Fans get a unique view inside the World’s Most Famous Arena during All Access Tour (photo courtesy MSG Entertainment)
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN ALL ACCESS TOUR
RADIO CITY STAGE DOOR TOUR
Madison Square Garden: 31st to 33rd St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
Radio City Music Hall: 1260 Sixth Ave. at 51st St.
Daily 11:00 am – 3:00 pm, $10-$18.50 each
www.thegarden.com
www.radiocity.com
Madison Square Garden. Radio City Music Hall. The very names of these institutions are iconic. In a country where the premier entertainment venues in most cities seem to be named after banks, telecom companies, and fast-food chains, these two unique historic attractions seem to embody the very spirit and character of New York. While visitors and natives alike enjoy any number of events at these landmarks, a wonderful way to get a deeper taste and understanding of the goings-on backstage is to take the official tour. Both Radio City and the Garden offer interesting and informative guided visits where guests can learn about the buildings’ histories and mysteries. The MSG tour takes guests all over the main drags and back roads of the World’s Most Famous Arena, beginning with a short film on the history of the Garden (or actually all four Madison Square Gardens, the first of which opened in 1879) and featuring a collection of Garden-related ephemera as the guide leads visitors from the arena floor up to the sky-box level and down to the home locker rooms of the Knicks and the Rangers. (During basketball season, guests just might get to meet a Knicks City Dancer as well.) The guides, able to answer any question imaginable, kept up a happy patter that seemed informal enough to avoid sounding like propaganda, considering the number of queries that dealt with the sorry state of the two local sports franchises who call the Garden home. Even with both clubs missing the postseason yet again, the Garden is never dark for long, as there are plenty of boxing matches and concerts scheduled, and the Liberty start up next month. Happily, the tours continue all summer long.
Tour takes visitors all around historic landmark (photo courtesy MSG Entertainment)
The Radio City Music Hall grand tour is another great way to spend an afternoon. The landmarked building, which was slated for demolition back in the ’70s until a last-minute injunction saved the day, is truly one of the architectural gems of New York. From the Hall’s gilded, soaring interiors to its acoustically perfect upper reaches, exploring the place was both enjoyable and fascinating. The guides, even more outgoing than the Garden’s demure damage-control specialists, again take visitors on a behind, and under, the stage journey, explaining the machinations of one of the more technically advanced yet vintage hydromechanical set-ups in the world. Some of the Radio City tours even allow guests to get up on the legendary stage itself. The tour, lasting about an hour, concludes with the group getting to meet an actual Rockette, the true stars synonymous with this breathtaking Art Deco treasure of a building.