The Showless ShowPlane, I dubbed the latest edition of the Post-Gazette's long-running tradition. But no one ever need go showless in New York, not even when a stagehands' strike closes 27 of the 35 Broadway theaters as it did last week. If the strike continues and you have Manhattan plans, take heart from our experience.

It's certainly no revelation that there's a lot to do in New York City. But visitors sometimes forget that there's more to Manhattan than midtown and there are always more shows off Broadway than on. I counted 41 off-Broadway shows in the New York Times theater directory, not to mention all the off-off shows that can't afford those expensive listings.

Of the four shows we had pre-booked for the ShowPlane, only "Xanadu" was still open. There were plenty of off-Broadway shows I wanted to see and wouldn't have otherwise been able to; what's that aphorism about an ill wind? But rescheduling 45 people is a lot harder than one critic.

Although we've never had this problem before (and hope never to do so again), we knew we couldn't spend the group's money on blocks of off-Broadway tickets without knowing their wishes. So while Paul and Jackie Busang of Gulliver's Travels, ShowPlane stalwarts, did the ground work, I polled the group's preferences on the bus in from LaGuardia.

The result the first night was a block of tickets to the new edition of "Forbidden Broadway," which is always a good bet. For the second night, Paul and Jackie came up with a luxury dinner cruise circling Manhattan on the glass-enclosed Bateau New York. The third night we had "Xanadu" and the last night we left up to individual choices.

Actually, every night was individual choice. I don't think anyone skipped "Xanadu," but about half opted out of "Forbidden" and the cruise. All together, group members saw an impressive number of shows.

On Broadway, that included "Young Frankenstein," "Pygmalion," "Mary Poppins," "Spelling Bee," "The Ritz" and Shakespeare's "Cymbeline" at Lincoln Center, with a cast led by Phylicia Rashad, Michael Cerveris and John Cullum.

Off-Broadway shows people saw included some long runs like "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" and "My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm in Therapy." There were "The Glorious Ones" at Lincoln Center (tighter than in Pittsburgh), "The Brothers Size" at the Public Theater, Edward Albee's historic "Peter and Jerry," "Things We Want" and the eternal "Perfect Crime." Some who saw "Three Mo' Tenors" had the thrill of seeing Helen Mirren in the audience -- perhaps driven off Broadway just as we were.

Not everything won an enthusiastic recommendation, but our Broadway shows don't always get that, either -- the main predictable difference is that Broadway has to appeal to a broader audience and you see more of your money on stage.

Many went to the 75th anniversary Radio City Christmas Show (one went back for a second visit), which is always a good bet. Some went to the opera and such cabaret rooms as the Cafe Carlyle.

As to the days, one was given over to a walking tour such as we always offer, and how do you choose among all the museums and galleries? With a couple of my grandsons and their parents I spent some time (not enough) at the Museum of Natural History, which feels like three Carnegies, side-by-side-by-side. I'm sure many satisfied themselves mainly with shopping, both window and real.

One of the most genteel pleasures Manhattan affords is the cozy lobby with its overstuffed chairs and guardian cat at the Algonquin Hotel, which is just down 44th Street from the Millennium Broadway, where we stayed. I didn't even mind the Algonquin's early Christmas decorations, since the lobby always looks sort of like Christmas, anyway.

The sights of the strike itself are interesting. I talked with a number of the picketing stagehands, and I enjoyed the gatherings of actors for their daily sign-in a half-hour before curtain time. At the "Hairspray" sign-in I talked with Butler's Michelle Pawk and new cast member Kirsten Bracken of Fox Chapel and Carnegie Mellon University. It was Michelle's birthday, a date she shares with one of Pittsburgh's greatest gifts to the American stage, George S. Kaufman.

Our group all had a drink at Sardi's after "Xanadu," and some stayed for a late supper. A definite advantage of a theater strike is easier access to theater district restaurants. I wish I'd had time to eat at Orso's, where I've never been able to get a table unless it was pre-arranged by someone with clout.

At our farewell dinner, the group seemed cheery enough, maybe even more than usually relaxed, since they weren't rushing to a show and were free to eat and drink as long as they liked. (Me, I was off to see "Hamlet" that night.) Certainly this ShowPlane settled into a different pace than previous trips.

The group left Sunday morning but I stayed on. Strike or no strike, the biggest show that day was at the Meadowlands, where the local Jets played the big bad black and gold from Pittsburgh. That game didn't turn out as planned, either -- it was the football equivalent of Claudius killing Hamlet or of Broadway going on strike.

The next Post-Gazette theater trip is heading to London, March 9-16. Our next Broadway ShowPlane will be April 30-May 4: we're thinking of calling it Pittsburgh Strikes Back.

Some of this is excerpted from the much longer installments in my online On Stage Journal, where you can also find news on upcoming theater trips.