"In 1954, Joseph Papp founded the New York Shakespeare Festival, originally conceiving it as a Shakespeare workshop. The theater originated as a mobile operation in 1956 - a 35-foot trailer pulled by a retrofitted NYC sanitation truck visiting parks, churches, and community orgs. According to The Public's website, in 1957, "t he sanitation truck broke down on the shores of Belvedere Lake in Central Park," leading to the creation in 1962 of the recently renovated Delacorte near the site of that demise."
"Since then, more than six million playgoers have experienced open-air performances at Central Park's Delacorte Theater. Before he hit it big on the silver screen in The Hustler , Dr. Strangelov e, and , George C. Scott trod the boards at the Delacorte in Papp's 1962 inaugural production, The Merchant of Venice . Over the following years, many already-crowned celebrities have hit that stage, including Blythe Danner ( Much Ado About Nothing, 1988), Michelle Pfeiffer ( Twelfth Night , 1989), Denzel Washington ( Richard III , 1990), Patrick Stewart ( The Tempest , 1995), Anne Hathaway ( Twelfth Night , 2009), and Al Pacino (in Scott's footsteps, The Merchant Of Venice , 2010)."
"First up in the new season is the gateway Shakespeare drug Romeo & Juliet , May 22 to June 28, with Ra'Mya Latiah Aikens as Juliet and Daniel Bravo Herná ndez as Romeo, followed by The Winter's Tale . A classic NYC minute (quite a few of them) involves standing in line, often at an odd hour like the crack of dawn (which I did for Sir Patrick), hoping to score tickets. But there are lots more ways to get them now , including the classic standby in-person method in Central Park, in person in the boroughs on select dates, and a lottery at The Public Theater."
Joseph Papp founded the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1954, initially conceived as a Shakespeare workshop. The theater began as a mobile operation in 1956 using a 35-foot trailer pulled by a retrofitted NYC sanitation truck that visited parks, churches, and community organizations. A breakdown in 1957 near Belvedere Lake in Central Park led to the creation of the Delacorte Theater in 1962. Since then, more than six million playgoers have attended open-air performances at Delacorte. George C. Scott performed there in the inaugural production of The Merchant of Venice, and later celebrities such as Blythe Danner, Michelle Pfeiffer, Denzel Washington, Patrick Stewart, Anne Hathaway, and Al Pacino appeared on the stage. Ticket access includes in-person options, borough dates, a lottery, and select summer Friday availability.
Read at The Village Voice
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