By Jean-Christophe BENOIST (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Broadway Concerts in Bryant Park
Each summer, cast members from current Broadway shows take to the stage for this free series of concerts held on Thursdays from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. The stage is set up on the Bryant Park lawn. It’s a great way to enjoy highlights from current shows and to enjoy a visit to Bryant Park.
Several different musicals are featured each week, providing a taste of what’s a currently running on and off Broadway.
Each summer, Bryant Park hosts a series of free outdoor films. The films are shown on Monday evenings June – August.
Come out to the park and grab a spot on the lawn. The lawn opens for seating at 5:00 p.m and the films begin at sunset, which is usually between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m..
Bryant Park, in cooperation with the New York Audubon Society, offers spring and fall birding tours of Bryant Park. The tour dates are scheduled to coincide with the spring and fall bird migrations, when you’re most likely to see unusual birds who might stop in the city during their trips north of south.
Bryant Park’s spring tours are in April and May and fall tours take place in September and October. See the Bird Tours section of the Bryant park website for a Birding Tours Schedule.
The birding tours are free and open to the public.
Bryant Park might not be the first of New York City’s parks you would think of for bird watching. Central Park is the better known spot for New York City birding. Central Park’s enormous size and variety of landscape does provide some of the best habitat for birds in the city. All that space can be a little intimidating, though. It’s hard to know where to start to look. Although Bryant Park isn’t likely to attract the variety of birds found at the larger park, the compact size makes spotting what is there more manageable.
Even with its smaller size, Bryant Park does get a nice variety of birds during the migration seasons. According to NYC Audubon’s web page about Bryant Park, 121 different species of birds have been spotted in the Bryant Park, including 32 species of warblers (tiny and often colorful woodland birds most frequently seen during migrations). That’s pretty impressive for such a small patch of land in the middle of the city.
Learn about one of NYC’s busiest and most popular parks with the Bryant Park audio tour. Download the free tour through iTunes for play on a portable device (or you can listen to it at home on your desktop).
The audio tour is narrated by Mathew Broderick and provides lots of information about the park in a fun, entertaining format.
The tour is really meant to be listened to while you’re in the park, but it makes good before hand preparation for a trip to the park too. It gives you a good idea of the things you’ll see there and really sets the atmosphere of the place.
The park is part of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, but is privately funded and managed by the not-for-profit Bryant Park Corporation, which took over restoration and management of the park in the 1980s.
Bryant Park is a very popular gathering place for residents and visitors. A large lawn provides a green oasis in the middle of midtown Manhattan. There are lots of places to sit and relax, an outdoor reading room with books, newspapers, and periodicals, several places to eat, a putting green, chess, backgammon, and other games.
Visit the Bryant Park website for details about the park and scheduled activities and events.
The 2016 schedule has been announced for the free outdoor film festival at Bryant Park. The films are shown on Monday nights from June 20 – August 22.
Come out to the park and grab a spot on the lawn. The lawn opens for seating at 5:00 p.m and the films begin at sunset, which is usually between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m..
Bryant Park Film Festival
June 20 – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
June 27 – East of Eden
July 4 – Top Gun
July 11 – The Palm Beach Story
July 18 – The Omen
July 25 – Three Days of the Condor
August 1 – Harvey
August 8 – High Plains Drifter
August 15 – The Big Chill
August 22 – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
The 2015 season of free summertime Broadway performances at New York City’s Bryant Park begins July 9th with the casts of STOMP, Wicked, It Shoulda Been You, and Fuerza Bruta.
Each summer, cast members from current Broadway shows take to the stage for this free series of concerts held on Thursdays from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. The stage is set up on the Bryant Park lawn. It’s a great way to enjoy highlights from current shows and to enjoy a visit to Bryant Park.
The 2015 Broadway in Bryan Park concerts are July 9th, July 16, July 23, July 30, and August 1.
Take one of these tours presented in partnership with New York City Audubon and learn about the birds that live in Bryant Park and look for fall migrants passing through. The green areas provided by New York City’s parks provide welcome stop-overs for migrating songbirds.
The 2014 fall birding tours are scheduled for September 15 and October 2, 9, 16 & 23. 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Meet at 42nd Street and 6th Avenue.
The Boomerang Theatre Company presents free performances of Shakespeare’s Love’s Labor Lost in Bryant Park, August 14 – 30th. The performances are Thursdays through Saturdays (August 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29 & 30) on the Upper Terrace Steps from 7:00 p.m. to 9:10 p.m.
Hear new music commissioned by Chamber Music America performed by award-winning classical and jazz ensembles. July 11, 18 & 25 and August 1 & 8.
The concerts are 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the Upper Terrace Steps in Bryant Park. Each concert includes performances by two groups. See the full schedule.
Bryant Park is located in midtown Manhattan, behind the New York Public Library (between 40th and 42nd Streets & 5th and 6th Avenues).
