Judy Jacksina
Judy Jacksina Company, Inc.
Publicity / Public Relations / Marketing
(617) 327-3463 (646) 286-0745
“Our goal was to create traveling theaters, and currently, the world’s only traveling virtual reality theater. We can run a Broadway show from our integrated technologies, if we’d like. You’re with us for an EXPERIENCE.” -Richard Humphrey
Author/Director/CEO/CCO, The Ride LLC
As told to: Bus & Motorcoach News, April 17, 2019
WHEELS of FORTUNE
THE RIDE CELEBRATES 26,000 PERFORMANCES & 910,000 RIDERS
(New York City-August 2019) On Wednesday, August 21, 2019, THE RIDE, the experiential sightseeing theatrical tour/phenomenon will celebrate its 26,000th performance and its 910,000th RIDER.
26,000 performances. 910,000 RIDERS.
Currently being heralded as the Times Square neighborhood’s most successful innovation; THE RIDE is scouting Paris, Tokyo, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston, London, Hong Kong, and Dubai as expansive markets.
Think globally.
Do business in the neighborhood.
Times Square.
The Center of the Universe.
40” Latitude. 73” Longitude.
“Who knew a bus RIDE could help a jaded, seen-everything, New Yorker see the city in a whole new light? I was on THE RIDE, a custom-built vehicle with floor-to-ceiling windows, side-facing stadium seating, and two jocular, professional hosts, which can be rented out for birthday parties, family reunions, pre-wedding celebrations, and the like. Billed as “Part Tour, Part Show, Total Entertainment,” it was all that and MORE. The more being that THE RIDE is a successful experiential branding event. Something that brings a brand to life in a whole new light by doing something EXTRAORDINARY. In this case, the brand is New York City. THE RIDE takes full advantage of the natural excitement of New York City, its eclectic inhabitants and electric atmosphere. Created by a cast of technical people, street performers and tour-guide actors with improv-comedy experience, it is a wholly atypical bus ride where the city’s streets are the stage sets, and the crowds upon them the stars. Who’s onstage, and who isn’t, is the objective. Was that UPS guy who breaks into a break dance on 43rd Street part of the show, or was it just another zany New York minute? Was the ballerina in Columbus Circle simply practicing her routine, or plying her trade for the riders on THE RIDE? Nothing is too strange to happen in New York City. The unexpected is expected. THE RIDE, a transparent busload of crazy people singing, shouting, waving, and sending videos to friends and family is an extraordinary experience that makes good on this notion and brings the New York brand to life in a manner as quirky as the city itself. THE RIDE has done it.” -Allen Adamson, FORBES
“With the panoramic-sweeping views provided by its sideways stadium-style seating and floor-to-ceiling windows, THE RIDE is not your grandparents’ motorcoach. The four Prevost H3-45 VIP Edition motorcoaches are as tall as legally possible for the New York-based immersive and interactive entertainment experience, which transforms city streets into stages for its three distinctive 75-minute Broadway performance tours. THE RIDE’s being fully integrated is just one extreme example of the potential of customization. The specially crafted technology includes more than 3,000 LED lights; 40 video screens of 7-, 10- and 17-inch sizes; a floor-pounding sound system; and audio equipment for hosts and performers. The seating totals 49 that are 16-inches wide and 14-inch deep seats in three rows; with the pitch 33 ¾ inches in the top row, 32¼ inches in the middle and 32 inches in the front. Each vehicle was customized by Burlington, Wisconsin-based LDV, Inc., costing $1.5 million apiece. ‘We are an anomaly for them, definitely,’ THE RIDE CEO/CCO Richard Humphrey said of the Prevost coaches. ‘We basically gutted the chassis and raised the roof about six inches. Our goal was to create traveling theaters —and currently, the world’s only traveling virtual reality theater. We can run a Broadway show from the integrated technologies, if we’d like,’ said Humphrey, whose 30-year background includes the performing arts, entertainment and business. ‘You’re with us for an experience.’” –Rick Martinez, Bus & Motorcoach News
THE RIDE
Just awarded the RTO Summit’s COOLEST NEW PRODUCT Award and its SEVENTH TripAdvisor® Certificate of Excellence Award, THE RIDE has also been inducted into THE TripAdvisor® HALL of FAME; an accolade reserved for less than 1% of the worldwide Travel-Related Corporations reviewed by TripAdvisor’s® 60 million members and 140 million visitors. Also honored with a nomination for Broadway’s coveted Drama Desk Award in the prestigious Unique Theatrical Experience Category and named the Third Most Successful Youth-Primed Attraction in New York City by FODOR’S Travel, THE RIDE has most recently been nominated for THE CONCIERGE CHOICE Award in the BEST TOURIST ATTRACTION category. THE RIDE has also been declared one of the Top 8 Must-Attend Wild & Wonderful Spectacles in New York City by NewYork.com who also named THE RIDE’S Gold Star Tour Guide, RORY LIPEDE, as the Most Entertaining Tour Guide in New York. The New York City phenomenon began 2016 by winning The Culture Trip’s Favorite Award as the Must-Take NYC Tour and being named “the most exciting entertainment experience to ever hit New York City” by VIATOR. All of this homage and accompanying critical acclaim has led to THE RIDE becoming the singularly most requested ticket at Travel Agents’ offices all over the country. The concept is a brainstorm of design that has resulted in a fleet of multi-million dollar motor coaches whose interiors are a state-of-the-art wonderland of electronic wizardry that guide 49 dazzled tourists around the most fascinating city in the world. THE RIDE’S original genius was its realization that the streets of Manhattan are a fifty-mile stage exhibiting the most riveting visuals on earth. Adding its own actors to the crowded mix on the street, the huge motor coaches deliver a show worthy of the standing ovations and group euphoria that results at the end of each RIDE. The motor coaches are events in their own right. They are specifically designed theatrical vehicles; the tallest allowed by federal law, fitted with stadium-style seating that orients the 49 fortunate participants sideways so as to look through the massive windows that deliver New York as the most successful Broadway show on earth. These unanimously acclaimed coaches are equipped with surround sound, 3,000 LED lights and 40 video screens. They are, in essence, rolling state-of-the-art theatres that introduce their travelling audiences to an interactive experience that only the most interactive city in the western hemisphere could deliver. Each motor coach’s external speakers and lighting allow riders and on-board performers to interact with THE RIDE’S street performers as well as anyone else they pass on the street. THE RIDE is an EVENT whether you are on the bus or on the street. But it’s better on the bus. A fact mightily agreed upon by both Broadway critics and audiences alike. Established on October 15, 2010 and Re-Launched on April 1, 2014, THE RIDE is currently scouting Tokyo, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston, London, Hong Kong, and Dubai as expansive markets. In the meantime, THE RIDE’S World Premiere of its breakthrough Virtual Reality DOWNTOWN EXPERIENCE has expanded the parameters of live experiential entertainment far beyond the wildest dreams of both its fans and its competitors.
THE RIDE
Established: October 15, 2010
Re-Launched: April 1, 2014
THE Fazzino RIDE
World Premiere: May 3, 2012
THE RIDE Holiday Edition
World Premiere: November 15, 2012
THE RIDEJapanese Edition
World Premiere: April 3, 2013
THE RIDE In Masquerade
World Premiere: October 9, 2013
THE TOUR powered by THE RIDE
World Premiere: March 23, 2015
THE DOWNTOWN EXPERIENCE powered by THE RIDE
World Premiere: May 8, 2017
Queen of THE RIDE
World Premiere: November 14, 2017
Individual Tickets
http://stg.theride.drivedigitaldev.com
212-221-0853
Group Sales & Private Charters
Angie Kadilliu | Sales Manager
646-661-7699 x142
Film Location Inquiries
Alexis Qualls | Director of Operations
646-661-7699 x144
Bilingual Rides
Angie Kadilliu | Sales Manager
646-661-7699 x142
Marriage Proposals
Kristen Peterman | Customer Care Manager
646-661-7699 x190
Corporate Partnerships
Ilana Gazda | Director of Marketing
646-661-7699 x177
Mid-East/Far East/Europe/Australia Outreach & Development
Ilana Gazda | Director of Marketing
646-661-7699 x177