Everyone is Talking About The Ride

INDIVIDUAL TICKETS THROUGH 2011 ON SALE TODAY; GROUP TICKETS FOR 10 OR MORE AVAILABLE.

NEW YORK – March 31, 2011 – With steady increases in ridership and predictions for ongoing
growth in group and individual ticket sales, New York’s most unique entertainment experience,
THE RIDE, has announced a new seven-day-per-week schedule starting April 11 through the
end of 2011.  In addition, the number of weekly RIDEs will increase during New York City’s
tourist-heavy summer period and on holidays and holiday weekends throughout the year.
Since its debut last fall, THE RIDE has received significant critical acclaim and given thousands
of patrons front-row seats to the world’s most exciting street life and the city’s iconic vistas. THE
RIDE takes patrons on a 4.5-mile journey through midtown Manhattan on a 49-seat traveling
theater as a live show with dancers, singers, and other performers unfolds on the streets before
them. The funniest and most unpredictable interactions happen with everyday New Yorkers
passing by. THE RIDE starts and ends in Times Square at the New York Marriott Marquis.
THE RIDE’s custom vehicles are outfitted with stadium seating and state-of-the-art lighting and
sound. Seats face sideways so audience members look through floor-to-rooftop windows that
boast breathtaking city views and make the streets, crowds, and building façades feel like a
show just for them.  Onboard hosts guide THE RIDE, commenting on New York history and
sites, and interacting with everyday citizens and performers. THE RIDE was created by
Brooklyn-based entertainment entrepreneur Michael Counts and is directed by Daniel Goldstein.
“We’ve been overwhelmed with positive audience response and word-of-mouth, both
domestically and internationally,” says President and Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Danforth.
“We are thrilled to expand the offering of New York’s hottest new experience. Now more people
can have their own front-row seat to the greatest city in the world.”
RIDE SCHEDULE
THE RIDE is a 75-minute experience that departs from the New York Marriott Marquis Times
Square, 1535 Broadway at 46th Street.   THE RIDE schedule for the remainder of 2011 is:

April 11 - May 1
Mon-Thu: 7p, 7:30p, 8:30p
Fri: 7p, 8p, 9p
Sat: 12n, 1p, 2p, 3p, 4p, 7p, 8p, 9p
Sun: 12n, 1p, 2p, 3p, 4p

May 2 - July 3 
Mon-Thu: 7p, 7:30p, 8p, 8:30p
Fri: 2p, 3p, 7p, 7:30p, 8p, 8:30p, 9p
Sat: 12n, 1p, 2p, 3p, 4p, 7p, 7:30p, 8p,
8:30p, 9p, 10p
Sun: 12n, 1p, 2p, 3p, 4p
July 5 – December 31
Mon-Thu: 7p, 7:30p, 8:30p
Fri: 7p, 8p, 9p 
Sat: 12n, 1p, 2p, 3p, 4p, 7p, 8p, 9p
Sun: 12n, 1p, 2p, 3p, 4 

Additional RIDEs and special pricing applies
on holidays including Memorial Day, Fourth
of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving/Black
Friday, and Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. 
Complete schedule available at
www.experiencetheride.com.



TICKETS
Tickets for THE RIDE are $65 peak (Fri-Sun) and $59 off-peak (Mon-Thu), and are available
three ways:
• Online at experiencetheride.com;
• By phone at 866.299.9682; and
• In person at the box office at 1535 Broadway between 45th and 46th Streets (next to the
Broadway Baby store). Box office is open daily 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. 

Group discounts are available for ten or more.  Please call 212.244.2551 x155, or e-mail
groupsales@experiencetheride.com for details. VIP tickets and packages also are available.  


PRAISE FOR THE RIDE
• “Fasten your seatbelts and embrace the city.” – The New York Times
• “The actions of everyday New Yorkers are as funny as those of the performers.” –
Washington Post
• “Hilarious and amazing…I can’t imagine a better introduction to Manhattan.” – Connecticut
Post
• “THE RIDE is like no other...A multimedia spectacle.” – Dallas Morning News
• “Blurs the line between reality and fiction.” – New Jersey Star-Ledger
• “THE RIDE is one magic bus tour.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
• “Twelve-year-olds may be the toughest market for entertainers. THE RIDE passed the test
for my jaded, 12-going-on-25 daughter.” – TravellingMom.com


MEDIA CONTACTS
THE RIDE is open for media reviews.  Production photos and video b-roll are available. Contact
us for details.

John Michael Kennedy, Goodman Media International
212-576-2700 x 243 or jmkennedy@goodmanmedia.com

Régine Labossière, Goodman Media International
212-576-2700 x 229 or rlabossiere@goodmanmedia.com

Katherine Morrison, Goodman Media International
212-576-2700 x 238 or kmorrison@goodmanmedia.com

SUMMER SCHEDULE INCLUDES EXPANDED DAYTIME AND EVENING OPTIONS.

NEW YORK – March 31, 2011 – New York’s most unique entertainment experience, THE
RIDE, has announced a new seven-day-per-week schedule starting April 11 through the end of
2011.  In addition, the number of weekly RIDEs will increase during New York City’s tourist-
heavy summer period, and on holidays and holiday weekends throughout the year.
Since its debut last fall, THE RIDE has given thousands of audience members a front-row seat
to the world’s most exciting street life and the city’s iconic vistas. THE RIDE takes patrons on a
4.5-mile journey through midtown Manhattan on a 49-seat traveling theater as a live show with
dancers, singers, and other performers unfolds on the streets before them.  Often the funniest
and most unpredictable interactions happen with everyday New Yorkers who pass by. THE
RIDE starts and ends in Times Square at the New York Marriott Marquis.
THE RIDE’s custom vehicles are outfitted with stadium seating and state-of-the-art lighting and
sound. Seats face sideways so audience members look through floor-to-rooftop windows that
boast breathtaking city views and make the streets, crowds, and building façades feel like a
show designed just for them.  On-board hosts guide THE RIDE, commenting on New York’s
history and sites, and interacting with everyday citizens and performers. THE RIDE was created
by Brooklyn-based entertainment entrepreneur Michael Counts and is directed by Daniel
Goldstein.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the positive audience response, critical acclaim, and word-of-
mouth for THE RIDE in New York and around the world,” says President and Chief Executive
Officer Jonathan Danforth. “Now more people can have their very own front-row seat to the
greatest city in the world.”
RIDE SCHEDULE
THE RIDE is a 75-minute experience that departs from the New York Marriott Marquis Times
Square, 1535 Broadway at 46th Street.   THE RIDE schedule for 2011 is:

April 11 - May 1
Mon-Thu:  7p, 7:30p, 8:30p
Fri:  7p, 8p, 9p
Sat:  12n, 1p, 2p, 3p, 4p, 7p, 8p, 9p
Sun:  12n, 1p, 2p, 3p, 4p

May 2 - July 3 
Mon-Thu:  7p, 7:30p, 8p, 8:30p
Fri:  2p, 3p, 7p, 7:30p, 8p, 8:30p, 9p
Sat:  12n, 1p, 2p, 3p, 4p, 7p, 7:30p, 8p,
8:30p, 9p, 10p
Sun:  12n, 1p, 2p, 3p, 4p

July 5 – December 31
Mon-Thu:  7p, 7:30p, 8:30p
Fri:  7p, 8p, 9p 
Sat:  12n, 1p, 2p, 3p, 4p, 7p, 8p, 9p
Sun: 12n, 1p, 2p, 3p, 4 

Additional RIDEs and special pricing applies
on holidays including Memorial Day, July 4,
Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day/Black Friday,
and Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. 
Complete schedule available at
www.experiencetheride.com.


TICKETS
Tickets for THE RIDE are $65 peak (Fri-Sun) and $59 off-peak (Mon-Thu), and are available
three ways:
• Online at experiencetheride.com;
• By phone at 866.299.9682; and
• In person at the box office at 1535 Broadway between 45th and 46th Streets (next to the
Broadway Baby store). Box office is open daily 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. 

Group discounts are available for ten or more. Please call 212.244.2551 x155 or e-mail
groupsales@experiencetheride.com for details. VIP tickets and packages also are available.  


PRAISE FOR THE RIDE
• “Fasten your seatbelts and embrace the city.” – The New York Times
• “The actions of everyday New Yorkers are as funny as those of the performers.” –
Washington Post
• “Hilarious and amazing…I can’t imagine a better introduction to Manhattan.” – Connecticut Post
• “THE RIDE is like no other...A multimedia spectacle.” – Dallas Morning News
• “Blurs the line between reality and fiction.” – New Jersey Star-Ledger
• “THE RIDE is one magic bus tour.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
• “Twelve-year-olds may be the toughest market for entertainers. THE RIDE passed the test
for my jaded, 12-going-on-25 daughter.” – TravellingMom.com


MEDIA CONTACTS
THE RIDE is open for media reviews.  Production photos and video b-roll are available. Contact
us for details.

John Michael Kennedy, Goodman Media International
212-576-2700 x 243 or jmkennedy@goodmanmedia.com

Régine Labossière, Goodman Media International
212-576-2700 x 229 or rlabossiere@goodmanmedia.com

Katherine Morrison, Goodman Media International
212-576-2700 x 238 or kmorrison@goodmanmedia.com

THE ROTARY CLUB

New York in all its vertiginous splendour can be a pain in the neck. Save yourself a trip to the chiropractor by taking to the air and surveying its imperious skyline from above.

Helicopter Flight Services, operating out of Downtown Manhattan Heliport at the foot of the island, offers a range of tours. The whole process is pleasantly infantilising: you are led out in single file, strapped into an adapted seat and spend the next 15 minutes saucer-eyed and gurgling in astonishment.

Bag "shotgun" if you can. The best views are up front and you can also stare at the dials in bewilderment. Our airborne loop took in Brooklyn, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, the immigration station through which the forebears of an estimated third of all Americans alive today passed.

This was followed by a Hudson River-hugging spin up to Midtown, its skyscraper cluster still dominated by the octogenarian art deco icons of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building.

It was then back to Lower Manhattan, Trinity Church's elegant spire visible deep amid the canyons of the Financial District. Through ear protectors the pilot provides a robotic commentary.

For all their unwavering professionalism you sense these guys would probably rather be flying Black Hawk missions over Afghanistan. The almost apologetic "yee-ha" as our gentle descent ended in an imperceptible touchdown nearly brought a tear to the eye.

TAKEN FOR A RIDE
National Express meets Knight Rider, pioneering bus tour The Ride casts passenger as both spectator and spectacle. The tiered lateral seating faces a glass side and roof, offering an uninterrupted perspective of Manhattan's dazzling streets and skyline.

Glass is two-way, meaning you're also on show, never more so than during the New York, New York singalong finale piped out to all and sundry. You'll kick yourself but you'll join in. It's that sort of jaunt.

Most of the laughs, however, are at the expense of those thronging the sidewalks. In this you are assisted by actors who mingle with the unwitting crowds at various spots such as Times Square and Carnegie Hall along the 4.2-mile, 85-minute route.

Through concealed headphones and microphones they interact with The Ride's vivacious hosts "Scott" and "Jackie" and perform to music only those on board can hear.
The freestyle rapper, mocking bemused passers-by with splitsecond improvisation, is worth the fare alone.

Considering the tour is at the mercy of one of the world's least predictable traffic systems, it is impressively seamless while the self-deprecatory tone (ironic graphics put the boot into everything from the city's ramshackle Subway system to the dubious gastronomy of its food carts) is a welcome antidote to that occasionally wearing Big Apple exuberance.

The Ride (experiencetheride.com) offers tickets from £40pp (Thursday to Sunday).

ON FOOT PATROL
The name New York's Finest Walking Tours is not a measure of founder Paul Murphy's self-regard.

Rather it's a play on the sobriquet of his former employer, the NYPD.

Modest and erudite, Paul is the antithesis of the brash New York cop stereotype perpetuated by countless movies, and much the better guide for it. Historical titbits are augmented by a contemporary insight drawn from two decades on the beat. "It was like shooting fish in a barrel, " he said ruefully of the regular drugs busts he once performed in Washington Square Park, our starting point.

The atmosphere in this hub of Greenwich Village is still nonconformist, though less illicitly so. Our amble through its snow-drooped maples and elms was accompanied by the sounds of a piano prodigy busking beneath the park's robust white arch.

A few streets on we came to the Stonewall Inn, rows of rainbow flags fluttering above its neon sign.

In 1969, a transvestite enraged by years of police-sponsored extortion attacked an officer here with his high heel. The agenda-changing riots this act sparked cemented the bar's status as the spiritual home of gay rights.

Our walk took in New York's thinnest house, 75½ Bedford Street (didn't stop it fetching £2.3million), Arthur's Tavern, the jazz bar where saxophonist Charlie Parker served his apprenticeship, and the White Horse Tavern, from which Dylan Thomas purportedly stumbled before uttering his immortal last words: "I've had 18 straight whiskies. I think that's the record."

Conversation was just as meandering, touching on everything from the Mafia to the arrest of a naked German in a bank.

"When I joined the force in the Eighties the homicide rate was 2,000 a year, " Paul said over a farewell coffee in a Greenwich diner. "Today New York is officially the safest big city in the US."

Like his tours, a job well done.

 

SPOKES AND MIRRORS

You'd be nuts to saddle up in New York, right? Wrong. Green-hued mayor Michael Bloomberg is on a mission to introduce two wheels to the city. Motorists are said to be exasperated by the bike lanes materialising all over Manhattan but if they're angry, they certainly don't take it out on you, the humble cyclist.

During my five-hour twilight tour I encountered not so much as an inflected syllable. Our tour guide Jesse, by contrast, was shouting at everything with four wheels or two feet to trumpet our presence: "This is New York. People only listen to yells."

This was a leisurely, engaging tour that took us from NoHo (north of Houston), to TriBeCa (triangle below Canal) and over to Dumbo (down under Manhattan Bridge overpass). Yes, you're nowhere in New York these days without an acronym.

Barring a short stretch adjacent to the security-lockdown United Nations building, a "greenway" cycle path flows around the entire perimeter of Manhattan.

We joined this by Pier 40, a former cargo depot converted into offshore sports fields, and freewheeled down to the Financial District, lit in a crepuscular glow.

Here our five-strong group warmed up with a cuppa at the Winter Garden, images of its shattered and splintered glass dome following the 9/11 atrocities still fresh in the mind.

From the observation platform inside, Jesse interpreted the bustling construction of Ground Zero, memorial pools filling the twin footprints of the obliterated World Trade Center.

The finale was a ride across Brooklyn Bridge with its twinkling arches, past the anodyne global headquarters of the Jehovah's Witnesses (no, we didn't knock) and back through Chinatown, its salivating aromas presaging a well-earned post-ride feast.

 

GETTING THERE:
Travelbag (0871 703 4240/travelbag.co.uk) offers three nights at the four-star Carlton Hotel, Madison Avenue from £489 (two sharing), room only. Price includes return flights from Heathrow to New York. For departures March 2011.

GroupTour Magazine online

By Exclusive Online Article

 

January 18, 2011

NEW YORK ­­­­— The Ride might be a slight misnomer because it portends something simple and unassuming.

The Ride appears to be anything but. It is a roadie-worthy ensemble marrying an off-Broadway production, city tour and reality television with the comfort of a motor coach.

“It’s all about providing entertainment while on tour,” said Lindsay Pitzer, vice president of operations/producer. “We want our audience to be able to interact with New York.”

The Ride provides its interactive approach through its  four 49-seat, $1.3 million retrofitted Prevost motorcoaches. The three-tier stadium-seating, glass-sided vehicle features 40 video screens with movie-quality sound and images.

In operations since October and currently operating Thursday through Sunday, The Ride made an appearance last week at the American Bus Association’s Marketplace 2011 in Philadelphia.

Based at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel, 1535 Broadway, The Ride takes its passengers on a 75-minute, 4.2-mile route that includes Times Square, Grand Central Terminal, Columbus Circle, Central Park and the Chrysler Building.

Created by Michael Counts, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based entertainment entrepreneur, The Ride's productions are directed by Daniel Goldstein and written by John Bobey. The Ride makes New York an at-large stage, using its on-board and on-street performers and augmenting them with the city’s kaleidoscope.

“It’s really part-Broadway, part-tour, part reality-TV,” Pitzer said.

That is discovered quickly upon riding The Ride.

LDV Inc., based in Burlington, Wis., turned the 13.5-by-40-by-8-foot buses into rolling theaters, with ramped-up sound any rock band would love.

It “gave us headaches” getting “an IMAX Theater’s worth of equipment into a rolling room the size of a studio apartment,” said sound designer Brett Jarvis.

He likens the results to Madison Square Garden’s Jumbotron, clearly evident when he turns up the thunderous tones to boom The Ride’s soundtrack.
Accompanying the theatrics are two hosts augmented by performers along the way.

The Ride seeks to share New York’s vibrancy along with its history. For instance, it recreates the iconic end-of-World War II scene from Times Square on Aug. 14, 1945. In the image, an unidentified sailor kisses a nurse (later identified as Edith Shain), captured for posterity by Life magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt (with another view shot by a U.S. Navy photographer and published in The New York Times).

While the production is all about interaction on all fronts, improvisation and reality are the mainstays to providing unique experiences every time out. The immersive show is drama, comedy, documentary and reality all rolled into one.

“You can’t plan things entirely when you’re in New York,” Pitzer says.

The winter schedule, in effect through March 20, has rides at 7 and 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 7, 7:30 and 8 p.m. Fridays; noon, 2, 4, 7, 7:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; and noon, 2 and 4 p.m. Sundays.

The cost to ride is $65 per person, available online; by telephone at (866) 299-9682; or at the box office at the Marriott Marquis Hotel from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more by calling (212) 244-2551, ext. 155, or (866) 299-9682; or via e-mail at groupsales@experiencetheride.com.

The Ride is working on student-oriented offerings which it hopes to offer starting later this year, Pitzer said.

WashingtonPost.com

By Nancy Trejos

 

December 17, 2010

 

As the guy on the sidewalk ripped off his trousers to reveal "I (heart) New York" boxers, two women walking right past him never interrupted their conversation. No one seemed to care when he took off his wig, either.

I watched this scene unfold from a bus. But not just an ordinary New York bus. This bus was outfitted with 3,000 LED lights and three rows of stadium seats. This was "Experience: The Ride," a new theater production in which all of midtown Manhattan is the stage.

I didn't know what to expect as I boarded the bus at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square for the 41/2-mile, 75-minute ride. I settled into a front-row seat, facing the side of the bus that's transparent from floor to ceiling. Was this going to be a city tour? An improv show? Street theater? A silly way to spend an afternoon? The answer: all of the above.

More than a dozen performers were stationed at various points along our route to sing, dance, juggle or simply act goofy for our pleasure. I'd booked a 2 p.m. show on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and the streets were packed with shoppers and tourists. That's how you want to experience "The Ride," because the actions of everyday New Yorkers are just as funny as those of the performers.

Our tour guides were Jackie and Scott, graduates of New York University and Columbia University, respectively. (Turns out they were actors, but for a while there, Scott had me completely convinced that he had earned a degree in urban planning from Columbia.)

 

Our bus, "The Ride," was also a character. "His" voice boomed over a loudspeaker. He would occasionally scan people and objects and, in his deep voice, impart all sorts of random facts about them. ("Subject: New Yorker. Cost of purse: $2,500. Cash in purse: $7.52.")

With the Times Square jumbotron behind him, an actor wearing sparkly oversize 2011 glasses led us in a New Year's countdown. ("The Ride" will feature a holiday theme until Jan. 2). "Ma'am, can't I get a New Year's Eve kiss?" he asked a young woman when we got to 1. She declined, but other passersby were more willing to go along with the show.

On one street, three police officers broke into a dance and waved at us. In front of the Charmin Restrooms on Broadway, a woman wearing a plastic toilet seat costume around her waist started dancing with a man in a puffy purple jacket as he sang a rap song. Outside the Bank of America building, a man wearing silver pants and a silver hat joined Santa Claus in a tap dance.

Who was a performer and who was a spectator? It was hard to tell sometimes, especially in a city where a walking Elmo outside a Times Square store is not such a rarity.

Between scenes, Scott and Jackie threw out random New York facts. Did you know, for instance, that Santa Claus has ended the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade every year except for 1933, when he led the parade? Or that construction workers built the Chrysler Building four floors per week?

Scott and Jackie also tested our knowledge with the occasional "Quiz Show" break. The cost of renovating the ceiling of Grand Central Station was $75 million, "The Ride" told us. "What was covering the ceiling?" Scott asked.

 

 

Cleveland.com

By Susan Glaser

November 19, 2010

The Ride started prowling the Midtown neighborhood last month, giving passengers a terrific view of the city streets -- and the oddball characters who inhabit them.

We boarded the tricked-out bus (another bus!) at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square. Three rows of stadium seats are oriented sideways, looking out toward the street through floor-to-ceiling windows. Our comical tour guides, Jackie and Scott, introduced us to the vehicle -- a talking, high-tech machine, which set out on an hour-and-a-half roam through town.

But this was no ordinary Gray Line roll: Dotting the route were more than a dozen paid performers, who put on mini-shows for Ride passengers, accompanied by music and video playing inside the bus:

• In Times Square, we witnessed a riled-up New Year's reveler counting down the days to 2011.

• On 42nd Street, a suited soft-shoe tapped out a scene from the musical that borrows the street's name.

• And outside Carnegie Hall, an aspiring opera singer belted out a few bars of Bizet.

The performers were terrific fun, but equally entertaining were everyday New Yorkers' unscripted reactions to these unexpected street scenes. A screaming rapper (also on 42nd Street) drew wide-eyed stares from passers-by; a pink-tutued ballerina on Columbus Circle garnered a more enthusiastic response from those seated nearby.

By the end of the ride, the show turned inside, with Ride passengers belting out a vigorous version of "New York, New York" to a growing Times Square audience on the sidewalk. Cheesy? Sure, but just try to keep quiet.

"You get a tour and a show," said fellow passenger Lucy Core of Queensland, Australia, making her first visit to New York. "I loved it."

Be warned: Tours are planned for 75 minutes, but ours ran nearly 30 minutes longer, thanks to traffic snarls and road closures (we were in town the weekend of the New York City Marathon). So you might not want to make dinner reservations immediately following your tour.

The guides filled in gaps between the 15 street performances with banter and New York trivia -- covering everything from the $75 million restoration of the ceiling at Grand Central Terminal to the gargoyles on the Chrysler Building, made out of old hubcaps.

But the conversation felt like little more than filler while we waited for more of the real deal, which was taking place outside, alongside all those iconic buildings.

Performer Ashley Harrell, who plays the singer at Carnegie Hall, said the ever-changing New York City landscape is what keeps the show so fresh.

"It's different every night," she said. "That's what makes it so interesting."

City Guide NY

By CG News Desk

November 18,2010

The city’s newest entertainment experience – THE RIDE – gets a seasonal update this month designed to give patrons a new perspective on New York City during the holidays. Starting Nov. 22, 2010, THE RIDE’s 4.5-mile journey through midtown Manhattan on a 49-seat travelling theater will incorporate Christmas-themed surprises, music, and performances into a critically acclaimed live show that unfolds on the streets.

“The streets of New York have the most beautiful holiday sights and sounds you’ve ever seen, and THE RIDE gives you a front-row seat to it all,” says President and Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Danforth. “From holiday music and surprise Santa appearances to a Nutcracker-inspired dance in Columbus Circle, THE RIDE is the best way to experience the beauty and excitement of New York all season long.”

THE RIDE’s custom vehicles have stadium seats; riders face sideways to look through floor-to-rooftop windows that make the streets, crowds, and building façades feel like a show designed just for them.  On-board hosts lead audiences through midtown Manhattan, comment on the area’s history and sites, and incorporate performers along the route who entertain and interact with passengers. THE RIDE was created by Brooklyn-based entertainment entrepreneur Michael Counts, written by John Bobey, and directed by Daniel Goldstein.

App.com

By Bill Canacci

November  7, 20

10

Lots of New Jersey residents have taken a bus to Port Authority, and there are probably some who have taken a tour with visiting family and friends aboard one of those double-decker buses around Manhattan.

Part of the fun is seeing tourists and city residents react to the performers. On a recent trip, most were simply ignored, but there's no doubt that in the future, some will join in.

On board The Ride, perky "ride operatives" Scott and Jackie help pump up the crowd. They also "talk" to The Ride, who talks back in a computerized voice that sounds more like a kindler, gentler (and slightly wry) HAL 9000 than the computer on "Star Trek." The Ride is full of information about the city and its famous landmarks, and throughout the trip it provides fun facts about everything from Carnegie Hall to Grand Central Terminal. The high-tech Ride features more than 3,000 LED lights, 40 monitors and a sound system that can emulate everything from a subway to a night at Studio 54.

Tickets for The Ride are $65, $59 during nonpeak times. Is the 75-minute ride worth it? That depends. If you're familiar with the city, probably not. If you want to show your relative from Ohio around, perhaps.

Is it better than a Broadway show? No, unless we're talking about "Rock of Ages."

Probably the most annoying thing about the trip is the "Ride Wave." Think of it as slightly worse than the "wave" seen at every sports event since 1982. It quickly grows tiresome.

The Ride begins and ends in the heart of Times Square, near the Marriott Marquis (one of The Ride's partners). It is now running four times most weekday evenings, but will offer more rides on weekends beginning Oct. 29. A schedule of rides and more information is available by visiting www.experiencetheride.com

.

 

New Jersey Star Ledger

By Meredith Galante

October 29, 2010

The paparazzo snaps his camera at the purple glowing bus passing down 48th Street. Then he turns and photographs a man walking with his companion on the sidewalk.

The man becomes angered and attempts to throw a punch at the photographer, before his friend holds him back.

Was that part of the show? Or is that just New York?

It’s “Experience: The Ride,” a new “bus theater” production that provides insight into the city’s most famous landmarks, including the Empire State Building, the New York Public Library, Central Park and other attractions. This unusual-looking tour bus, decorated with 3,000 mood-enhancing LED lights, playfully claims it is a government experiment to document and research New Yorkers.

The Ride blurs the line between reality and fiction. Its gimmick is not always letting you know for sure if the ballet dancer with a thousand lights on her tutu, the street opera singer, the paparazzi and the dancing deliveryman are a part of the show.

“The intent was to put together a New York experience that is sort of a love letter to New Yorkers and to tourists,” said Jonathan Danforth, CEO and president of the Ride.

The interactive, 75-minute experience incorporates 40 video monitors on the bus and 15 street actors along a 4.2 mile route.

Scott and Jackie, the Ride co-hosts (played by different actors on different rides), provide fun facts along the way, but their flirty banter adds an unnecessary distraction to the experience.

The Ride itself becomes a character whose prerecorded voices talk to Scott, Jackie and the bus riders throughout the tour. It plays music, provides information on buildings it passes and predicts human behavior. The Ride inserts dry humor to counteract Scott and Jackie’s bubbly improvisation and, for extra laughs, shows live videos of passengers aboard.

Among the street actors seen during the tour, New Year’s Eve Guy provides the first comedic interaction, claiming he has been partying in Times Square since the turn of the millennium because he loves the holiday so much. With noisemakers and a party hat for the occasion, New Year’s Eve Guy runs up to people on the street, trying to celebrate. Most tourists reject his hugs, but that doesn’t stop him from partying.

Each ride provides a personalized experience for its passengers. The set of real people on the street varies, along with traffic and weather that alters the show.

Tourists and New Yorkers gaze at the bus, puzzled at the unusual sight. Passengers sit sideways, and people on the street can see them. Some take pictures, while others wave or try to be part of the show.

“People will walk away with an experience they had not had before that shows them new aspects and views of New York,” said Danforth. “And I hope it leaves them with a feeling of camaraderie with their fellow riders and the people on the streets of New York.”

During the show, real New York can get in the way of seeing certain performances. When a truck obscures the view, the Ride suggests honking or deploying a missile to destroy it. Street actors also have extended dance performances when the Ride is stuck at a red light.

When the Ride returns to its port at the Marriott Marquis, Scott and Jackie say their farewells to the riders with “New York, New York” playing in the background — a nice cap for an experience that offers patrons an opportunity “to be a part of it,” in the heart of “the city that doesn’t sleep.”

The Ride

Where: 46th Street and Broadway, New York; the box office is outside the Marriott Marquis hotel.

When: Rides are at 15-minute intervals, seven days a week. Hours vary, though rides usually start at noon Thursday-Sunday and at 7 p.m. Monday-Wednesday.

How much: $59 (non-peak) and $65 (peak). Call (646)289-5060 or visit experiencetheride.com.

Dallas Morning News

By Eunice Fried

October 24, 2010

NEW YORK CITY – The Ride is like no other ride. A bus with 3,000 LED lights and 49 stadium- style seats in three tiers facing one glassed side of the vehicle, it's a blinking, flashing, humming, talking multimedia spectacle. It debuted this month.

What it offers is a 4.2-mile, 75-minute trip through midtown Manhattan that is as much an entertainment extravaganza as it is a sightseeing tour. The live entertainment pops up along the streets of New York. The sightseeing centers on the city's landmarks – Broadway, Carnegie Hall, Central Park, Grand Central Station, among many others – and as we drive past each, we learn gems of information about it.

Who knew, for instance, that 17 percent of New York is devoted to parks and that the decoration on the setbacks of the famed art deco Chrysler Building was made of Chrysler radiator caps, car fenders and hood ornaments?

But what sets The Ride apart from all other tours are the dancers, singers, jugglers and actors along the way who break into their respective acts as The Ride passes.

Notice that serious, well-dressed businessman carrying a black umbrella and hurrying along the street? Look again as he suddenly throws himself into a wild tap dance. See the man on Sixth Avenue in sports jacket and hat? One pull, and off come his trousers while he continues to stroll up the streets in his underpants.

Watch the ballet dancers, she in a pink tutu and glistening bodice, twirl around the base of the Christopher Columbus statue at Columbus Circle while traffic screeches around them. Add a delivery man who suddenly drops his packages and breaks into an exhilarating hip-hop number, a man who buys three hotdogs from a street vendor and then juggles them, a not-very-promising soprano belting out an aria on 57th Street and other performers. The plenitude of talent proves that all the world – at least, all of midtown Manhattan – is a stage.

If some of the acts border on the eccentric, perhaps more eccentric is the nonreaction of New Yorkers passing these outsized, often outlandish performances and never noticing, never breaking step. True, two young women glanced back for a brief moment at the man who tore off his trousers. A couple of people noticed the hip-hopper as he hung upside down from a construction grid before flinging himself on the sidewalk and twisting himself into a pretzel.

A young mother pushing a carriage almost ran into the ballerina en pointe and never looked up. Completely oblivious to them, a street cleaner pushed his broom in front of two young performers dressed as ushers and doing a Broadway song and dance number. People walked around the tap dancer as he threw himself this way and that, as if he were just another sidewalk obstruction.

Don't get the impression that New Yorkers are jaded or indifferent. They did stop to look, stare and snap pictures – at the bus and us. As The Ride drove through Times Square toward the end of the trip, loudspeakers were turned on so that people outside could hear the passengers inside singing "New York, New York."

They stopped, they clapped, they snapped, they waved, they sang along. Who said New Yorkers are blasé?

 

Eunice Fried is a freelance writer in New York.

 

When you go

Getting aboard

The Ride leaves from the Marriot Marquis Hotel, 1535 Broadway, on the 46th Street side. It returns to the same location.

Tickets

The Ride box office is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. It's at the Marriot Marquis, ground level, outdoors, between 45th and 46th streets. Price: $65, peak (hours vary); $59, off peak. Children 10 and older are welcome; they pay the same price. To order by phone, call 1-866-299-9682. Website: www.experiencetheride.com

Times

 

•The first ride of the day is at 10 a.m.; the last ride leaves at 9:45 p.m. Participants should arrive 15 minutes before departure time.

•To get the most street reaction, or nonreaction, consider a ride between 2:30 and about 7:30. Most Broadway shows begin at 8 p.m., and until then, the sidewalks are jammed. After that, the crowds are less intense.

Details

•There are no restroom facilities and no eating or drinking on the bus.

•The Ride operates year-round and in all weather, except during the rare blizzard or hurricane.

New York Beacon

By Don Thomas

October 27,2010

Imagine taking a tour through New York City streets on a bus, not just any bus but one fully equipped with three rows of stadium seating allowing every seat the very same access and view?

Now, further imagine that the bus is loaded with high-tech, multimedia equipment akin to those provided at Radio City Music Hall or Madison Square Gardens. Three thousand LED lights, 40 video monitors linked to an amazing sound system and an IMAX theater compliment a 13 feet high 45 feet long vehicle enabling overhead view of yellow cabs, bicycles, tri-cycles, pedestrians, sidewalks, pavement and street scenes.

 

What if the imagination expands to find street  performers and actors in synchronized unison with comedic and historic details provided by onboard hosts on that spectacular mobile miracle? Undeniably, that imagination would be on track with a brand new tour experience which rolls into New York this week. It is called “The Ride.”

 

Unlike those blasé doubledecked bus tours which routinely guide tourists to sights of the city, this unique one-of-a-kind entertainment experience combines a multi-discipline production with real,  live actors and performers strategically positioned throughout the scenic Manhattan route.

“The streets of New York are the world’s biggest  stage and ‘The Ride’ is your front row seat, Jonathan Danforth, President & CEO said.

“It’s spectacular! It’s unique! I have never experienced anything like this before. I just don’t know how they are able to do it in the middle of all  the New York traffic,” a visitor from Kentucky said.

 

Surprises along the route are unpredictably New York. The hot dog vendor on the corner is likely to sell a few frankfurters on cue. Who could imagine that scenario? On any given ride a couple of ballet dancers could light up Columbus Circle while providing the kind of performance one would have to pay big bucks to enjoy at Lincoln Center.

 

That light-footed dancers could put on such a show in the round as traffic swirls around them; or that a courier would pause from delivering packages to break dance on a sidewalk; or that the sailor in his glee to celebrate the end of World War II kissed a New Yorker might still be in action these many years later is an inevitable sighting on each excursion.

 

And while the streets provide plenty to glare at,  there is also a skylight to peer up at the view of edifices that make up the skyline of the city. To witness the reaction of resident New Yorkers is nothing short of the stereotypical claim – they are unfazed.

 

Despite the unusual presentations, pedestrians and commuters appear oblivious to the street antics or the gigantic, moving theater. The marvel though becomes distinctive when tourists take a glimpse of the bus, the antics and the residents who scurry down the subway steps, hurrying home to the outer boroughs.

 

“The Ride” made its debut and may still be elusive to masses of tourists who visit the mid- town area. A stop on the perimeter of the Marriott Marquis Hotel is where a super-sized,  irregular bus awaits passengers eager to ride the stage coach through “The Big Apple.” The year- round Broadway/excursion merger will surely be one of the most sought-after attractions during the holiday season.

“ ‘The Ride’ is about experiencing the fabric of  New York through the eyes of talented and funny people who love the city and its history – many of whom have chosen to be life-long residents here,” Michael Counts, company founder stated.

 

“You cannot help exiting the bus without singing, humming or feeling the lyrics to the city’s anthem ‘I love New York,” a tourist from New Jersey said. Check out the experience by logging ontowww.experiencetheride.com [EDITOR’S NOTE: I had the pleasure of being among the first group of invited media persons and tourists from around the country to experience “The Ride.” Without any reservations what-so-ever, I can gladly state this is one of the most exciting new New York City attractions that should be experienced by the entire family, friends and visiting out- of-towners. -- Don Thomas, Entertainment Editor/New York Beacon]

New York Post

By Cindy Adams

October 14, 2010

Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride -- not of Paul Revere -- but of the new bus The Ride, which goes in the after noon.

Three new, custom-built, amped-up, rock-star-sized buses, the tallest allowed by federal law, are 13 feet high, 45 feet long, 8 feet wide, with three rows of stadium seating facing massive windows. Each costs $1.25 million, starts at the Marriot Marquis where they have a box office, chugs through the Theater District, has joking, singing male and female hosts, multimedia audio, video and wireless shtick plus street performers interacting on sidewalks.

NYC landmarks become backdrops as you see city dwellers, 3,000 food carts that charge $4 for kabobs and $5 for Rolaids, traffic, Grand Central, Times Square, 13,000 taxis around except when you need one. And there's traffic, Columbus Circle, Chrysler Building, cranky cops, positioned-curbside entertainers like a dancer with a cane, a replay of that WWII sailor kissing that girl, and traffic.

An IMAX theater's worth of equipment -- 3,000 LED lights, 40 video monitors emulating even subway sounds -- gets shoved into the size of a downtown studio apartment and gives you info: 3,328 apartments in one cockamamie neighborhood of Manhattan, Carnegie Hall began in 1891, Central Park's land is worth $528 billion today, and "You can always tell a tourist -- he's unarmed."

With the city a stage, our male host announced every flyspeck, horseflop, garlicky hotdog, panhandling bum between 59th and 42nd. You could almost smell the falafel. He used phrases like "Only in New York, kids, only in New York." He said he loves New York, New York's the world's greatest, nothing's like New York. Then I asked where in New York this kid was born and he said: "Alaska." Not my problem, but to him even Utah looks great.

To catch a ride, log onto experiencetheride.com. I know because for 90 minutes I schlepped around on it. The Ride is a sightseeing bus on steroids.

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New York Daily News

By Joe Dziemianowicz

October 14, 2010

There's a show on every corner in New York, and that fact has been woven ingeniously into "The Ride," a new sightseeing bus tour wheeling around midtown.

Compared to familiar open-air tour buses, "The Ride" rolls on vehicles pimped out in razzle-dazzle. There are high-tech light and sound systems, and stadium seats face sideways so passengers have clear views as the bus crawls through traffic.

Even if you know the city and passed by the Chrysler Building, Grand Central Terminal and other icons before, you haven't seen it from this panoramic view. There's a feeling like watching a movie unfold live as you move slowly along. It lets you see the city with fresh eyes, beginning in Times Square, then along 42nd St., past Radio City and up to Columbus Circle, back to where you started.

Along for the ride are a couple cute and wisecracking tour guides who direct your attention to the video screens that are used to point out fun facts about local landmarks, restaurants and remarkable apartments. The scripted commentary (John Bobey is credited as writer, Daniel Goldstein as director) is easygoing and friendly, though sometimes the guides' chirpy banter feels a little forced.

When it does, it's best to ignore them and keep your eyes focused on the city. What makes "The Ride" unique are street performers positioned strategically along the bus route who get in on the action. They include a tap-happy dancer living out a scene from "42nd Street" and uniformed ushers near Radio City who burst into a peppy audition number as you motor by. The moments are surprisingly charming.

The tour runs in all sorts of weather. At Christmastime, it's not hard to imagine snow, decorations and colored lights along Sixth Avenue adding to the experience. Even in a downpour, the city is spectacular. On Monday night, two graceful dancers pirouetted during a lightning-laced rainstorm around the Columbus Circle fountains. It was as surreal as it was delightful - and scary.

"Was anyone else scared that they’d get electrocuted?" asked one of the perky guides. Yes. But not to worry. The couple was unharmed — another happy ending to another only-in-New York story.

"The Ride" departs from the Marriott Marquis at 1535 Broadway, and lasts 75 minutes. Depending on departure time, it costs $59 to $65, which makes it a pretty pricey entertainment. But it's an enjoyable way to see the sights and the city - for the first time or again. Tickets are at experiencetheride.com or (866) 299-9682.

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New York Times

By Edward Rothstein

October 14, 2010

I don’t think the woman who flashed us the other night on West 57th Street by lifting up her shirt was in the cast of the new bus ride/city tour/improv show/New York experience called “The Ride.” But I’m only guessing, because one business-suited passerby on 42nd Street was so intoxicated by the Broadway melodies being broadcast by our passing bus that he dropped his briefcase and leapt into a vaudeville tap-dance routine right out of a 1930s musical. And a late-night deliveryman on East 43rd Street was so caught up by the passing tour’s blaring hip-hop soundtrack that he spun and flipped into a virtuosic break-dance routine.

But unlike those examples, which “The Ride” had clearly set up in advance for its patrons, pretending, with a wink, that the tour was giving us a glimpse of eccentric New York street life, the flasher didn’t seem to be performing a part, at least not one found in a script. She broke into laughter after her feat, watching the transparent-sided bus, with its three rows of stadium seats mounted sideways like a portable theater, filled with shrieking passengers.

In this, it turns out, she played right into the tour’s hands. So did we all. Because by the end of this 75-minute, 4.2-mile “Ride,” which is making its debut this week, the guides who had led us from West 42nd Street up to Columbus Circle and back had the bus singing a karaoke version of Kander and Ebb’s “New York, New York.” The words were flashed on the vehicle’s 40-some video screens, and the result was apparently heard on the street as we drove down Seventh Avenue. Crowds stopped, gawked and waved arms along with the singers, and applauded us as we applauded them. Who’s onstage? Who isn’t?

You don’t really know what to make of “The Ride” at first. It’s a commercial enterprise, created by the avant-garde theatrical entrepreneur Michael Counts, written by John Bobey (whose credits include late-night television comedy) and directed by Daniel Goldstein (whose credits include Broadway). Each night a crew of more than 60 technical people, street performers and tour-guide actors with improv-comedy experience tries to combine these diverse styles into an atypical tourist bus ride that costs $59 or $65, depending on the departure time. Plans are to run 364 days a year, with up to 156 rides each week.

These theatrical prices also accompany a bus meant to look theatrical: black and screaming “The Ride” in neon red along the side. Each bus costs $1.3 million. It is the tallest vehicle allowed by law; its audio systems emulate the punch of club sonics; and its cushioned 49 seats face the transparent side of the bus, allowing outsiders to see in, once its 40 video screens and 3,000 LED lights are illuminated. Three buses are touring now, making round trips from the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, where tickets are sold. A fourth is due soon, and in case of success, another four are planned. (There are also more elaborate hopes, for other cities and other countries.)

Forget the ride for a moment: all tour buses should be built this way; you miss one side of the street but get a huge panoramic view of the other. From an ordinary bus you can’t sense the streetscape’s expanse, but here, with windows stretching nearly the length of the bus, when we crossed Broadway at dusk, an hour before theater time, the city looked unearthly, a teeming throng of figures and glaring lights.

Strangely, though, as a tour, “The Ride” was least successful. As our two guides began their opening banter, we might have at first suspected that Scott really was educated in urban planning at Columbia University or that Jackie was a world traveler come home. But there are 18 such Scotts and Jackies, with the same names and script, giving these tours.

The banter incorporated a fairly lame conceit that “The Ride” has been under development since the end of World War II, that it has all the artificial intelligence of HAL from “2001: A Space Odyssey” (with a more vigorous voice, which is heard throughout the tour) and that it is now embarking on “our biggest and boldest experiment to date, to answer the question: What makes New York ... New York — the pulsating capital of the world.”

Such pulsating is better left not talked about, but the guides were apparently supposed to get a subplot going involving Scott’s romantic interest in Jackie, while filling in travel time with improvised dialogue and “fun facts” about the sights: the grime cleaned off the ceiling of Grand Central Terminal in 1998 was a thick layer of tar and nicotine. The Chrysler Building’s spire was secretly prepared and mounted so the result could surprise rivals as the world’s tallest building — but then it was trumped by the Empire State Building.

The finest moments, though, had nothing to do with the city’s dazzling stage sets — its buildings and avenues — but with the great crowds found within them, which is why “The Ride” is best taken when the streets are packed. Before the bus leaves Times Square, its voice draws attention to varied street characters (all in the tour’s employ). A man purchases three hot dogs, then suddenly starts juggling them. Pedestrians look on in shock, less at the accomplishment than at his daring to do something so pointless on jammed sidewalks. A man with a sequined top hat and party paraphernalia reserves his spot for New Year’s Eve; he leaps around in celebration after the bus broadcasts a New Year’s countdown. A sailor just home from World War II bends over to kiss a nurse, recreating the renowned 1945 Alfred Eisenstaedt photograph.

“The Ride,” then, begins in pure silliness, much of it not too funny, but when that suited tap-dancer finishes his bit, the tour takes on a cinematic aura. This is, after all, how so many movies and Broadway shows work. While walking down a street, someone breaks into song or dance, just as strollers do here.

The urban dance scene of musicals is a genre of its own: first there is the surprise of the passersby, then the affectionate acknowledgment of the dance, and soon the whole streetscape is in on it (unless you are like Gene Kelly, singing in the rain in near isolation). It’s the way of Broadway melody, the style of “West Side Story.” And here, too, on “The Ride,” you begin to watch the passersby look in shock and then pleasure at the theatrical indulgence of these people on the sidewalk; you almost expect them to join in.

Two singers dressed as Radio City ushers start their own duo; a ballerina dances in an illuminated tutu around Columbus Circle; a woman in front of Carnegie Hall sings an aria from “Carmen.” (“I just got off the bus from Iowa,” she explains. “I’m hoping if I sing outside here, Mr. Carnegie will pass by and discover me.”) It’s all a version of “42nd Street.”

No one does join in, yet. But you are reminded that one aspect of New York streets is that strange stuff is not that unexpected. It isn’t all that surprising to see someone singing on the street or dancing in the rain; it is only mildly surprising to see a woman lift her shirt.

The effect may have been much more intense in the 19th century when crowds created a different way of walking; the new urban citizen strolled the city and attended to its exotic sensations and shocks, an anonymous wanderer amid all the other wanderers.

Now the unexpected may even be uniting rather than isolating. It is a shared phenomenon, something to be talked about; it is even a matter of pride how much strangeness we have seen. Oddity creates community. I may be giving “The Ride” too much credit. But for all its artifice, it gives us a chance to be reminded about this effect; it looked as if quite a few conversations started on the sidewalk as the bus rocked by. Evidently even the flasher was inspired. And when extraordinary things are done in unison, not just by one eccentric but by a large group, the effect is amplified.

Take a look at the so-called missions of the street-theater group Improv Everywhere, in which hundreds of strangers suddenly freeze in the middle of Grand Central, or, as in its recent “MP3 Experiment Seven,” thousands of listeners simultaneously follow instructions heard over headphones. At first there is a certain implied mockery of those not in on the secret. But ultimately, the large-scale strangeness breaks down isolation with communal comedy. The Improv videos go viral.

Something like this happened in the tour’s final moments, as “The Ride” featured a transparent busload of passengers waving and singing “New York, New York,” as listeners in the streets stared, watched, ran along or even, eventually, joined in. The street is quite a ride.

Schedules, information and tickets for “The Ride” are at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel, 1535 Broadway, at 46th Street; experiencetheride.com, (866) 299-9682.

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TravelingMom.com

October 13, 2010

Twelve years olds may be one of the toughest markets for entertainers to please. Too old for Disney ‘family’ fare and too young for R-rated movies, they are mercurial and demanding. Yet THE RIDE managed to pass my jaded 12 going on 25 daughter.

This multimedia bus tour and experience a new midtown attraction, is fun for New Yorkers and tourists. The tour stays close to its pick up and drop-off at the Marriott Marquis, roaming from 42nd Street to Central Park, with engaging street theater throughout its 75 minute running time.

Two stand up comics/ride operators keep up a running commentary, while using technology and seemingly chance encounters. The shtick behind this is that we riders see New Yorkers going about their business while casually breaking into dance, song or random acts. While the bus, with its stadium seating, large windows on one side and glass roof moves through midtown, we see a ‘thief’ stealing a fire hydrant, a couple reenacting the VJ Day kiss and a man suddenly ripping his pants off.

Riders are encouraged to get into the act, doing ‘the wave’ and singing along to “New York, New York.’ And most New Yorkers going about their day who see the street actors suddenly breaking into song pass by unfazed, but some join in, dancing along.

The ride operators also tease out some info from the riders, names, or where people are from, and then transmit this information to the next performer, who incorporates this into his routine. My daughter, Nora, kept questioning whether each performer was part of the show, was amazed that the street actors knew names of people on the bus.

The Ride starts at 10am and goes until 9:45pm. If you take an evening ride, you see an illuminated ballerina at Columbus Circle. And if you are touring New York, you see also Grand Central, Carnegie Hall, Bryant Park, the main branch of the Public Library, Empire State and Chrysler Buildings.

The Ride allows kids 10 and up; young teens are strongly encouraged.

ControlGeek.net

By John Huntington

October 12, 2010

Last night I went on The Ride, a brand-new, innovative, mobile, hi-tech interactive theatrical experience that takes place in and around the streets of midtown. I've been hearing about this project since at least 2004 (and was even contacted to consult on its control systems in 2007, which didn't work out), and I'm happy to report that creator Michael Counts' dream is finally an excellent reality. The show is advertised as, "a new entertainment experience that turns the streets of New York into a stage" and for once, this tag line is not hyperbole--this is a show unlike anything I've ever seen (and I mean that as a compliment!).

The Ride experience, a clever pairing of bus tour and interactive theatre, starts when you wade through the tourist throng around the Marriot in Times Square, and board one of four The Ride vehicles, custom-made tour buses where you sit sideways, facing out huge windows the left side of the bus.

Read More.

Geekbeat.tv

By Jeann Lowell

October 6, 2010

A few days ago, I attended a preview of a completely different style of entertainment in New York City. Dubbed The Ride, it provides a first-hand look at some of the city’s prominent landmarks in a way that combines a Broadway show with a bus tour, incorporating cutting-edge technology and scripted performances with real-life reactions of people on the street.

The Ride starts in a stationary position, where the audience gets acquainted with the surroundings. The vehicle is gigantic, looming overhead at 13 feet and 6 inches (the tallest it can legally be in the city), built on a standard bus chassis by LDV, a company that specializes in custom-designed commercial specialty rigs. The internal compartment has stadium-style seating that faces out of a glass-lined side wall toward the street, and is lined with traveling lights, video monitors, and surround-sound speakers.

As you travel for a little bit over an hour through the Theater District, the show becomes a blend of host and audience interaction, acted scenes and musical numbers by cast members on the street, tidbits of information about the landmarks outside and a healthy number of stares, points and waves from people that just happen to be passing by. During the course of the show, the audience is immersed in music, mood-lighting and video that gives you the impression that everyone outside has been placed there just for your entertainment.

In designing the technology to make this happen, a number of logistical considerations had to be taken into account. For one, the timing for each show is bound to be subject to variables like traffic conditions and reactions of both the audience and onlookers. Brett Jarvis, technology supervisor for The Ride, said in an interview for Technology in the Arts that they run a mixture of Ableton Live, Isadora, and QLab 2 on Mac Pro towers to maintain an open system that can be cued appropriately to make the show feel continuous for the audience.

The sound system, built with help from Sennheiser, is designed in a way that surrounds the audience completely while being undetectable by people on the street. Since the audience also has to, at times, listen in on the street performers, there is an extensive wireless sound transmission system that can be toggled on and off to minimize radio traffic in the surrounding area. Even the transmission frequency was carefully selected – otherwise, it might have interfered with adjacent systems in the theaters around Broadway.

Sometimes, a mark of smartly-designed technology is an audience’s inability to distinguish it from real life, and it’s certainly the case for The Ride. For tourists who are new to the city, it offers a much more interesting and comprehensive experience than a tour or museum visit, and there are some surprising moments, even for people like me who have been here a while. Plus… anything that can make the busiest, surliest briefcase-toting businessman on the street take a moment to smile and wave has got my vote.

Article by: Geekbeat.tv

New York Daily News

By Patrick Huguenin

October 11, 2010

Don't call it a tour bus. The newest way to see New York is on The Ride, a 75-minute excursion on a state-of-the-art vehicle. Riders sit in stadium seats facing oversized windows. They wheel through the streets of midtown Manhattan surrounded by video screens, music and live-action vignettes. By the time The Ride ends, they've learned about NYC - and each other - with the help of two friendly tour guides. D'Arcy Carden is one of those guides. When The Ride takes its first spin on Thursday, she'll be entertaining passengers: She's there to break the ice, get them singing along and dancing to a simulated New Year's Eve ball drop, and point out New York's best features, all while keeping her balance.

Do you have a background in performance?
The people they've gotten to play the hosts are the top improvisers in New York City, from the top comedy theater in New York City, the Upright Citizens Brigade. It's very fun. ... I went to school at Southern Oregon University and majored in theater. I graduated and immediately came to New York to be an actor - but not a Broadway star, not to be in musicals. I wasn't exactly sure what my path was here, but when I found the Upright Citizens Brigade, that kind of blew my mind a little bit.

And now you have a new venue.
I play "Jackie" and the male guide plays "Scott" and the idea is that we're great friends and that we've been doing The Ride together. And there's a romantic story too: Scott is in love with Jackie but Jackie thinks they're just friends. And by the end ... maybe something has changed!

How much do you interact with the audience?
It's pretty interactive. You get on The Ride in Times Square and, as you go, you're surrounded by these amazing screens that are constantly putting up facts about what you're looking at. We start off with a little New Year's Eve celebration - no matter what month it is - to show what Times Square is like on New Year's Eve. We count down and have a big "Happy New Year" and we're singing and dancing and waving our arms and so we get everybody involved immediately.

Are there other cast members besides you and your fellow guides?
We have actors planted all throughout the city. Some are interacting with us - they have microphones and talk to us. You know that famous picture of the nurse and sailor kissing? The bus rides right up on two actors we've hired that are there all the time in full period costume, kissing just like that picture. And when we roll up on Columbus Circle, we have a ballerina dancing in the middle of the circle where the fountains are. She's synchronized with music playing on the bus.

How is the view?
We're so high off the ground that we're above the cars, so you see these sites differently than you'd ever see them by walking or taking a taxi. As someone who's lived in New York for coming on nine years, I find it amazing.

Are you ever afraid of getting carsick?
The Ride doesn't ever go that fast, but sometimes I get carsick in the back of taxis and I keep waiting for that time when I'm performing and need to sit down. But it hasn't happened yet. It's air-conditioned and super comfortable.

What kind of reactions do you get?
There are tour buses all over New York City, but people can't stop staring at this thing and taking pictures. It is a weird experience to explain, but we've had friends come to test it out. My husband did it and afterward he was like, "You told me about what this was, but it was much cooler than what I imagined. I've never been on anything like that before." It's fun to be part of something like this from the inception.

For more information, visit experiencetheride.com

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The MAC Wire

By Anne M. Raso

October 8, 2010

Myself and MAC (your lovely editor/websmaster) got to go onThe Ride the day of its opening. What exactly is it? Well, in layman's terms, it's a big, fancy tourist bus with one whole side that is a big window and the seats are vertical instead of horizontal...so it is more like being in a theater audience than on a bus. It leaves from the 46th Street (just west of Broadway) side of the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, and you ride all around midtown with a male and female guide and The Ride itself speaks and gives NYC trivia and info on TV screens all over its interior. Along the midtown route--which takes 45 minutes to complete--you will see people walking on the streets suddenly come to life and do a little number, which can range from dancing to rapping. For instance, the first "real person" is a guy standing by a hot dog cart who juggles eight rolls, and then there are a couple of Broadway artists who sing 42nd Street (at 42nd and Sixth) and then there is the 1940's couple who do the family kiss on the "triangle" just under from where the New Year's Ball drops at 42nd and Broadway. It's a different type of tour for sure--so check it out soon. The tour is year-round and more info can be found at experiencetheride.com or by calling 866-299-9682.

Variety.com

By Gordon Cox

Agosto 21,2010

With tourists accounting for the majority of Broadway's robust annual box office, a handful of enterprising producers have decided to combine visitors' two fave things to do in Gotham: see the sights and a show.

"The Ride," which launches Sept. 16 in New York, seats audience members in custom-built buses with three rows of stadium seating that face a wall of glass and about 40 flatscreens of varying sizes.

As the bus rolls its mobile, 49-seat auditorium around a 75-minute Manhattan landmark loop that begins and ends in Times Square, two improv-trained emcees will point out the theater of New York's sidewalk life -- enhanced by performances from "Ride" cast members placed at strategic outdoor locations along the route.

"For the tourist who comes into town, this is sort of a melding of a Broadway show and a Gray Line bus tour," says Jonathan P. Danforth, prexy of "The Ride."

If all goes according to plan, there will eventually be eight custom buses on the streets of Manhattan shuttling auds past the familiar midtown locations that serve as the backdrop for the show, with the Gotham edition of "The Ride" serving as the basis for satellite incarnations in 15 U.S. cities and another 15 locations around the world.

Another site-specific hybrid performance offering -- "Accomplice" -- has already proven successful enough to expand internationally. Although very different from "The Ride" in style and scale, both productions target the nexus of tourism and theater that has proven so profitable for Broadway.

For the 2008-09 season, visitors accounted for 63% of the 12.15 million tickets sold, with international auds logging a notable uptick over past years.

Given the obvious commercial ambitions of "The Ride," it might surprise legiters that the project has indie-theater cred: It was created by Michael Counts, the Brooklyn impresario who founded an attention-getting experimental theater company, tagged GAle GAtes in Dumbo, before the outer-borough nabe became cool.

Producer Robyn Goodman, whose legit credits include "Avenue Q" and "Altar Boyz," also is a member of the "Ride" team.

"My two passions in the theater were site-specific pieces and journey pieces," says Counts, whose work at GAle GAtes often had auds following a show from place to place in the company's massive warehouse space. "?'The Ride' is really the ultimate expression of that, and New York is the ultimate set."

John Bobey ("Late Night With David Letterman") writes (with Kim Gamble and Jack Helmuth) and directs the loosely structured show, aiming to provide a narrative framework as well as enough flexibility to allow for improvisation and seasonal additions.

The endeavor kicks off with three buses, to be joined by a fourth a few weeks later and, eventually, four more after that.

With each bus costing $1.3 million to build, the startup pricetag already lands in the same ballpark as a decent-sized Broadway musical -- and that's before adding in the paychecks of the cast and crew of 60-70 who will eventually keep the "Ride" rolling through its 32 performances per day.

Ducats range from $59 to $65 apiece.

While the people behind "Ride" are betting big, they can take comfort in the fact that "Accomplice," which also combines elements of theater and tourism, has been running in Gotham for five years.

There's also a Hollywood edition of "Accomplice" co-produced by Neil Patrick Harris, with a London edition soon to be co-presented by the Menier Chocolate Factory.

For $65 each, "Accomplice" sends groups of 10 people out on foot for a three-hour scavenger hunt through a neighborhood, encountering performers who reveal elements of the show's storyline and point auds toward their next destination.

A downtown Gotham edition launched in 2005, with a version set in the Village opening in 2007. Harris got involved in producing the Hollywood version, which opened in 2009, after he saw the show in New York and became a fan.

According to Tom Salamon, who co-created "Accomplice" with his sister, Betsy Sufott, the first New York show started off attracting mainly locals, before word slowly spread and tourists gradually began to make up a higher percentage the audience.

The Gotham shows are now split evenly between locals and visitors, he says, while in Los Angeles, the ratio of Angelenos to out-of-towners is more like 3:1.

Each edition has a different plot, a fact that might encourage auds to see the show in more than one city.

"From the beginning, we had the idea this was something we could expand," Salamon says.

Neither "Accomplice" nor "The Ride" has to contend with paying rent to a Broadway landlord, and the pay scale for performers and stage crew isn't monitored by unions. The non-pro performers are mostly improv artists and don't belong to a union.

Additional revenue can come from corporations that buy out showtimes for their events, while creators of "The Ride" hope to benefit from the patent on the bus, which other companies may find uses for.

Still, there's overhead to contend with: There are ongoing prop costs for "Accomplice," for instance, plus the bill for the food and drink that auds get with the price of admission at each show.

Besides, there's always the weather to consider. And traffic: "The Ride," for instance, plans to shut down between 4 and 7 p.m. in deference to rush hour.

(Perfs will initially run only at night, before eventually expanding to the entire day.)

Still, one question remains: How do you categorize these hybrid offerings, anyway?

"We call it a show," Salamon says of "Accomplice." "More than anything, it's theatrical."

For "The Ride," Danforth prefers the description "experience." Counts calls it a lot of things.

"It's theater, it's entertainment and it's a theme park," he says.

Travel + Leisure Magazine

Nina Fedrizzi

Agosto 12, 2010

For many of us, the words, “tour bus” call to mind certain iconic images: sticky, screaming children, headache-inducing camera flashes, a colorfully dressed man on a unnecessary megaphone and, yes, even a fanny pack or two. Banish those images from memory—that was your grandmother’s tour bus.

Meet "The Ride": a revolutionary, $1.3 million take on the classic tour bus, which was on display in Time Square, Manhattan this morning as a prelude to its maiden voyage in September.  Suped up with 49 stadium seats, an IMAX theater-worth of audio equipment and 40 video screens, The Ride certainly has the wattage to separate itself from the competition.  But it’s what’s going on off the bus that’s really grabbed our attention.

Think of The Ride like a kind of haunted hayride through New York—minus the ski masks and fake chain saws.  Throughout the course of its 4.2-mile midtown route, The Ride will have scheduled sidewalk interactions with some of New York’s finest—actors, performers, standup comedians, and everyday citizens—who will bring to life the city’s vibrant history, iconic sites and dynamic street life through their prodigious talents and The Ride’s state-of-the-art acoustics.

Tickets ($59-$65) for The Ride’s first tour, which starts September 16th, will also go on sale today (August 12th).  If you’re in the area, stop by the corner of Broadway and W. 46th St. to get a look at this futuristic tour-beast (and leave your fanny pack at home).

Nina Fedrizzi is an editorial intern at Travel + Leisure.
Photos by Marc Bryan-Brown

USA TODAY

Kitty Bean Yancey

Agosto 12, 2010

A $1.3 million tour bus tricked out with 40 video screens, 49 stadium-style seats and state-of-the art sound and lighting systems is due to be unveiled today at 10:30 a.m. in Times Square.

THE RIDE, a 75-minute, 4-mile tour through Midtown billed as an "entertainment experience," makes its official debut Sept. 16. But tickets ($59-$65) are on sale now at experiencetheride.com, THE RIDE box office at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square, or by calling 866-299-9682.

It's "a theater on wheels" with theme-park ride elements, says THE RIDE CEO Jonathan Danforth. He says tourists will be joined by improv artists, who will engage the riders with question/answer sessions and singalongs. Screens will show images complementing the zippy commentary, the bus will shake, and actors on the streets will dance, skate and juggle as the vehicle passes.

Riders "won't know what's coming next," says Danforth, adding that The RIDE is intended for those 10 and older.

Meanwhile, New York is expecting to beat 2008's record 47 million visitors this year, according to its NYC & Company tourism arm. From January through June 2010, average hotel occupancy rate in the City was 6.8 percent above the same period in 2009, NYC & Company says.

NEW YORK, NY – August 12, 2010 – Following the unveiling of the first of its fleet of custom-built $1.3 million vehicles in Times Square today, tickets are now on sale for THE RIDE, a spectacular new immersive and interactive entertainment experience that moves guests through midtown Manhattan, as an ever-changing show featuring actors, performers, and everyday citizens unfolds on the streets before them.

THE RIDE features vehicles so extensively equipped with advanced technology and other amenities that they had to be super-sized: they’re the largest allowed by law on the streets of New York and guaranteed to turn heads. Performers aboard THE RIDE – and posted along its 4.2-mile route – hail from the world of stand-upand improvisational comedy, ensuring a uniquely hilarious experience every trip, as they comment on New York’s history, iconic sites, and street life. Some of the fun for riders is figuring out what’s part of the show and what’s everyday life in New York City, as THE RIDE provides a wry, satirical and loving look at the city in all its glory.

Created by Brooklyn-based director and entertainment entrepreneur Michael Counts, THE RIDE features a script by award-winning comedy-writer and producer John Bobey, who also serves as director, and veteran comedy-writers Kim Gamble and Jack Helmuth. Each of THE RIDE’s vehicles is specially designed with more than 3,000 LED lights, 40 video screens, an IMAX Theater’s worth of audio equipment, cutting-edge wireless and directional speakers to connect with sidewalk performers and “floor-shaker” sound system technology that emulates everything from passing subway to a thumping nightclub. Three rows of stadium-style seating – facing the vehicle’s floor-to-ceiling side windows – orient riders to view the streets of Manhattan as if they were the biggest, most elaborate sets in the world.

Individual and discounted grouptickets for THE RIDE are available three ways: online at experiencetheride.com; by phone at (866) 299-9682; and in person at THE RIDE box office near the Broadway Baby NY Gift Shopat the New York Marriott Marquis at 1535 Broadway between 45^th and 46^th Streets in Times Square. The Marriott Marquis is the home of THE RIDE. Each RIDE lasts approximately 75 minutes. Tickets start at $59. For more information, visit THE RIDE online at experiencetheride.com, on Twitter at @The_Ride, and on Facebook at Experience The Ride.

# # #

MEDIA CONTACT: For interviews with production team members, behind-the-scenes access, and media preview rides, contact John Michael Kennedy or Régine Labossière at Goodman Media International (212) 576-2700, or at rlabossiere@goodmanmedia.com.

A TRAVELING HIGH-TECH THEATER THAT WILL SHOWCASE A TOTALLY NEW WAY OF EXPERIENCING NEW YORK

WHAT: THE RIDE, a major new entertainment experience making its world premiere in New York City next month, will introduce in Times Square on August 12th the first of eight $1.3 million vehicles that will make possible an entirely new way for tourists and New Yorkers to experience the city.

A spectacular, immersive, new form of entertainment, THE RIDE will move Riders through midtown Manhattan while an ever-changing show, featuring actors, performers, and everyday citizens, unfolds on the streets before them. Performers aboard THE RIDE – and posted along its 4.2-mile midtown Manhattan route – hail from the world of stand-up and improvisational comedy, ensuring a uniquely hilarious experience every trip, as they comment on New York’s history, iconic sites, and street life.

THE RIDE’s vehicle designs – including three rows of stadium seating for 49 Riders – are so unique that three design patents have been filed. Outfitted with an IMAX Theater-worth of audio equipment, 40 video screens, and more than 3,000 LED lights, THE RIDE will come to life as it’s unveiled: its cutting-edge wireless and directional speakers connecting with sidewalk performers; its “floor-shaker” sound system technology emulating everything from a passing subway to a thumping nightclub.

WHEN: Thursday, August 12, 2010, 10:30 AM.

Tickets for THE RIDE go on sale at the same time.
(The world premiere of THE RIDE is September 16.)

WHERE: The Times Square pedestrian plaza near the corner of 46th Street and Broadway, in front of the New York Marriott Marquis, home of THE RIDE.

INTERVIEW: President/CEO Jonathan Danforth, creator Michael Counts, writer/director John Bobey, and other production team members of THE RIDE will be at the unveiling for interviews.

CONTACTS: For more information, contact Goodman Media International at 212-576-2700

• John Michael Kennedy, jmkennedy@goodmanmedia.com
• Régine Labossière, rlabossiere@goodmanmedia.com

We’ve been picked-up online in Leisure Group Travel magazine, whose print edition is the largest circulation group travel publication in the US. Read their article below.

THE RIDE will depart from the heart of Times Square.

A major new entertainment experience gets rolling this fall in New York City with the launch of THE RIDE, a multi-media, multi-discipline production that moves guests through midtown Manhattan on custom-built vehicles while an ever-changing show featuring actors, performers and everyday citizens unfolds on the streets before them.

With an on-sale date in early August and a September launch, THE RIDE will operate year-round from its home base at the New York Marriott Marquis in the heart of Times Square.

THE RIDE draws on a variety of creative talents from New York City who provide a wry, satirical and loving look at the city. The production and artistic team includes writers and producers whose credits include television (“Late Night with David Letterman,” “The Colbert Report” and “Saturday Night Live”) and major live entertainment events.

THE RIDE’s specially designed, custom-made vehicles are the tallest allowed by federal law. Equipped with stadium-style seating that orients riders sideways to look through massive windows, the vehicles encourage audiences to view city streets and building façades as if they were the most expensive and authentic sets ever built. Onboard hosts entertain riders as they travel through the streets of midtown Manhattan, commenting on New York’s history, iconic sites and structures. Actors and performers along the route interact with the vehicle and its passengers. Performers on the vehicles, and those posted along its 4.2-mile route, are drawn from the worlds of stand-up and improvisational comedy, ensuring a unique experience on every trip.

“THE RIDE is about experiencing the fabric of New York – honestly and unflinchingly – through the eyes of talented and truly funny people who love the city and its history, and who have chosen to be life-long residents here,” says company founder Michael Counts.

THE VEHICLES
Measuring more than 13 feet high, 45 feet long and eight feet wide, the vehicles encompass millions of dollars of custom seating, audio, video and wireless technology that together provide mind-boggling environments to enhance both the external vistas and the content of each performance. Powerful directional speakers and exterior lighting allows on-board performers to make everyone on the street part of the experience.

“The fun and magic of THE RIDE is the interaction between the riders and people on the street,” says writer/director John Bobey. “Our passengers can be seen by everyone outside and vice versa. People smile, wave, blow kisses, and, well…other things happen too.”

LAUNCH SCHEDULE
Individual and group tickets for THE RIDE go on sale in early August, and will be available three ways: online at www.experiencetheride.com; by phone at (866) 299-9682; and in person at THE RIDE Box office located at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel, 1535 Broadway between 45th and 46th Streets.

Combining technology, comedy, and the city streets like never before, THE RIDE will entertain and delight New Yorkers and tourists alike.

World-premiere launch in September from New York Marriott Marquis Times Square.

NEW YORK, July 20, 2010, A major new entertainment experience gets rolling this fall in New York City with the launch of THE RIDE, a multi-media, multi-discipline production that moves guests through midtown Manhattan on custom-built vehicles, while an ever-changing show featuring actors, performers, and everyday citizens unfolds on the streets before them.

With an on-sale date in early August and a September launch, THE RIDE will operate year-round from its home base at the New York Marriott Marquis in the heart of Times Square.

THE RIDE draws on a variety of creative talents from New York City who provide a delightfully wry, satirical, and ultimately loving look at the city in all its fabulous, unvarnished glory.  The production and artistic team includes writers and producers whose credits include television ("Late Night with David Letterman"‚ "The Colbert Report" and "Saturday Night Live"), and major live entertainment events. Created by Brooklyn-based director, designer and entertainment entrepreneur Michael Counts, THE RIDE features a script by award-winning writer and producer John Bobey, who serves as chief writer and director ("Late Night with David Letterman", Comedy Central‚ Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn‚ and Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, Saturday Night Live), and writers Kim Gamble (Comedy Central, The Colbert Report and Tough Crowd) and Jack Helmuth (feature film May the Best Man Win‚).

THE RIDE's specially designed, custom-made vehicles are the tallest allowed by federal law.  Equipped with stadium-style seating that orients riders sideways to look through massive windows, the vehicles encourage audiences to view city streets and building fa√ßades as if they were the most expensive and authentic sets ever built.  On-board hosts entertain riders as they travel through the streets of midtown Manhattan, commenting on New York's history, its iconic sites and structures, while also incorporating actors and performers along the route who interact with the vehicle and its passengers.

Finally, a game-changer has arrived in New York entertainment, says THE RIDE President and Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Danforth.  This is a completely immersive, completely original experience that puts a spin on the way people experience New York by turning the city into an ever-evolving performance. Danforth says riders on test versions of THE RIDE were thrilled by the concept that everything and everyone in New York is potentially part of the show.

CREATIVE ASPECTS OF THE RIDE
Performers on THE RIDE vehicles, and those posted along its 4.2-mile route, are drawn from the worlds of stand-up and improvisational comedy, ensuring a unique experience on every trip, and guaranteeing entertainment even when traffic, weather, visiting dignitaries, or other unexpected things tie up city traffic.   

Nothing in New York is spared from THE RIDE's comedic send-ups, from traffic and tiny apartments to Wall Street executives and the food-cart vendors who feed them. Surprise guests and characters show up unexpectedly along the route.  Iconic New York sites east and west are featured too, from the Chrysler Building and Grand Central Terminal to Times Square and Columbus Circle.

THE RIDE is about experiencing the fabric of New York, honestly and unflinchingly, through the eyes of talented and truly funny people who love the city and its history, and who have chosen to be life-long residents here, says company founder Michael Counts.

THE VEHICLES
THE RIDE vehicles provide entertainment on their own, inside and out.  Measuring more than 13 feet high, 45 feet long, and eight feet wide, the custom-built vehicles encompass millions of dollars of custom seating, audio, video, and wireless technology that together provide mind-boggling environments to enhance both the external vistas and the content of each performance.  Powerful directional speakers and exterior lighting allows on-board performers to make everyone on the street part of the experience.   

The fun and magic of THE RIDE is the interaction between the riders and people on the street, says writer/director John Bobey. Our passengers can be seen by everyone outside and vice versa.  People smile, wave, blow kisses, and, well‚other things happen too.

Engineers from LDV Bus Converter Company who designed and built THE RIDE vehicles say they met the challenge by reshaping and, amping up‚ rock-star-size tour buses, developing custom fiberglass molds so unique, three are now patented.   

Bringing Michael Counts's vision to life was an awesome challenge that inspired the whole team here at LDV, we took these enormous vehicles and made them bigger, says engineer Jason Gulky. Once they were in the studio, we stripped them down to their skeletal structures, raised their roofs more than a foot, installed hundreds of feet of tubing to accommodate miles of wire, and rebuilt the interior to accommodate three rows of stadium-style seating, nine tons of HVAC capacity, and hundreds of thousands of dollars of audio, video and wireless equipment.

Sound designer Brett Jarvis, of Jarvis Sound and Music Design, says the biggest challenge in outfitting the vehicles with crystalline sound and audio was, cramming an IMAX theater's worth of equipment into a rolling room the size of a small studio apartment. With more than 3,000 LED lights and a surround-sound system that can emulate everything from an A-train rumble to Studio 54, Jarvis says the vehicles give riders a wonderful sensory overload, not unlike sitting on the Jumbotron at Madison Square Garden.

Above and beyond the technical wizardry designed to wow riders and spectators alike, CEO Jonathan Danforth says THE RIDE's unique perspective on New York and the people who make it come alive will indelibly bond riders with the world's greatest city.

LAUNCH SCHEDULE
Individual and group tickets for THE RIDE go on sale in early August, and will be available three ways: online at experiencetheride.com; by phone at (866) 299-9682; and in person at THE RIDE Box office located at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel, 1535 Broadway between 45th and 46th Streets.

Rehearsals of THE RIDE take place in August and September, with media previews planned in September.   

THE RIDE is supported by a comprehensive media and promotional campaign, including paid and collaborative advertising, promotions with major media sponsors, national publicity, and an aggressive social media/word-of-mouth campaign designed to reach target audiences.

THE RIDE PARTNER
The New York Marriott Marquis, located on Broadway between 45th and 46th Streets in the heart of Times Square, is the home of THE RIDE.  In addition to being the starting and ending points for THE RIDE, Marriott Marquis has an on-site box office at the Broadway Baby NY Gift Shop.  

New York Business

Valerie Block, Crain's

Agosto 3, 2010

A new tourist attraction, dubbed The Ride, debuts in September. Yes, it's on wheels and it travels around midtown, but CEO Jonathan Danforth refuses to call his vehicle a tour bus.

The industry veteran says high-end motor coaches have been turned into rolling theaters with three rows of stadium seating, $250,000 worth of glass side and roof panels and $850,000 in video and sound equipment. Despite a punishing recession, private equity investors have sunk “north of $10 million” into the company, says Mr. Danforth, who expects to launch in other cities if New York is a success.

Improv actors will lead the 75-minute spectacle along 42nd Street and up to Columbus Circle where jugglers, inline skaters and others will be planted to entertain riders. Even local bystanders will be worked into the “experience.” The trip, which will avoid rush hours, will depart and drop off at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square. Ticket prices will be “more than a Gray Line tour but less than a Broadway show,” Mr. Danforth says.