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Home > Arts & Events > City Center

City Center

131 W. 55th St., New York, NY 10019
nr. Seventh Ave.  See Map | Subway Directions Hopstop Popup
212-581-1212 Send to Phone

Photo by Robert Kern

Official Website

nycitycenter.org

Nearby Subway Stops

N, R, W at Fifth Ave.-59th St.; F at 57th St.

Parking

  • Nearby Parking Lots
  • Street Parking

Profile

City Center almost went out of business when the NYC Opera and NYC Ballet departed in the 1960s and headed for Lincoln Center. Thankfully, dance companies such as Alvin Ailey and Paul Taylor, as well as the Manhattan Theatre Club, came along to ensure that this former Shriners' Temple would remain the populist arts nexus that Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia had envisioned when he saved the building from the wrecking ball in 1943. Beneath the red-tiled dome and beyond the Moorish, nearly-windowless façade, are a number of performance spaces furthering that mission: the 2,700-seat main hall and two subterranean spaces occupied by MTC among them. The center's signature series is ENCORES!, which mounts semi-staged concerts of oft-ignored musicals such as Pal Joey, Babes in Arms, and Chicago (long before the Oscar-winning movie made it a name again) to a core constituency of show tune fanatics.

Special Offerings

City Center has three rehearsal studios. For more info, call 212-247-0430.

1.0 "Not Recommended"
Average Reader Rating
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0% Would you go back?

Horrible venue

michellemosher from 10014 | Posted on 7/18/08

Overall Rating: 1 (Not Recommended)

This venue combines a small stage with way too many seats too far back. On top of that, if you buy one of the more expensive tickets through their website, the system will automatically - and without any warning whatsoever - assign you a seat in a different, farther away section if the section you chose is not available. This happened to me and the ticket office not only refused to take care of the problem, but was unbelievably rude during the process. Bottom line, do NOT buy tickets through their website, and be warned that unless you are in the front, the seating is compressed to the point where you won't enjoy the show.

Read All 1 Reviews >>

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