You're trying to spend a Saturday or Sunday doing something tied to Kristen Bell's work—whether that's a Frozen singalong screening, a Broadway show with actors who've shared a stage with her collaborators, or just a weekend that feels like the sharp, self-aware comedy she's known for. The search spike this week mixes her name with Frozen, Derek Klena, and the Savannah Bananas, which tells you people are thinking about family-friendly theater, musical callbacks, and maybe something unexpectedly playful. New York has all of that, but it's scattered across midtown theaters, repertory cinemas, and a few Crown Heights venues that program exactly this kind of material.
Karpo checks current showtimes, gives you subway timing from Crown Heights, and texts you a backup if the matinee sells out or the forecast shifts.
What you're actually looking for
The mistake most visitors make is assuming everything clusters near Times Square. It doesn't. If you want a Frozen screening that isn't mobbed by tour groups, you're looking at Nitehawk in Williamsburg or Alamo Drafthouse in Downtown Brooklyn. If you want live musical theater with actors who've worked the same circuits as Derek Klena—who's done Anastasia, Jagged Little Pill, and other recent Broadway runs—you're checking the Shubert and Booth theaters for current productions, or you're heading to smaller houses in Park Slope and Crown Heights where younger casts rotate through revivals. The Savannah Bananas piece is harder to decode, but if it's about spectacle and family energy, you might be thinking about the vibe more than a literal baseball game, since they don't play regular-season stops in Brooklyn. What you can control is the route, the timing, and whether you're willing to transfer twice in the middle of the afternoon when the 2/3 slows down for weekend track work.
Crown Heights is the anchor here because it's home to a handful of small theaters—including the Brooklyn Music School Playhouse on Seventh Avenue and occasional pop-up performances at the Jewish Children's Museum—that run weekend matinees and singalong events aimed squarely at families who want Broadway-adjacent material without the midtown crush. The rooms are small, the tickets are cheaper, and you're not fighting for a bathroom at intermission. But you need to confirm the schedule before you go; these venues don't always post their calendars more than two weeks out, and a sold-out 2pm show means you're pivoting fast.
Two ways to build the day
The first route is midtown-then-Brooklyn. You start with a Saturday matinee at a Shubert Organization house—check what's running at the Booth, the Shubert itself, or the Bernard B. Jacobs. If there's a musical with a cast that's cycled through the same casting directors who worked on Wicked, Waitress, or Frozen on Broadway, you're in the right emotional territory. Curtain is usually 2pm. That puts you out by 4:30pm, and you take the 1 or 2 train down to Franklin Avenue, transfer to the shuttle toward Prospect Park, and you're in Crown Heights by 5:15pm if the shuttle cooperates. The shuttle is slow and runs every twelve minutes on weekends, so if you miss it, you're standing on a narrow platform with no cell service for a while. From Franklin, walk east on Eastern Parkway toward Kingston; you'll pass the Brooklyn Museum, which closes at 6pm on Saturdays but is worth a quick loop if you arrive early. By 6pm, you're near the cluster of family restaurants and cafes on Nostrand Avenue, and you can grab an early dinner before heading to any evening performance or event you've confirmed in advance.
The second route keeps you in Brooklyn all day. You start with brunch near Barclays Center—anywhere along Flatbush between Atlantic and Grand Army Plaza—then walk or take the 2/3 one stop to Eastern Parkway–Brooklyn Museum. From there, it's a fifteen-minute walk east into Crown Heights, and you're at the small theater venues by 1pm if you're aiming for a 2pm curtain. After the show, walk north up Kingston or Bedford to the cafes and bookstores near the Medgar Evers College campus. This part of Crown Heights is quiet on weekends, and you won't fight for a table. If you want a Frozen screening instead of live theater, you're backtracking west: take the 3 to Atlantic–Barclays, transfer to the Q, and ride it over the Manhattan Bridge to DeKalb, where Alamo Drafthouse is a six-minute walk down Fulton. That's a lot of transfers, and the Q can sit in the tunnel for ten minutes between DeKalb and Canal, so budget forty minutes for the whole move. The advantage is that Alamo does themed screenings and singalongs, and you can check their calendar a month out.
Both routes assume you're okay with subway timing that isn't as clean as weekday express service. The 2 and 3 share track work almost every weekend between Nevins and Franklin, and the shuttle to Prospect Park runs on a timer, not on demand. If you're coming from Manhattan, the 4/5 to Atlantic–Barclays and then a transfer to the 2/3 is sometimes faster than taking the 2 all the way down, but only if you don't hit the fifteen-minute gap between 4 trains on Saturday afternoons. The transfer at Atlantic is underground, well-lit, and straightforward, but it's also where half of Brooklyn funnels through, so it's crowded between noon and 4pm.
What you'll spend and where it adds up
Broadway matinee tickets for current musicals range from about eighty dollars in the upper mezzanine to two hundred and twenty for premium orchestra, depending on the show and how far out you book. If you're using TKTS, you're saving maybe thirty percent, but you're also standing in line in Duffy Square for forty minutes on a Saturday morning, and the selection skews toward shows that aren't selling well. Smaller Brooklyn theater tickets—like those at the Brooklyn Music School Playhouse or pop-up singalong events in Crown Heights—run between twenty and forty-five dollars for adults, and kids under twelve are sometimes half that. Confirm pricing on the venue's own site; these places don't always sync with third-party sellers.
A subway ride is $2.90 per swipe, and if you're doing the midtown-to-Brooklyn route with a shuttle transfer, you're spending $5.80 round-trip per person. If you're a group of three or four, that's under twenty-five dollars total, and it's faster than a rideshare once you account for midtown traffic. Food in Crown Heights is cheaper than midtown: a sit-down lunch or early dinner averages sixteen to twenty-four dollars per person at the Caribbean and West African spots on Nostrand, and coffee or a pastry is under six dollars at the cafes near the museum. If you're doing Alamo Drafthouse, their tickets are about eighteen dollars for a regular screening, but they charge a small booking fee online, and food and drinks inside add another twenty to thirty per person if you're ordering more than popcorn.
The hidden cost is time. If you're trying to see a Broadway matinee and then make it to a 7pm event in Crown Heights, you have about ninety minutes of buffer, and thirty of that is subway time. If the show runs long or the shuttle is delayed, you're texting the box office to hold your tickets or you're eating the cost. Always check whether your evening venue has a late seating policy; some small theaters won't let you in after the first ten minutes.
Check these before you leave
First, confirm that the venue you're planning to visit is actually running the show or screening you think it is. Small Brooklyn theaters update their schedules on Instagram and their own websites, but not always on Google Events or Eventbrite, and a Frozen singalong that was listed three weeks ago may have been replaced by a Moana event. If you're relying on a Broadway matinee, double-check that it's not a dark day; most shows go dark one day a week, and it's not always Monday. The Shubert and Booth theaters post their weekly schedules on their official pages, and you can call the box office to confirm curtain time if the website feels out of date.
Second, look up weekend subway service advisories the night before. The MTA posts them every Thursday for the coming weekend, and the 2, 3, 4, and 5 trains all run on modified schedules when there's track work between Brooklyn and Manhattan. The Franklin Avenue Shuttle is especially prone to weekend suspensions; when it's not running, you're taking a bus replacement that adds fifteen minutes and requires you to wait outside in whatever weather you've got. If the forecast is rain or snow, bring an umbrella and budget extra time, because the bus stops aren't always covered.
Third, if you're planning to eat in Crown Heights before or after your event, check whether the restaurant takes reservations or is walk-in only. The sit-down spots on Nostrand fill up by 6:30pm on weekends, and if you're a party of four or more, you may wait thirty minutes for a table. The cafes near the museum are mostly counter-service and don't take reservations, but they close by 7pm, so they're not useful after an evening show. If you need a later dinner, you're walking back west toward Prospect Heights or taking the train back to Barclays, where you have more options that stay open past 9pm.
Finally, if you're bringing kids, check whether the venue has a coat check and whether there's a functioning bathroom before curtain. The smaller Crown Heights theaters often don't have a staffed coat check, and the bathrooms are sometimes single-stall, which means a line at intermission. The Jewish Children's Museum has family restrooms and is set up for strollers, but confirm that your event is actually taking place there and not in a rented space nearby. Broadway theaters have coat checks, but they charge a few dollars per item, and the lines at intermission are long enough that you may not make it back to your seat before act two starts.
Practical notes
- Confirm venue schedules within 48 hours of your visit; small Brooklyn theaters update late.
- Check MTA weekend advisories Thursday night; the Franklin shuttle is often suspended.
- Budget 40 minutes for subway travel between midtown and Crown Heights, longer if transferring at Atlantic.
- Broadway matinees end around 4:30pm; evening events in Crown Heights typically start at 7pm or 7:30pm.
- Restaurants on Nostrand Avenue fill up by 6:30pm on weekends; arrive early or expect a wait.
- Bring cash for coat checks at Broadway theaters; small venues in Crown Heights may not have them.
Tags: #karpo #newyorkcity #nyc #kristenbell #crownheights #brooklyn #weekendplans #broadwaymatinee #frozensingalong #nyctheater #brooklyntheater #mtaweekend #nycsubway #familyweekend #brooklynmuseum
Sources consulted: MTA Weekend Service Advisories · Shubert Organization Theaters · Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn · Brooklyn Museum Hours
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Ask Karpo first
Text Karpo the name of the theater or screening venue you're considering, and it'll check current showtimes, tell you if the Franklin shuttle is running, and give you a live subway route from wherever you're starting. If your first choice is sold out or the weather turns, it'll suggest a backup in the same neighborhood with similar timing.
