Lincoln Center Guided Tours

I had such a great time on the guided tour of Lincoln Center. My girlfriend and I visited the city last week. This was one of the highlights. My girlfriend is a former dancer, so seeing the NYC ballet stage was a treat for her.
I can’t remember the tour guides name. She was an older blonde woman, and she was incredible. So knowledgeable about the center.
We were able to see performers rehearsing in the Opera house, which was so cool. They were rehearsing the play performed on New Years. Also, we were able to see a choreographer working with a single male dancer from the NYC ballet.
Really great to see behind the scenes.

A FIASCO FROM START TO FINISH! OVER SEVERAL DAYS! PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THIS TOUR. THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE AT ALL AND WILL WILLFULLY GIVE YOU FALSE INFORMATION!
My partner and I were in town to celebrate my birthday. It was a biggie! More than 49, less than 51. And despite the fact that we have been going to New York City for over 30 years — I thought what the heck let’s do something we would never do and have never done. (A couple of trips ago we did the same thing and took a tour of the Statue of Liberty. I had only ever seen it from the shore and that was enough for me. Well, despite my misgivings — crowds, tourists, children, all three on boats — we booked a tour that allowed us access to the very top of the statue as well as Ellis Island. Suffice to say it was one of the best experiences that we have had in town in all our years seeing theatre there. We always go in for a week and see eight shows and then it’s right back to L.A.) So this trip I decided we would take tours. We toured Grand Central Station, The United Nations, Carnegie Hall and we were most anticipating Lincoln Center. Now with all the theatre-​going we do we have been in several of the theatres there already, of course. But we wanted the tour-​guide stuff — the inside scoop — and so we began our painful (Oh yes PAINFUL!) odyssey. We booked over the phone — they say it’s always recommended — and we asked and were assured that we would be able to see The Metropolitan Opera House — the room where the Metropolitan Opera performs — on our Friday tour. But the clerk — a female — said to call ahead just to make certain The Met would be shown on the day of our tour. We said that would be no problem. We completed our UN tour on a Friday morning and called to make certain that we would be able to tour The Met roughly an hour and a half later. The clerk — an Asian male — said, «YES, come ahead, they are giving tours of The Met today.» So we walk OVER TWO MILES from The UN to Lincoln Center. We are early so we wait ONE HALF HOUR for the tour to commence. The guide arrives and says (of course) «The Met will NOT be on the tour today. It was a last minute thing, We are so sorry.» We were livid! We demand and receive a refund and we leave the building where the tour desk is located and head over to the lobby of The Met. What do we find there? Tables set up with dozens and dozens of name tags on them — half gone — with several others waiting to claim their name tags and go into the auditorium for THEIR EVENT. THERE IS NO WAY THAT *AN EVENT* LIKE THAT WITH HUNDREDS OF ATTENDEES IS *EVER* LAST MINUTE! THEY KNEW ABOUT THIS WEEKS IN ADVANCE! WEEKS! I am certain that they know if they say The Met is not on the tour then no one shows up for the tour that day. So they LIE, then you will already be in the lobby, so why not take the EXPENSIVE (comparatively at $ 17.00 — the most expensive of the tours we took and the poorest — but I am getting ahead of myself) tour — you’re here anyway. Not one to be thwarted we called back to ask the Asian man why he had given us the incorrect information/​lied to us. He stuck by the «last minute» excuse, we countered with THERE IS NO WAY THAT CAN BE TRUE. He said «Listen, just come on Sunday. The Met is always on the tour on Sunday as no shows are given there that day.» We decided that we would return on Sunday. We book the tour again. Sunday arrives — we head out again. This time in a pouring rain, a torrential rain. We take a cab. Get to the tour desk. Wait for the tour to begin and the guide says, «Yes, The Met WILL be on the tour today.» Fine. (If it were only that easy.) We head over — in the monsoon at this point — and start at the David H. Koch Theatre — these people will take money from ANYONE!!! — and it is stunning. A few people from The New York City Ballet are rehearsing and the experience is exactly what it should be. The tour guide — a black women in late middle age — is not so great. She does not seem to know much and remembers even less. She hems and haws over the details yet seems oddly smug. Fine. We then head over to The Met. We go in a back way that takes us a level below the plaza. Fine. We then head past a gated guard room and the guide announces — «I’m here with my tour group» to which the guard replies, «You ain’t gonna see much. No lights in there today.» HERE WE GO AGAIN! And the guide replies, «Oh, that’s all right, there is airline emergency lighting on the floor.» You know those very, very dim lights that sort of show where an aisle is in a theatre. THERE IS NO OTHER LIGHT. So, yes, they were giving a tour of The Met IN NEAR TOTAL DARKNESS. Needless to say, I WAS NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS! I asked the guide why and she said, word-​for-​word, «Oh they don’t care about these tours. This happens all the time» There were two dozen of us there at $ 17.00 per head. Do you mean to tell me they could not turn on the lights for the 5 minutes while we were in the room? Really? REALLY? I WANT A REFUND!

The Atrium was sick! Definitely a cool thing to do if you’re looking for something to do on a lazy weekend.

Tour begins in the Atrium and continues on to Lincoln Center proper. Based on what is available that day (ie: no event going on at the moment) you will be permitted to enter up to 3 buildings. That is UP TO 3 buildings — not guaranteed. Others you will look at from the outside or the lobby, or just skip altogether.
Our tour guide was pretty boring, a poor public speaker, and not terribly knowledgable about any history or behind-​the-​scenes of Lincoln Center. She said she was an usher at one of the theaters, and I think that’s about where her knowledge stopped. She was able to tell us about who funded the projects, but very little about how Lincoln Center came to be. There’s fairly interesting political, racial, urban planning, etc. info that was never mentioned. Very little was also mentioned about the recent «re-​do» of the space to make it more civic. Seeing as it was so recent, this really surprised me. No mention of the main plaza and fountain, no mention Damrosch Park.
She was constantly asking «does anyone have any questions?», «what do you see here?» etc. but had minimal script or planned comments, so since our group wasn’t a big «question asking» type crowd, there was a lot of dead air.
I would dissuade anyone from taking this tour. With a basic guide book to the city in hand, you can walk around the campus and learn all about it. If you want to be guaranteed to see a theater, go to a show because even on the tour there are no promises.

My daughter and I were just in New York City and went on this tour. It was very disappointing because there were performances in the buildings and we couldn’t really see anything. Why offer tours when you have nothing to show? Plus, the tour guide had a bad attitude. I recommend the Rockefeller Center tour. It was much more interesting and worth the price.

I took this tour with my 11 year-​old daughter yesterday. She is a musician and was interested in seeing the performance spaces. We were extremely disappointed.
For the first half hour of the tour, the tour guide told us all about the donors who donated money to renovate Lincoln Center. She literally stopped us in front of pictures of them and in front of a wall where their names were engraved and gushed about how much they donated. We did not enter any performance space until 45 minutes in, where we walked in, sat down, and were told that the acoustics were great but that she wasn’t allowed to demonstrate them. We were not allowed to take photos, and the tour guide ignored hands raised for questions until about 45 minutes into the tour, when she took two.
This tour ($ 17/​person) is NOT worth the time or money.

It’s a crap shoot as to what you’ll see, but most likely, as we were told, there are rehearsals or other events so you can’t see more than the lobby. At the Met Opera House, we could only get into the front of the lobby.
We were able to get into the Avery Fisher Hall (where the NY Philharmonic plays). It was enough to convince us to attend the Julliard Student Concert.
We used it as one of our Explorer Pass items, but later found out that the regular price of the tour is only $ 17.
The information that we got could have easily been found online. To make it more difficult, the tour guide’s soft voice and strong asian accent made it very difficult to hear/​understand her.

I was hoping to see something — anything — that I couldn’t see by simply buying a ticket to a performance at one of the buildings. But you don’t. See a rehearsal — forget it. Go backstage. No. (Notwithstanding that nothing was going on at either Koch Theater,. Avery Fisher or Vivian Beaumont.)
What is the point of the tour? I guess if you are interested in the pedigree of the art hanging on the wall of the Koch theater.
Really a total waste of time. You get an exponentially better view and feel for any of these theaters when you go to a show.
I recommend you go to a show. Skip the tour. Enjoy the fountain on the plaza.
PS, why are people reviewing the David Rubenstein Atrium under «Lincoln Center Guided Tours»? Beats me.

The Lincoln Center Guided Tour is AWESOME! Charlotte, our guide, was incredibly knowledgable and a delight to spend an hour with. We were lucky enough to see a few groups rehearsing as we walk through various buildings of the Lincoln Center.
This this tour is a must see on the UWS.

Can’t complain about any place with free wifi, outlets and lots of seating. Very comfortable atmosphere, aided by some nice artwork/​huge wall pieces, calming fountain, and great (but non-​intrusive) music.
They have a ‘Wichcraft café inside too. Not the best or most reasonably priced menu, but does the trick if you end up spending the day here and need a light bite or cup of coffee.