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Shopping, art, dining in New Haven, Connecticut

By Malerie Yolen-Cohen | Special to Newsday

January 11, 2009

Marlon Brando shouted "Stella!" for the first time on the stage of the Shubert Theater in New Haven while performing in the 1947 premiere of "A Streetcar Named Desire." Julie Andrews sang "The Rain in Spain" to Rex Harrison. Rodgers and Hammerstein considered the Shubert their "lucky theater" - seven of their musicals went on to acclaim from here. In fact, the Shubert is but one of three world-class theater houses in New Haven, and the other two have achieved high praise of their own.

The arts in New Haven do not begin and end with those performed on stage, and winter is the perfect time to explore this walkable, fetching, culturally rich city. Museums are free, the highest-priced show ticket costs less than half of the lowest-priced seat on Broadway, and 20 restaurants are partnering with theaters for $29 price-fixe pre-andpost-theater dinner menus. All this makes New Haven a steal for those in pursuit of epicurean and intellectual delights.

What to do

See Yale

Ivy-bound or not, no trip to New Haven would be complete without a campus tour of Yale University. The Georgian- and Gothic-style dorms and academic buildings look particularly beguiling in the snow. Free 75-minute tours leave from the visitor's center (149 Elm St.) at 1:30 p.m.

While you're there, pop inside the free Yale Center for British Art yale.edu/ycba), a wood-paneled, four-story building that houses the largest collection of British art outside of the United Kingdom.

Across the street, get a perfect introduction to art history at Yale's Art Gallery (artgallery.yale.edu), which houses a wonderfully condensed collection of European, African, Asian and American art.

See a show

The historic Shubert Theater showcases traveling Broadway shows as well as community productions ($15-$68, 800-228- 6622, shubert.com). Coming next weekend: "Cats," the musical.

Meryl Streep and Sigourney Weaver got their start at the Yale Repertory Theatre, where students, writers and set designers from Yale's Graduate School of Drama take creative risks that more commercial playhouses might shun. Coming up: Charles Dutton stars in the 60th anniversary of "Death of a Salesman" ($25-$65, 203-432-1234, yalerep.org).

Where to shop

Yale Bookstore

77 Broadway at York Square, 203-777-8440, yale.bncollege.com

Pick up a Yale T-shirt ($17.98) here, where coeds have been buying required textbooks for years.

10,000 Villages

1054 Chapel St., 203-776-0854

Enter a world bazaar stocked with colorful merchandise handmade by artisans in developing countries.

The Owl Shop

268 College St., 203-624-3250

This spot has been selling cigars and custom-blended tobacco since 1934.