A blissful return to ‘Downton Abbey’ in New York City
From the moment you step into a nondescript building near Columbus Circle in New York City, you are transported from Manhattan to the beloved and fictional Downton Abbey in England. “Downton Abbey: The Exhibition” allows fans to once again fall in love with the lives and stories of the Crawley family.
The display, which continues through April 2, is a careful and lovingly crafted postscript to the “Downton Abbey” PBS series. For those still mourning the show’s end a few years ago, this exposition will deliver an ample helping of everything you loved about the original series.
As you enter the first room, Lord Grantham and Carson are there to greet you in a 360-degree projected view of the driveway and the main house. You’ll see other projected characters speaking to you in footage created especially for this show.
Once you stop swooning over the welcome, visitors move into rooms that feature sets used on the show, including Mrs. Patmore’s kitchen and Lady Mary’s bedroom. And yes, the servants’ bell board that figures so prominently in the show’s opening is within reach.
Like the series, the exhibition places the Crawleys in context of the times they are living, with artifacts and storylines about women clamoring for the right to vote, the fall of Britain’s aristocracy and the economic doldrums of post-World War II England.
In addition, period costumes — mostly worn by Mary, Edith and Cybil as well as Lady Grantham — beautifully fill rooms with windowed cases. Outfits include the elegant beaded formal dresses that Lady Mary wore merely for dinner and Cybil’s blue harem pants that sent shock waves when she debuted them.
Hats and other accessories, which figure prominently in re-creating the fashion of the period, also are on display.
“Downton Abbey” is located at 218 W. 57th St. (very near the Columbus Circle/59th St. subway stop). It’s open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tickets bought online cost $35 for adults and are sold for a set time and date; VIP tickets cost $49 and allow you to visit any time on a specific date.
There are special events too, such as a Downton Abbey Soiree on Friday and March 23. You can dress up in your Edwardian best for a three-hour cocktail party that includes after-hours admission to the exhibition ($225 per person).
The exhibition remains in New York City through April 2; no word yet on where it will land next.
Info: “Downton Abbey: The Exhibition,” 218 W. 57th St., New York, N.Y.; (866) 811-4111
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