Taking a Ride

BASED OUTSIDE OF the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, The Ride is clearly intended for tourists. A 75-minute-long guided bus tour of Midtown Manhattan, the new interactive show, try as it might, still can’t outshine the innate beauty of New York City.

A tricked-out bus, The Ride’s biggest draw is that, unlike those double-decker buses, the vehicle has sideways-facing seats. This way, as we’re driven through Times Square, up and down 42nd Street and through Columbus Circle, we get to soak up the buildings and pedestrians of Manhattan in a way that other forms of transportation (feet included) don’t allow. Unfortunately, the friendly and affable tour guides feel like more of a hindrance than a help. What clichéd narrative could possibly compare with seeing the spire of the Chrysler Building passing across the roof windows?

And clichéd it certainly is: The male and female tour guides during the performance I attended were saddled with a ridiculous plot revolving around his crush on her. Of course, he asks her out by the show’s end, and of course she accepts. What you might not expect is that the audience totally buys it (and that one passenger advised her to turn him down).

If you can tune the well-meaning patter out—not entirely, of course, since they do have fascinating nuggets of local history up their sleeves—watching the city roll past in this new way is mesmerizing. Alas, in addition to the incessant chatter of the guides, we’re also treated to performers strategically scattered along the route. Among them are a breakdancing UPS man, a free-style rapper and a singing and dancing pair of Radio City Music Hall ushers, among various other dancers, personalities and singers. They’re charming and talented, but since no New York City driver wants to get trapped at a red light, they’re often forced to race forward to keep up with the bus. And whatever you do, don’t make my mistake and sit at the far left of The Ride: Your visibility is severely compromised.

Still, there’s something to be said for any guided tour/performance piece that makes you look at Midtown in a new way. The tour guides might crack jokes about 27 Dresses or the anthropomorphic bus’ Greyhound girlfriend (yes, The Ride talks), but what is there to compare to driving along Columbus Circle at night, the fountain splashing and the lights twinkling? Even the piece de resistance, which involves turning on the outside speakers and blasting a karaoke version of “New York, New York” for the passengers to belt out, eventually wins one over. There’s something irresistible about that anthem of the Big Apple, something that speaks equally to both its inhabitants and its visitors. The same can be said for The Ride, as it turns out. Just look out for what has been dubbed “The Ride Wave.” It seems designed for maximum embarrassment.

>> THE RIDE Open run, West 46th Street and Broadway, 212-239-6200; $59–$65.