In New York Theatre Walks, Howard Kissel provides a series of seven self-guided walking tours not just of the theatre district but of the East and West Village, the Lower East Side, and the
Upper West Side - neighborhoods uptown and downtown that illuminate the theatre's intimate relationship with the city. On one tour, we follow the career of Irving Berlin from the sites of his
theatrical triumphs to the ultra-posh corner where this Lower East Side boy eventually made his home. There's also "Adolph Green's Daily 'Commute,'" a route on which he went to meet and work
with his musical theatre writing partner Betty Comden, and on a culinary tour we see the way Times Square eateries contributed to theatre history. The book abounds in Broadway anecdotes, but it
also gives the walker a sense of the city's own complex, rich history. East Side, West Side, All Around the Town, New York Theatre Walks provides enjoyment and instruction not just for visitors
eager to get off the beaten path but for the native who wants to find the theatrical past lying behind the sights one passes on a regular basis.
