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The Delacorte Theater is the summer home of the annual "Shakespeare in the Park" production.

John B. Moore Romeo & Juliet outside the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.

Begun in 1957 by Joseph Papp as part of the Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival the annual productions draw thousands to the open air theater at the heart of Central Park. Originally built as a temporary structure in 1962, the Delacorte Theater is the setting for the continuing series. The audience sits in a horseshoe shape, just short of being in the round. The backdrop to the stage is Turtle Pond, bathed in a shifting shimmer of artificial lighting. Beyond the Pond is the velvety night green of the Great Lawn. And to the right, perched on Vista Rock, highlighted by spotlights is Belvedere Castle, waiting for its close-up.

All you need to secure a ticket is the patience to wait in line -- a process that in itself has become a New York tradition. Tickets are distributed at 1pm on the day of the performance. The line usually begins to form at 10am and the wait itself has become a social event as veteran theater goers bring picnic baskets and enjoy the summer sun on the newly renovated Great Lawn. For the convenience of those that can’t budget their time to accommodate an afternoon in the park The Public Theater has recently started to distribute tickets from 1-3pm from its Astor Place home at 425 Lafayette Street.

"The Shakespeare Marathon" was Joseph Papp's plan to produce all of Shakespeare's plays at the Delacorte or the Public Theater. The Marathon began in 1987 with "Much Ado About Nothing," and ended in 1997 with "Henry VIII." The Delacorte also has hosted classical plays such as "Electra," "Agamemnon," "The Skin of Our Teeth," – and musicals including "The Pirates of Penzance" and "On the Town." The list of well-known actors who have appeared at the Delacorte is a "Who's Who" of theater: Linda Ronstadt, George G. Scott, Kevin Kline, Blythe Danner, Denzel Washington, Richard Dreyfuss, Gregory Hines, Raul Julia, and Michelle Pfeiffer. And that's just a sampling.

The Public Theater has announced the full lineup for Summer 2008:
Hamlet – starring Michael Stuhlbarg, Sam Waterston, Lauren Ambrose, Andre Braugher and Margaret Colin – is the first summer offering at the Delacorte, running May 27-June 29.

The second production is a fully mounted revival of Hair. Diane Paulus returns to direct the cast of the 2007 Delacorte concert staging that includes Jonathan Groff, Will Swenson, Patina Renea Miller and Allison Case, July 22-Aug. 17.

The Public Theater is launching a new program for its 2008 summer productions of Hamlet and Hair that will offer patrons the option of entering their names into a ticket waiting list on the Public Theater website.

The Public Theater has announced that Shakespeare in the Park tickets will no longer be available at their Lafayette Street home. Patrons who wish to attend productions for Shakespeare in the Park must line up at the Delacorte in Central Park or enter the online drawing to catch Hamlet and Hair.

With the new virtual line, the Public allows individuals who are registered at the Public Theater website to log on and submit a day-of request for tickets beginning at 12 AM ET. Each individual entry is able to request up to two tickets for that day's performance. At 1 PM registered users can log on to the Public website to see if their names have been randomly selected. The day-of tickets will be held at the Delacorte box office.

The Public says that the majority of the tickets will still be available for those who line up in person in Central Park, but a limited number are being released for the online option.

more..

Location : Mid-Park at 80th Street

Details : Southwest corner of the Great Lawn - Seasonal

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