make-up. (60 minute class) This is a range of the most popular workshops. If you don’t see a workshop that suits your needs, tell us what you are interested in and we can discuss a tailor made workshop with our providers. Top Tip: If you are looking for an overview to the theatre the ‘Welcome to Broadway’ workshop is a great introduction. In a 30 minute session before your show, a professional actor will meet you and speak with your group giving a little information on life on Broadway and behind the scenes information on the show you will be seeing. This can take place either at your hotel or at your restaurant before the show. Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation Classes and Tours This visit is not to be missed for Dance groups in New York particularly as some students will be studying 'Alvin Ailey' as part of their A levels. The Ailey Studios is the largest facility dedicated to dance in New York offering a side range of group options. Private Group Classes can accommodate up to 50 participants. You can choose the technique you like and select either a 60 minute or 90 minute private classes. ‘Horton’ is by far the most popular technique chosen by student groups, as it is a signature technique of the Ailey organization and each class features live percussion. Hip-Hop and West African are also very popular techniques for groups as well All techniques offered: Ballet, Horton, Graham-based Modern, Dunham, Jazz (Classical & Theater), Hip-Hop, Contemporary, Salsa, West African*, Afro/Caribbean*, Samba/Afro Brazilian*, Capoeira. Private Building Tours are approximately 45 -60 minutes long, and showcase the studio and administrative spaces, as well as Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation’s archived artwork and photographs. Groups get an in depth look at the legacy of Alvin Ailey and the history of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The Ailey Studios at the Joan Weil Center for Dance is one of the largest facilities dedicated to dance in the US. Class Observations allow groups to watch the last 30 minutes of Professional Division Classes. Groups over 10 students will be split among classes during the same time frame. Website: www.alvinailey.org Subway: 57th Street, 7th Ave METROPOLITAN OPERA ‘The Met’ opera company is located at the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts and is the largest classical music organisation in North America. The season runs from September to May and the schedule of performances offers some student rates on key performances throughout this time. Contact us for more details. Website: www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/index.aspx Subway: 66th Street Lincoln Center NBC STUDIO TOUR Go behind the scenes of some of the most well known TV shows. You will visit the NBC Sharp Globe Theatre, Broadcast Operations, the Make Up room, and even produce your very own news and weather programme. Top Tip: The NBC tour is the Rockefeller Plaza which means it’s a perfect visit to do before or after a Top of the Rock tour. Website: www.nbc studiotour.com/ Subway: 50th Street & Broadway or 51st Street & Lexington, 47th – 50th Street & Rockerfeller Centre RADIO CITY STAGE DOOR TOUR Explore the theatre, lounges and corridors of the most iconic theatre in New York. You can explore the art deco interiors, learn the secrets of the Great Stage one of the largest indoor performance stages in the world, view the celebrity signed guest book and meet a world famous Radio City Rockette. Top Tip: Radio City is also in the Rockefeller Plaza so you can combine a visit to the NBC Studios and Top of the Rock. Website: www.radiocity.com/ Subway: 50th Street & Broadway or 51st Street & Lexington, 47th – 50th Street & Rockerfeller Centre TV & MOVIE SITES TOURS Choose from a range of coach or walking tours around the city, taking in locations of well known shows and movies, venues where the stars hang out and even see where your favourite celebrities live. Shows and movies include Friends, Seinfeld, Glee, The Devil Wears Prada, Spiderman, Elf, Hitch and many more. Themed tours include Sex and the City Hotspots, Central Park Movie Sites, Gossip Girl Sites and Sopranos Sites. Top Tip: If you have a particular show or film you would like to focus on then let us know and we can ask our providers to include this in your tour, provided it was filmed in New York. Website: www.screentours.com MUSEUM OF MOVING IMAGE This is the only museum in the US dedicated to the art, history and technology of the moving image in all its forms. The permanent exhibition here will immerse you in the creative and technical process of producing and presenting films, TV shows and digital entertainment as well as the history of the moving image. Tours here can be guided or self guided. Resources: This museum has a great range of computer based interactive experiences such as creating animations which you save and email back to yourself to keep, voice recording and adding music to scenes. Top Tip: Workshops for school groups are available in addition to a guided tour.