Your Guide to Shows on a College Student Budget

If you live in New York City and have never seen a Broadway show, ballet, opera, or sports game, you are doing something wrong. I admit that seeing tickets for $50 plus is a little daunting. I have a nasty little habit of seeing as many shows as I can but because of this I have mastered the art of student discounts, rush, lottery, and everything in between. I have compiled the best and cheapest ways to see any New York classic you want.

CAB Cultural Affair Monthly Raffles
Every first Monday of the month, CAB puts on a raffle for a variety of different shows, games, and museums tickets in McGinley Ballroom at 1pm. Each month there are at least two Broadway shows and one sports game, with usually around 20 to each event. Typically tickets cost $20 but last year I remember they gave away tickets for Aziz Ansari's comedy show for free! All you need is a Fordham ID to get one raffle ticket. My advice is to ask for friend's IDs to get extra raffle tickets (Note: you must have a physical ID, not a photo). As a Broadway buff, I have seen Les Miserables, Beautiful King and I, Sleep No More, and An American in Paris all just from CAB. Very often they have tickets to Rangers, Knicks, and Yankees games. During the holidays they give out tickets for shows like The Nutcracker or  Radio City Christmas Spectacular! This is the perfect way to get cheap tickets because you don't have to leave campus. Plus most tickets will not be any cheaper than these. Just keep your eye out for the Facebook event or posters around campus towards the end of the month!

35 and Under
Some shows have student discounts but more often theater's target people 35 and under. Websites like HIPTIX , Manhattan Theatre Club or LincTix offers Broadway show tickets for $25-$30. Last year I spent $25 to see Emma Stone in Cabaret. My advice is to sign up online so they can email you for upcoming shows and when tickets go on sale, as they tend to sell out relatively fast. Even better, these deals will last you well after graduation. If you are looking to save a little cash on facility charges, I recommend going to the theater and presenting your code at the box office where they won't charge those extraneous fees.

Rush and Lottery
Almost every theater has a rush policy where they put aside a set number of tickets to sell for cheap.  Typically these seats are obstructed view. "Rushing" a show usually entails getting to the box office when they open on the day you would like to see the show. Depending upon the popularity of the show, you might have to get there early and wait in line. I have found the best time to rush a show is in the winter when no one is willing to wait outside, just as long as you are willing to get a little cold. Some shows that are extremely popular use a lottery system to give away tickets, either 2 or 3 hours before the show. My go to sites for gauging rush lines are BroadwayForBrokePeople which explains the rush or lottery policies for each show and BroadwaySpotted's Rush Report lets you know the average amount of people in line and what time they got there. Most of the productions at Lincoln Center such as New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, New York Philharmonic, or the Metropolitan Opera have rush options which can be found on their websites. Every Friday the NY Philharmonic gives away free tickets!
*Be sure to double check the rush and lottery policies on the theater's official website.

A Trip to the Frick Collection

When I decided to head to school in New York City, a city full of some of the greatest museums in the world, my dad repeatedly reminded me to check out his favorite. “You have to see the Frick, it’s this rich man’s art collection in his grand, old mansion.” And I did what all good children do, and nodded my head and totally disregarded this golden piece of advice.

The entrance to the collection, on the corner of E. 70th and 5th Ave.

This week when I found out I had a day off of both work and class, I decided I would pay the Frick Collection a visit. I gathered a few of my roommates and walked up and through the park to the Upper East Side.

The iconic indoor garden.

The building was a masterpiece in itself, complete extravagance and beauty. My friends and I repeatedly wondered how someone lived in this incredible mansion in New York City. It felt like a quick trip to Europe. We saw a lot of work and practice sketches from an Italian painter named Andrea del Sarto, whom Henry Clay Frick really admired. We saw beautiful portraits from François Boucher, Joseph Mallord William Turner, and more incredible artists I had never heard of. 

We saw the iconic indoor garden and the water fountain, wondered more about how someone could be this wealthy, and continued our exploration through the halls. Before we left, we sat down to watch a small video about the history of the collection. I learned that Henry Clay Frick was not just some old, rich dude. He intended for his collection to be housed in his home so that in the future the public could enjoy his favorite works. He had passed away in 1919 and the museum didn’t officially open until 1935. It was cool to experience these famous paintings, rather than him having kept them locked away in his own privacy. So, thanks Mr. Frick! I absolutely loved your house and your impressive collection of art!

I also learned my parents are usually right, so I texted my dad these shots of the garden (since it is the only room in the museum that allows photography.) I highly recommend paying a visit to this incredible collection, just another Wednesday afternoon going to college in the coolest city in the world.

The indoor garden's water fountain.

Weekend Update

It's never a bad idea to bring home cupcakes!

Danielle Smith

This weekend I took a trip back home to Long Island to visit my family. To get home I generally take the Ram Van into the Lincoln Center campus and then walk to Penn Station. On my walk to Penn Station, I passed a Baked by Melissa where I bought cupcakes to surprise my family (and have a few myself)! I loved spending time with my family and they were especially grateful that I brought home cupcakes.

Expressions Dance Alliance takes on the Botans

Gianna Rosamilia

This weekend Expressions Dance Alliance had their biannual photo shoot for their recital at the end of the fall semester. Some of the girls from the company got together and walked over to the Botanical Gardens to take pictures to promote the show, "Dreamers". The Gardens are absolutely beautiful this time of year. The weather was perfect, and it was an incredible day to spend outside with everyone. Not only did we take some awesome pictures for flyers and footage for our promo video, but we got to enjoy the gorgeous scenery of New York's Botanical Gardens, which is free to enter with a Fordham ID! EDA's show this semester takes place at 8 PM on November 21 and 22 in Collins Auditorium, and features student-choreographed lyrical, jazz, contemporary, and tap dances!

Great food, great sights, and great fun!

Emily Tanner

This past weekend I went to ‘Broadway Bites’ in Greeley Square Park! It features a bunch of different vendors of the yummiest food in NYC, from Italian to Mexican to Thai, even some baked goods! It’s called a ‘pop- up market’ and will be on Broadway until November 15th. I had a super fun time in Manhattan with my friends trying all of the different cuisines and just hanging out in the best city in the world.

We loved the laser show

Kirsten Simons

This Friday after work, some friends and I went to get dinner at City Bakery in Chelsea. We had incredibly delicious hot chocolate with our meal and then headed to Brooklyn for the New York Festival of Lights. The festival took place under the Brooklyn Bridge, and it was incredibly fun. The festival featured art from several different artists, all of which centered around lights of all kinds, everything from Christmas tree lights and lasers to fluorescent lights and projections on the side of the bridge.

A beautiful trail at the Botanical Gardens

Anna Romagnoli

This past weekend I took a study break in the Botanical Gardens right across the street from the Rose Hill campus.  It is free for Fordham students and a great place to go on a walk or run and enjoy the fall weather!

Summer in Paris

View from the dorms in the Latin Quarter

This summer I studied abroad for 6 weeks in Paris, which was an experience that was all that I could have wanted yet could have never expected.  As a French minor, I felt that it was necessary to take what I had learned inside the classroom and apply it to the real world.  This desire was definitely fostered by Fordham’s mission to educate the whole person where learning is not confined within the walls of a classroom.  With the help of the Office of Study Abroad as well as guidance from faculty in the French Department, I found the program that was right for me.  During my 6 weeks I took 2 classes – French Culture through Cinema, and Art History – that would transfer back at Fordham as 8 credits towards my minor.  After months of finding the perfect program and restless nights leading up to my departure, I finally arrived in the city of light!

My first, and one of my favorite memories of my summer abroad was my first French Ferris wheel ride.  In “Les Jardins de Tuileries,” the garden beside “le musée de Louvre” has a small carnival that opens each morning and closes at dusk.  I was so surprised to see such a carnival with games, fun houses, slides, a giant Ferris wheel, and flying swings, right beside one of the world’s most impressive art museums!  On my first full day in Paris, I went along with several of my new friends in my program to ride the Ferris wheel, where we were able to look over the entire city of Paris.  It was a truly breathtaking moment as I was taken completely by surprise at my first introduction to this magical city.

Views from the Ferris Wheel!

Caught the sunset on the London Eye

Throughout the trip I was required to visit museums such as the Louvre, Marmotton, D’Orsay, Pompidou, and Rodin for my Art History course as well as watch classic and contemporary French films.  I even was able to visit the quant city of Chartres which houses one of the oldest Catholic Cathedrals, and even went to London for a weekend! After studying movements from neoclassicism to post-modernism, training my ear to understand the countless films I had to watch, and enjoying the Parisian ambiance, I felt by the end of the trip that I could have stayed there permanently.  This is the power of expanding your global network!

I recommend anyone to study abroad and make the experience their own because it can truly be life changing!  

A video taken from Bastille Day, France's Independence Day

New York Is My Campus, Fordham Is My School

The Cloisters Museum and Gardens
is located in Fort Tryon Park in northern Manhattan 

New York is my campus, Fordham is my school. As you complete the core curriculum, you will find this saying to be true. You are likely to have an assignment that requires you to visit a museum or zoo exhibit, attend a musical or theatrical performance, or travel across the street to the New York Botanical Garden. Not only do these experiences enhance the lecture material by applying hands-on learning outside of the classroom, but they propel you to take advantage of the wide variety of opportunities available right in our own backyard!

Medieval architecture at the Cloisters

My freshman year, I ventured to The Juilliard School at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts for my Music History class, a fulfillment of my Fine Arts core requirement. I watched and listened to the Julliard Chamber Orchestra perform the music of renowned composers, such as Stravinsky and Mozart. I also visited the Cloisters, the branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe - a trip prompted by my Medieval History class, a fulfillment of my Understanding Historical Change core requirement. Other students, from the Gabelli School of Business and Fordham College at Rose Hill, frequently visit The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in midtown Manhattan for core classes such as Art History or Texts and Contexts. During the fall semester of my sophomore year, Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History became a destination for my Astronomy class, a fulfillment of my Physical Science core requirement. During the spring semester of that year, I walked five minutes down the street from campus to the Bronx Zoo (free admission on Wednesdays!) to construct an ethogram of the Coquerel’s Sifaka in the Madagascar exhibit. This was part of a lesson on the study of animal behavior for the lab portion of my Foundations of Biology class, a fulfillment of my Life Science core requirement.

The Coquerel's Sifaka at the Bronx Zoo

Though some of these assignments slightly challenged my comfort zone as an inexperienced city navigator, they encouraged me to make connections with my classmates and ultimately led me to gain a greater understanding of and appreciation for the course material. Each was an interesting learning and cultural experience and another way in which New York is my campus and Fordham is my school.