So many days free from school – and so many ways to grow restless, especially if there’s no snow for testing new sleds.
No worries: There’s always something to do in this town. In fact, this weekend is the perfect time to do it – a chance to play tourist in your own city, catching up on all kinds of holiday delights, traditional and not. As the week stretches on, there’s craft-making and more at two museums, alcohol-free ways to ring in the New Year and lots more.
Read on and find out where the holiday action is.
TODAY
There’s a reason Radio City Music Hall’s Christmas Spectacular has been around for 75 years – no one does it better. Once a short break between movie screenings, it’s now a 90-minute holiday happening featuring the world-famous, high-stepping Rockettes and the Parade of the Wooden Soldiers. This year, there’s even a 3-D sleigh ride through the city. Show times today are at 10:30 a.m. and 1, 3:30, 6 and 9 p.m.; performances run through Jan. 4. Best to get tickets – $38 to $92 – on the Web at radiocity.com. Or call Ticketmaster’s Christmas hot line at (212) 307-1000 or hit the box office at at 50th Street and Avenue of the Americas; (212) 247-4777.
Will Scrooge find the meaning of Christmas before it’s too late? And will you catch “A Christmas Carol: The Musical” before it closes? The very last shows are today at 11 a.m., 3 and 7 p.m. Jim Dale, the Tony- and Grammy-winning voice of Harry Potter (and everyone else on the J.K. Rowling audiotapes), plays Scrooge. For tickets, $35 to $79, call (212) 307-1000. Madison Square Garden, Seventh Avenue between 31st and 32nd streets.
Kick back and enjoy the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company‘s Family Matinee, featuring classics like “Revelations” and “Night Creatures.” After the performance, join the dancers for a question-and-answer session. Family matinees are at 2 p.m. today and Jan. 3. For tickets – $25 to $90 – call City Center City Tix, (212) 581-1212. Special deal: Buy two $65 tickets and grab up to two or more for $43, or buy two $25 tickets and score to two more for $15 each. City Center, West 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues; (212) 581-1212.
TOMORROW
The Moscow Circus presents an icy winter wonderland, featuring skating dogs, 300-pound skating bears, and clowns and even stilt-walkers on skates. Catch them today at noon, 3 and 7 p.m., with additional shows through Dec. 31. Tickets are $30 to $60, children under 2 admitted free. Millennium Theatre, 1029 Brighton Beach, Brooklyn; (212) 307-7171.
A winter solstice celebration at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum will offer a warming experience. Explore the museum’s collection of sun-related objects, including a copper sun mask and a painting from India, and learn how to make a spice-scented sun-symbol amulet. Today from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.; $4. 145 Brooklyn Ave., Brooklyn; (718) 735-4400.
MONDAY
It’s normally closed on Mondays, but the Metropolitan Museum of Art will be open today from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. – the better to see the magnificent tree and Neapolitan Baroque creche. Family greeters in the museum’s Great Hall will direct you to exhibits guaranteed to please all ages. Suggested admission is $12, $7 for students and seniors, kids 12 and under get in free. 1000 Fifth Ave., between 81st and 82nd streets; (212) 535-7710.
Crafty kids can create a wintry scene using paper, fabric and glitter at the Children’s Museum of Art‘s week-long winter recess program, kicking off today from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Daily art projects include making snowflake mobiles, a blizzard collage and fuzzy scarves, through Friday. Admission is $6 per person. 182 Lafayette St., between Broome and Grand streets; (212) 941-9198.
TUESDAY
Get four classic Hans Christian Andersen tales for the price of one! “Ah, My Dear Andersen” includes “Nightingale,” “The Ugly Duckling,” “The Fir Tree” and “Sweethearts” – all coming alive on stage for the holidays. Shows today at 2 and 5 p.m., Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 for children, $35 for adults. Urban Stages, 259 W. 30th St., between Seventh and Eighth avenues; (212) 868-4444.
Get ready to celebrate the New Year by making noisemakers and funny hats at the Staten Island Children’s Museum. There’s a $3 materials fee in addition to the $5 per person museum admission. Workshops today and Wednesday from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island; (718) 273-2060.
Time is running out on “The Nutcracker” – Tchaikovsky’s gift to the world. And while every dance troupe in the nation has its own version, the New York City Ballet’s (choreographed by George Balanchine) – replete with 50 children from the School of American Ballet, a Christmas tree that grows from 12 to 40 feet, and an onstage battle between mice and soldiers – gets our vote. There’s a show tonight at 6, with additional performances through Jan. 4. For more info or to buy tickets ($20 to $93), visit nycballet.com or call (212) 870-5570. New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, 63rd Street at Columbus Avenue.
WEDNESDAY
Who needs lions and tigers when you’ve got Circus Oz? Australia’s animal-free, alternative circus, a two-hour show with daredevils, contortionists, rock stars and a man who walks on the ceiling, has returned to the New Victory Theater. Shows today are at 1 and 7 p.m., with additional performances Friday through Sunday and Jan. 8-11. For tickets – $10, $25 and $50 – call Telecharge, (212) 239-6200 or visit the box office at 209 W. 42nd St., off Broadway.
The night sky will be the backdrop for a sparkling display of colors at Prospect Park’s 22nd annual New Year’s fireworks show. And there’s no need to fight the crowds in Times Square, plus it’s all free. Celebrate the last night of 2003 at the biggest party in Brooklyn! Grand Army Plaza, Flatbush Avenue at Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn; (718) 965-8999.
THURSDAY
Hit the ice at Wollman Rink in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Special holiday hours are 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 6 p.m. Bring your own skates or rent a pair for $5. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students and seniors. Prospect Park, Parkside Avenue at Ocean Avenue, Brooklyn; (718) 287-6431.
Celebrate the new year European-style at Salute to Vienna, a fun, fast-moving feast for the eyes and ears. Brilliantly costumed dancers will perform waltzes and polkas as musicians and opera singers perform pieces of rousing cheer. It’s at 2:30 p.m. at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center. For tickets, $40 to $95, call (212) 721-6500.
It’s a real zoo up there at the Bronx Zoo, where the annual Holiday Lights extravaganza lights up the winter skies with thousands of twinkling bulbs. Down on the ground, watch out for the reindeer and storytellers who stand ready to reel off a few winter tales. Nightly through Jan. 4 from 5 to 9. Admission $10 adults, $7 children ages 2 to 12. Bronx River Parkway and Fordham Road, The Bronx; for info, see bronxzoo.com. Note: Liberty Lines Express runs nighttime bus service to and from the zoo; for more info, call (718) 652-8400.
FRIDAY
Using just your imagination and craft materials provided by the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, make a light sculpture to take home for the holidays. The museum’s week-long winter recess craft runs through Sunday, with workshops at 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3 and 4 p.m., contiuing daily through Jan. 4. Admission is $7 per person, $4 for seniors. 212 W. 83rd St., between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue; (212) 721-1223.
The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree may get all the glory, but it’s another tree that gets all the fun – an 18-foot spruce decorated with handmade stuffed toys from the Felissimo Design House called “Happy Toys.” Visitors can purchase art kits from the Shop at Felissimo ($3.50), make a stuffed animal ornament and bring it back to hang on the tree. At the end of the season, Felissimo will donate 500 Happy Toys to the New York Police and Fire Widows and Children’s Benefit Fund. Through Saturday on the Concourse Level, Rockefeller Center, between Fifth and Sixth avenues. The Shop at Felissimo Design House, 10 W. 56th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues; (212) 956-4438, ext. 145.