Touchdown in New York: The Super Bowl Meets Broadway

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaysha/516818391
Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaysha/516818391

By Jeff Guaracino, ManAboutWorld Global Correspondent

The Super Bowl kicks off in New Jersey and close to New York City on Sunday, February 2nd.

More than one billon people will tune in to the see the Super Bowl. Don’t have tickets to the game? New York will be hosting dozens of Super Bowl viewing parties at city bars, hotels and restaurants.

There are a series of official weeklong events that kick off on Monday, January 27th with the “Super Bowl Kickoff Spectacular,” a free, ticketed event with performances by Daughtry and Goo Goo Dolls and the Macy’s Fireworks show. The kickoff event, the first to ever be associated with a Super Bowl, will be along the Hudson River at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey. For all the official information on the Super Bowl, visit www.nynjsuperbowl.com.

Yo Adrian! Guess who’s coming to Broadway?

In 1976, an unknown actor made an independent movie about a struggling boxer who gets a shot to go the distance. Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky went on to win an Oscar for best picture and became an anthem for the City of Brotherly Love.  The endearing Rocky Balboa will be making his Great White Way debut in New York in February at the Winter Garden Theater (yes that theater that hosted Cats and Mamma Mia).

Apollo, Mickey and Adrian are back too. Sylvester Stallone himself is a producer. While there is no starring character officially from Philly, Andy Karl who plays Rocky hails from Baltimore (kinda close) and appeared in Jersey Boys. He starred in 9 to 5 and Legally Blonde on Broadway.

The show has been in Europe but is finally coming to Broadway. Previews begin February 11th and opening night is March 13th. For tickets and information visit rockybroadway.com

More Broadway

In addition to our favorite hometown hero making his great debut on Broadway, Disney continues to repurpose their popular films and will introduces Aladdin. Aladdin features all of the film’s favorite songs and new music too. Previews begin February 26th and opening night is March 20th.  Visitaladdinthemusical.com.

There are lots of great shows on Broadway and off-Broadway. It is time to catch-up on The Book of Mormon, Chicago, the Blue Man Group, the Phantom of the Opera, Rock of Ages and more.

Broadway Week

Broadway Week will return this winter with 2-for-1 theater tickets to 26 Broadway shows—more than ever before. The promotion runs from January 21 through February 6, and theatergoers get 2-for-1 tickets at nycgo.com/broadwayweek.

New hotels in NYC

Loews Regency Hotel in New York opens on January 16, 2014. Loews is  re-opening the flagship property after $100 million renovation including a new restaurant and what the PR teams say is a state-of-the-art salon and spa. The redesign of the 379-room hotel is in the heart of Midtown Manhattan on Park Avenue. The hotel also comes with Park Avenue prices but a new hotel in NYC is priceless! Get in quick. Visit www.loewshotels.com

The coolest hotel in NYC right now might be The High Line Hotel. It opened in May 2013 but what makes the rooms and suites different is that they are carved out of the red-brick General Theological Seminary complex, a registered Manhattan landmark on Tenth Avenue at 20th Street. The hotel is located in Chelsea, adjacent to the iconic High Line “railroad-line park,” dozens of restaurants, clubs and the city’s hippest art gallery neighborhood. Even if you don’t stay, check out the website at www.thehighlinehotel.com.

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Jeff Guaracino is the author of Gay and Lesbian Tourism: The Essential Guide for Marketing

HBO’s “Looking” Debuts With San Francisco As Its Beautiful Backdrop

Scene from HBO's Looking.
Scene from HBO’s Looking.

Update:

What did you think of HBO’s Looking which debuted Sunday, January 19? LA Times loved it. How did SF look?

***

 

Like just about every gay man in America we are eagerly anticipating Looking, HBO’s new series about three men in San Francisco seeking love debuting tonight (Sunday, January 19).

If you decide to head to San Francisco to look for yourself, be sure to download our San Francisco article. Get an “all access” subscription with this special offer here and download the November 2012 issue and get ready to leave your heart in San Francisco.

Welcome To Our Newest Correspondent: Auston Matta

Auston landscape shot

Auston grew up in Phoenix before escaping to Chicago in 2008. He worked as an engineer for six years before deciding to quit his office job and travel around the world with his husband. Since early 2012, they have traveled to nearly 50 countries across the globe and run the travel blog TwoBadTourists.

Auston currently works part-time as a freelance engineer and travel writer, while continuing to explore Europe and beyond from his home base in Madrid. His ridiculous organization, travel savvy and financial planning has helped provide the ability to travel indefinitely.

Follow Auston on his blog or Facebook.

Rainbow Reykjavik Winter Pride Heats Up Iceland

Blue Lagoon courtesy Rainbow Reykjavik
Blue Lagoon courtesy Rainbow Reykjavik

By ManAboutWorld Global Correspondent Vladimir Martinez

The third annual Rainbow Reykjavik Winter Pride Festival will take place January 30-February 2. This Winter festival has been growing in popularity every year with fans coming from all over the world and joining the local LGBT community to admire the breathtaking landscapes, swim in geothermal waters, enjoy exquisite cuisine and, well, party.

Vladimir, who runs the gay travel resource site Gay Travel Advice, is not going to miss the opportunity to attend this year.

Read on to discover more about this weekend. For a more compete guide to Reykjavik, be sure to download our soon-to-be-released January/February issue. What, you’re not a subscriber? Click here for our special offer and start traveling with ManAboutWorld.Continue reading “Rainbow Reykjavik Winter Pride Heats Up Iceland”

Welcome To Our Newest Correspondent: Rich Rubin

Rich-Rubin-2-500x280

Welcome to ManAboutWorld’s newest correspondent, Rich Rubin.

Rich Rubin has written about travel for over twenty years now. He’s thrilled to be back in touch with the team behind ManAboutWorld, having been an early contributor to OUT&ABOUT. He has served as travel editor for Genre and is currently Food and Wine editor for Passport Magazine. His stories have appeared in Saveur, Caribbean Travel & Life, Bride’s, Modern Bride, Travel & Leisure, and many other publications. In his copious free time, he is Producing Artistic Director of Quince Productions, which produces Philadelphia’s only LGBT Theater Festival, GayFest!. He serves on the board of the Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucus.

Follow Rich on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Photo Du Jour: Pope Francis Delivers First Christmas Mass

Pope Francis celebrates midnight mass. Photo: Mike Luongo
Pope Francis celebrates midnight mass. Photo: Mike Luongo

ManAboutWorld’s peripatetic Global Correspondent Mike Luongo visited Italy this week stopping in at the Vatican to watch Pope Francis deliver his first midnight mass. He took this picture and filed this report.

I had met the current Pope Francis while he was Archbishop Jorge Bergolgio in Buenos Aires I went to take pictures at midnight mass in Catedral Metropolitana. After mass it was easy to shake hands and say hello. This year, I went to Rome for his first midnight mass as Pope.

I think regardless of one’s religion, visiting the Vatican is a special experience, and to be there for midnight mass is especially so.  The sounds of the singing, this time in eight languages, reverberate in the grand dome above the altar. It was a long ceremony, but Rome during Christmas, even if it’s a cold and damp time of year, is something every traveler should try to experience.

And so he might be a different man in a different city, the Pope is now in charge of all Catholics, but I see him as I saw him then: at the altar, baby Jesus in hand, blessing his now larger flock, wishing us all a Merry Christmas.

Parting Shots: Chitwan, Nepal with Anazure

Screen Shot 2013-12-16 at 9.56.08 PMChitwan, Nepal is the country’s powerhouse when it comes to wildlife, including the elusive Bengal tiger. Spend a few nights here and take part in jungle walks straight out of the African savannah, ride elephants to rhino watering holes, and immerse yourself in the tribal Tharu culture with homestays and cooking lessons. — Eric Monkaba

Our Global Correspondent Eric Monkaba is co-founder of Anazure, a gay tour company specializing in handcrafted itineraries for the intellectually curious traveler. We spoke to him about immersive travel and selected his journeys as this month’s Parting Shots in our magazine, where you’ll find this expanded story and more of his photos. Enjoy this dramatic image. Read our interview with him here.

Welcome To Our Newest Correspondent: Lance Stamps

Lance stamps low-res

Welcome to ManAboutWorld’s newest correspondent, Lance Stamps.

Lance is a hotel junkie. As the VP of Marketing for ClassicTravel.com, the online division of Classic Travel Service, he hand-picks the hotels that are featured on their luxury hotel booking platform. Classictravel.com features the world’s best hotels and members have access to some of the best rates and amenities available to the luxury traveler. Keeping up with all the new properties that are available to clients is a challenge that he loves. Every hotel has a few special rooms and discovering the perfect one is always exciting. His goal in the near future is to take a year and live in various hotels around the world. Who doesn’t love waking up in a luxury hotel?!

When he is not traveling and expanding Classics hotel collection he enjoys overseeing his nightclub OPEN HOUSE in the L.E.S.

Follow Lance on LinkedIn or on his website Classic Travel

Correspondent Update: Movie Star Kelly Graces Doylestown, Pennsylvania

Kelly and her prince
Kelly and her prince

By Jerry Bartell

A celluloid dream sequence awaits at the

Michener Museum in Doylestown, Pa. Glide by beautifully costumed women at its “Grace Kelly – Beyond the Icon” exhibit. All of them are Grace Kelly. In her wedding dress from “High Society.” In hunting attire from “Mogambo.” In Diors, Chanels and Balanciagas worn off set. She charmed directors, as their displayed notes to her attest. The camera adored her, as scores of photos reveal. (Through 1/26/14.)

Kelly began acting at the Bucks County Playhouse, in nearby New Hope, as another Michener exhibit, “Local Mill Makes Good,” shows. “If you were at Bucks County,” says Angela Lansbury in a short documentary on view, “you were doing just fine.” Photos, programs and posters show Kitty Carlisle Hart, Tyne Daly, Robert Redford and many others doing just fine.  (Through 3/2/2014.)

If your visit to the Michener Museum is part of a weekend in Bucks County, consider an entirely salubrious stay at the Inn at Bowman’s Hill. The suites at this  B&B include baths with whirlpool tubs and multi-jet shower/steam rooms and handsomely designed bedrooms with featherbeds and antique furnishings. The bounteous breakfast features full English breakfasts and specials like a souffle omelet with your choice of fillings. For elegant comfort food dinners (great meat loaf, pork chops, burgers), stop in down the road at Bowman’s Tavern.

Click here to download the indispensable gay guide to New Hope, Pennsylvania.

Click “Read More” for more photos of the lovely Miss Kelly.Continue reading “Correspondent Update: Movie Star Kelly Graces Doylestown, Pennsylvania”

New Leadership Brings Energy (And Lower Prices) to RSVP Cruises

CDR_02152013_0090_RSVP_Caribbean_2013 copyBy Jeff Guaracino, ManAboutWorld Global Correspondent

Since 1985, over 100,000 guests have discovered RSVP Vacations. Now owned by Atlantis Events—among the best brand names in gay vacations—RSVP Vacations has a new president Randel Roper. Formerly of Starwood Hotels, Randel brings a new energy to RSVP.

RSVP is drawing a diverse group of passengers aboard their trips. According to Roper, women are now 10 percent of their passengers. He anticipates 350 lesbians to join RSVP for their February sailing aboard the brand new MSC Divina for a Caribbean sailing from Miami on February 15th.

One reason for the increasing draw of women travelers is due to the work of Rachel Pearson, RSVP’s first lesbian executive producer who is responsible for operations and entertainment. Women traveling on RSVP will find lesbian comics Jessica Kirson and Poppy Champlin. There are women-only brunches, disco and cocktail hours.

“Our women passengers find RSVP an alternative to Sweet and Olivia,” claimed Roper. Sweet and Olivia cater to lesbian travelers offering cruises and land-based trips.

That’s not to say that gay men—who still account for 90% of the ship—will have to forgo their leather and underwear parties. With more Europeans and South Americans discovering RSVP Vacations, the clientele is diversifying beyond RSVP’s traditional American base.

Continue reading “New Leadership Brings Energy (And Lower Prices) to RSVP Cruises”