New York Theatre Walks: Seven Historical Tours from Times Square To Greenwich Village and Beyond

In New York Theatre Walks, Howard Kissel provides a series of seven self-guided walking tours not just of the theatre district but of the East and West Village, the Lower East Side, and the Upper West Side - neighborhoods uptown and downtown that illuminate the theatre’s intimate relationship with the city.

On one tour, we follow the career of Irving Berlin from the sites of his theatrical triumphs to the ultra-posh corner where this Lower East Side boy eventually made his home. There’s also ＂Adolph Green’s Daily ’Commute ’＂ a route on which he went to meet and work with his musical theatre writing partner Betty Comden, and on a culinary tour we see the way Times Square eateries contributed to theatre history.

The book abounds in Broadway anecdotes, but it also gives the walker a sense of the city’s own complex, rich history. East Side, West Side, All Around the Town, New York Theatre Walks provides enjoyment and instruction not just for visitors eager to get off the beaten path but for the native who wants to find the theatrical past lying behind the sights one passes on a regular basis.

Howard Kissel (New York City) is a cultural reporter for the New York Daily News and was that paper’s chief theatre critic. He compiled and edited Stella Adler: The Art of Acting (1-55783-373-7’), ’recently updated Lehman Engel’s Words with Music: Creating the Broadway Musical Libretto (1-55783-554-3’), ’and is the author of David Merrick: The Abominable Showman, all published by Applause.