Sure, we’ve all seen concerts and dance and other performances on the city’s great stages. But what goes on behind the curtains is something to behold, as well. With these grand tours, you’ll discover all the history and backstage drama that goes into the shows.
*Metropolitan Opera
30 Lincoln Center Plaza
The Met offers the mack daddy of all backstage expeditions. The trek includes a lot of stepping over random props and navigating narrow hallways, as well as visits to the costume and scenic shops. You also learn a lot of lore. Bent nails were a good-luck charm for superstitious Luciano Pavarotti, so stagehands always left a few around.
Next, it’s on to the house’s moving stages. Watching pieces of scenery go up and down before the evening performance is just thrilling.
Visiting the principals’ dressing rooms, we learn they’re organized by voice type. Some divas still try to score upgrades, though. As guide Jerry Straus jokes on a recent tour, “What’s the difference between a soprano and a terrorist? You can negotiate with a terrorist.”
Highlights: Since you’re in the middle of a working house, real action does happen — like powerhouse Deborah Voigt intently rehearsing with director Robert Lepage on a recent Monday.
Footlight facts: No, you haven’t suddenly lost weight: Some orchestra seats are wider than others to ensure optimum viewing angles.
Details: Most weekdays at 3 p.m., most Sundays at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. — but only during the Met’s season. Tickets ($10 to $20) at 212-769-7028 or metguild.org.
*Carnegie Hall
Seventh Avenue at 57th Street
The world’s most beloved concert hall is a bastion of history, musical and otherwise. But who knew it was a wedding gift? Steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie built it 120 years ago for his music-loving bride; his friend “Tommy” Edison helped with the lighting. As the tour winds through the lobby, into the auditorium and through the Rose Museum, you’ll find autographed photos of hundreds of stars who’ve played there — Bernstein and Horowitz, natch, but also Sting, Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder. Hit the gift shop for “Live From Carnegie Hall” CDs, and T-shirts labeled “Practice, practice, practice” — which, as a mischievous violinist reportedly suggested, was the only way to get to Carnegie Hall.
Highlights: Stand with your back pressed to the stage, and see what the artists see: a wedding-cake of a hall, all white and gilded curves, the better for acoustics.
Footlight facts: Carnegie, as tour guide Jerry Straus (who also works the Met)tells us, is properly pronounced “Car-nay-gie,” accent on the second syllable. Also, look for the bagpipes on the proscenium.
Details: Daily, depending on rehearsal schedules. Tickets ($10) and info at 212-903-9765 or carnegiehall.org/tours.
*Radio City Music Hall
Sixth Avenue between 50th and 51st streets
Those pining for a time of opulent glamour will be in heaven here. Dreamed up by Samuel “Roxy” Rothafel, the grandest venue in America opened in 1932 and was extensively renovated in 1999. The single most impressive thing is its scale. “Two years ago I lost 16 people in the building,” guide Joyce Hancock quips during a tour. And it’s not just the 6,000-capacity auditorium or the 4,000-pound chandeliers: You also see the gigantic hydraulic elevators that lurk under the enormous stage.
More glamorous is Roxy’s private upstairs apartment, a marvel of Art Deco flair. Next thing you know, you’re mentally renovating your Brooklyn pad with Bakelite and gold leaf.
Warning: Before booking, check if there’s a show in the evening, as it could limit the areas in the tour.
Highlights: The carpet designed by Ruth Reeves shows stylized instruments.
Footlight facts: The pants designed by director Vincente Minnelli for “The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” number are so stiff, they can stand up on their own.
Details: Daily between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Tickets ($12.50 to $19.25) at 866-858-0008 or radiocity.com.
*Lincoln Center Plaza
Lincoln Center Plaza
Those who can’t decide between dance, theater, music and even TV will get a kick out of the Lincoln Center tour. Depending on what’s not busy on a particular day, you’ll see a combo of sites drawn from the campus’ various organizations: the Met, Alice Tully Hall, the David H. Koch Theater (formerly the New York State Theater) and Avery Fisher Hall, as well as WNET’s studios.
The tour covers the creation of Lincoln Center as a whole, then focuses on individual buildings. You’ll hear the story behind the giant Chagall paintings in the Met’s lobby, and how George Balanchine put his design stamp on New York City Ballet’s home at the State Theater.
Highlights: Looking down at the stage from the top balcony of the Koch as a ballerina practices her jumps. This is the kind of place where you’d get lost on purpose.
Footlight facts: Lincoln Center may be the temple of high art, but the shooting jets of its Revson Fountain (right), completed in 2009, were conceived by the firm responsible for the Bellagio’s waterworks in Vegas.
Details: Daily between 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Tickets ($8 to $15) at 212-875-5350 or lincolncenter.org.
Behind the Emerald Curtain
Gershwin Theatre, 221 W. 51st St.
Oddly, Broadway doesn’t offer much in terms of access — except for “Behind the Emerald Curtain,” which is linked to “Wicked” and takes place most Saturday mornings. This isn’t a backstage tour but a behind-the-scenes experience, so you only go to the auditorium and spend most of the time in the front of the theater, which is turned into a temporary exhibit featuring original costumes, props and set models from the show. Guest speakers and actors come in and discuss their experience not only on “Wicked” but in other Broadway musicals as well.
“People want to know how things happen nowadays, and the greatest comment I get is, ‘I had no idea what’s involved in creating a show,’ ” says creator, host and former “Wicked” cast member Sean McCourt. “We make everybody feel like an insider.”
Most Saturdays at 10 a.m. Tickets ($30) at 800-745-3000 or emeraldcurtain.com.
elisabeth.vincentelli@nypost.com