Jaunted

See: "Showboat -- Comin' Round the Bend!" a new exhibit at Brooklyn's Waterfront Museum and Showboat Barge (290 Conover St. at Pier 44). Before touring Broadway shows captivated a nation, showboats gave small towns something to look forward to when they docked with vaudeville performers and on-deck movie theatres. Check it out Thursdays from 4-8pm or Saturdays from 1-5pm. The Museum of the City of New York (1000 Fifth Ave. in Manhattan) also has a small sample of its New York Theater Collection on display, and while you're there, how about a cocktail?

Attend: A free event at the NY Public Library for the Performing Arts (40 Lincoln Center Plaza). August boasts free screenings of play adaptations starring Katharine Hepburn, who was nominated for two Tonys and made her Broadway debut in 1932 as an Amazon princess in "The Warrior's Husband." There's also an exhibit of Hepburn's personal papers. The library is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 11am-6pm, Monday and Thursday 12pm-8pm and Saturday 10am-6pm.

Download: A Walkin' Broadway self-guided audio tour of the Theater District. At $7.95, this hour-and-a-half-long program features marquee names like Stephen Schwartz and the late Lorraine Hansberry talking about their careers in the city's famous theatres. Just remember to stand on the edge of the sidewalk out of the flow of traffic if you stop to listen; don't be that tourist.

And to answer your question, yes, Hugh Jackman will be on Broadway this fall in the cop drama "A Steady Rain", along with Daniel Craig. If you are Jackman's BFF, please e-mail us; we'd love to give him a proper Jaunted welcome to New York.

Related Stories:
· SHOWBOAT Comin' Round the Bend! [WaterfrontMuseum.org]
· New York Public Library for the Performing Arts [NYPL.org]
· Walkin' Broadway [CityListen.com]

Broadway coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Diego_3336]