
Neon lights, mile-wide billboards, and monster screens are not the only things that make Times Square a wonderland. On the ground – far below the hi-tech spectacles, and scattered throughout the hoards who visit the theater district each day – are live actors performing for the crowds.
Dressed in striking costumes as characters from some of the most popular shows on Broadway, these animated street performers attract the attention of flocks of wandering visitors. Their draw? Live human energy. Zoned-out tourists, ambling with their eyes to the sky and jaws dropped, snap back to street level as a grinning Chicago chorus girl slinks past with Fosse flare. A family bustling past with rolling suitcases slows to share a tickled laugh with a stewardess from Catch Me If You Can as she offers the local time. John Lennon of the Beatles tribute musical Rain waves good morning to a bike messenger, and a 1950s sock-hopper skips down the sidewalk singing "Baby, It’s You."
They are all part of a street team employed by a creative promotional company called Theatre MAMA, and their mission is to distribute free discount ticket vouchers (up to 50 percent off) to several Broadway shows, while providing an impromptu, up-close preview of what it feels like to be in the audience.