From dance to opera to multimedia performance art, this spring the city plays host to performances sure to suit any taste, no matter how classical or avant-garde. Touring companies and artists from around the country and around the globe take the stage, in world premiere performances and restagings of old favorites.

This spring, chart-topping artists and dramatic orchestral productions share the city’s musical stages. Whether you prefer rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, classical music or anything in between, you’re sure to find something to please your ears.

By Heather Corcoran
The Metropolitan is quietly changing its reputation as the stodgy grandfather of the New York art scene with a series of contemporary art exhibitions.

By Rory Winston

For some New Yorkers, the Arab world might seem the worst place to vacation these days. The troubled region yields a battery of images of warfare and Westerners being taken hostage or having their throats slit.

By Katharine J. Crane

The Canyon Ranch health resort in Lenox, Mass., is used to special requests from guests supposedly visiting the spa to improve their diet and exercise habits. Spa staff have heard them all, from the most common—salt, butter, half-and-half for coffee— to the slightly more unusual —Frosted Flakes for breakfast every morning.

Hitting The Streets For Cold, Hard Numbers On the Homeless

By Ben Fleming

Seven homeless men lay sprawled on the dull granite stoop of St. Paul’s Church in midtown Manhattan one recent evening, shielding themselves from the arctic cold with cardboard boxes, layered newspapers and filthy rugs, when Tony Solomita approached their makeshift lodging.

Stair Climbers Push Their Sport Skyward

By Peter Cox

Imagine entering the lobby of a high rise and seeing a sign on the elevator that reads “Out of order.” A lot of people would throw their hands up and head for the local coffee shop. But in the world of competitive stair climbing, 40 or 50 open flights of stairs is an opportunity that many would travel thousands of miles for.

Magic Abounds Aboard The Disney Magic
By Paula Conway

Vacations that claim to have something for everyone are usually a bad idea. One crowd gets the attention while the other languishes with some half-hearted gimmicky attempt to appease everyone else, or worse, there is very little for everyone and nobody is happy. There is a shining exception to this rule: Disney magic aboard the Disney Magic. Somehow, the Walt Disney Company knows the trick for finding just the right blend to bring family fun for everyone, and they have turned the trick in the most difficult vacation arena to please everyone: cruise vacations.

By Catherine Wigginton

Al Roker entered our lives as America’s weatherman on NBC’s “Today” show in 1996, making an instant impression with his hearty laugh and jovial forecast. Now, Roker does much more than the weather—his regular “Today” features introduce us to popular celebrities and chefs; both his book on fatherhood and his cookbooks have topped bestseller lists; and his production company, Al Roker Productions, has collaborated with PBS and networks like the History Channel and Court TV.

Impersonating a police officer is illegal—and dangerously easy.

By Jennie Leszkiewicz
AS he was riding home from work one night, James Gottlieb noticed a car with flashing lights behind him. Gottlieb, a Long Island bank manager, pulled his car over to the side of the peaceful residential street. An officer approached the car and Gottlieb asked to see the cop’s identification. When the officer refused, a fight broke out. The officer fired three shots hitting Gottlieb twice. Gottlieb, 49, died just over an hour later at a nearby hospital.