The clock is ticking, the countdown has begun. The New Year is just a breath away. But hold the moment: There’s so much to experience right now. To help you manage your precious time, here’s a list of itinerary essentials – from moving plays to thrilling concerts to one-of-a-kind museums, restaurants and stores – that you can check off while it’s still 2008.

"I'm too young for this," I thought. It wasn't the first time that those words had crossed my mind in the past few months. I thought it when I was diagnosed with advanced thyroid cancer. I thought it when the company I was working for began facing financial problems and my paychecks were bouncing. I thought it when I learned I would be dependent on a prescription drug every day for the rest of my life. And I thought it again when I got the bill. In spite of having insurance, I had been billed in full for my surgery and two nights in the hospital. The total was $20,759.89. I was 23 years old.

Set designer Tony Walton has worked on everything from the plays of John Guare and Anton Chekhov to the musicals of Stephen Schwartz and Stephen Sondheim -- not to mention such iconic films as Murder on the Orient Express and All That Jazz -- amassing shelves of awards in the process. Now the self-described "ancient geezer" is back on Broadway as designer of the musical version of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Recently, Walton took a break from working on this massive show -- which consists of nearly 50 scene changes -- to sit down and discuss the project.

Every generation has its incandescent Broadway stars. John Barrymore was a brooding Hamlet for the ages (1922), Laurence Olivier’s star-crossed Romeo melted hearts (1940), Mary Martin Flew high as Peter Pan (1954) and Patti LuPone demonstrated more than just a little touch of star quality as Eva Peron (1979). Leading actors and actresses on Broadway today are no less brilliant or ambitious, setting their careers on the fast track in roles than endear them to legions of fans, many of whom are swooning teenagers new to the theatergoing experience.