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What to See at New York City Center This Winter

What to See at New York City Center This Winter: since 1943, City Center in midtown Manhattan has been a major venue for the performing arts, offering music, theater, and dance. Prices for events no longer top out at $1.65 as they did at the official opening, but top-quality performances still shine. We’ve got a rundown of the best shows coming to City Center in winter, 2015.

What to See at New York City Center This Winter

Image: Dion Hinchcliffe/Flickr

The original building, dubbed Mecca Hall, debuted in 1923 as a meeting place for members of the Ancient Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. The neo-Moorish architecture of the façade and parts of the interior were largely retained through the extensive 2011 renovation. Many New York institutions, (some no longer extant), including The New York City Symphony, New York City Opera, and the New York Ballet began at City Center. In 1966, the Joffrey Ballet arrived and was at home for almost thirty years; the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has been in residence since 1972.

In the mid-1970s, after both City Opera and City Ballet moved to newly built Lincoln Center, City Center faced a dark period (and was almost demolished) until ten years later, when it received landmark status. Today's City Center offerings are often hot tickets so plan ahead.

The celebrated Encores! series of musicals, showcasing lesser-known works of America's most popular composers and lyricists, launched in 1994. Several hits from the series have gone on to Broadway success including Gypsy, Chicago, Wonderful Town, and Finnian's Rainbow. Encores! attracts top talent; often introduces stars of the future; and has won numerous honors including a Tony and Outer Critics Circle award. The 2015-16 Encores! season will include Cabin in the Sky, celebrating African-American musical tradition, February 10-14, 2016 (1776 arrives in March, followed by Do I Hear a Waltz).

What to See at New York City Center This Winter

Famed dancer Sylvie Guillem makes her final appearance in the U.S on November 12 in Life in Progress, encompassing four works: techno, DUO2015, Here & After, and Bye, all with Ms. Guillem except DUO2015, to be danced by members of the Forsythe Company.

Dance aficionados will also enjoy the return of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater December 2 through January 3, 2016. The company will present works including Revelations, considered an Ailey masterpiece, and a new production of Blues Suites with live music, Cry and Love Songs. Premieres of Paul Taylor’s Piazzolla Caldera and Robert Battle’s No Longer Silent are also on the schedule.

What to See at New York City Center This Winter

Thomas Adès conducts the Orchestra of St. Luke's as part of Concentric Paths–Movements in Music, November 20 and 21, with works by four choreographers. The program brings the U.S. premier of Polaris with a cast of 66 dancers, as part of Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival, which focuses on inner lives, as touched by music.

For a fabulous freebie, check out the new concert series Cocktail Concerts at the Center, at 6pm on the third Thursday of each month. The series will be held at the CitySpire Atrium at 6½ Avenue (between 55th and 56th Streets), directly adjacent to City Center.  Twin clarinet virtuosos Peter and Will Anderson will perform November 19.

Before you walk into City Center for a performance, take a few minutes to stop directly across 55th street at Myzel's Chocolate, an old world, family-run shop offering fabulous chocolates, cookies, and 100-plus kinds of licorice. You can stock up for the coming show, and maybe an imminent holiday, too.

About the Author

Mari S. Gold is a freelance writer whose work has been published in The New York Times, American Profile, Go Nomad, www.newyorkarts.com, Stratton Magazine, Go World Travel, and other outlets. A lifelong New Yorker and avid traveler, she also writes on food, theater, and other cultural events. Her blog, But I Digress…can be found at www.marigoldonline.net.

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