Delacorte Theater

Last updated

‹ The template Infobox venue is being considered for merging. ›
Delacorte Theater
Shakespeare in the Park July 2021.jpg
The theater in 2021
Delacorte Theater
Address Central Park
Manhattan, New York
United States
Coordinates 40°46′48.36″N73°58′7.56″W / 40.7801000°N 73.9687667°W / 40.7801000; -73.9687667
Owner City of New York
Operator Public Theater
Capacity 1,800
OpenedJune 18, 1962 [1]
Tenants
Shakespeare in the Park

The Delacorte Theater is a 1,800-seat open-air amphitheater in Central Park, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is home to the Public Theater's free Shakespeare in the Park productions.

Contents

Over five million people have attended more than 150 free productions of Shakespeare and other classical works and musicals at the Delacorte Theater since its opening in 1962. [2] The theater was closed for renovation between 2023 and 2025.

History

1958–1962: Development

Joseph Papp ran a Shakespeare festival starting in 1954. Papp's group had been touring New York's boroughs on temporary staging, including presenting at Central Park. Papp's group was well-regarded, and he started seeking funds in 1958 for a permanent outdoor amphitheater in Central Park, with the aid of Helen Hayes. Parks Commissioner Robert Moses was opposed to the project. However, Moses was replaced by Newbold Morris in 1960, who was much more positive toward the creation of a theater.

The city government decided to go forward with the project, and the Board of Estimate approved $250,000 in funds for construction, with Park Department architects designing the original theater. The theater had been planned to open in 1961. However, the funds ran dry with the theater unfinished. Morris talked with his friend George T. Delacorte Jr., president of the Dell Publishing company. Delacorte, a fan of Shakespeare, agreed to fund the remaining $150,000 to finish construction of the theater, which was named in honor of him and his wife Valerie in gratitude. [3] The theater was built on the site of an old Croton Aqueduct reservoir. [4]

Delays from changes in design, a construction strike, as well as procuring the required funds from Delacorte pushed the opening back to 1962. The first production at the theater was in June 1962 with The Merchant of Venice , starring George C. Scott and James Earl Jones. [5] The theater originally had 2,300 seats; [3] at some point, the number of seats was reduced to make the experience less overcrowded for the audience.

Festival Latino (1976–1991)

Festival Latino (1976–1991), "the largest festival of Hispanic culture in the history of North America", was run by Oscar Ciccione and Cecilia Vega, producing Spanish-language shows every August at the Delacorte Theater.

21st century

In 2012 the Public celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Delacorte with a gala and a one-night only reading of Romeo and Juliet starring numerous past performers. Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline read the lead roles. [6] By the 2010s, the theater was in poor shape. The bleachers were leaky and crowded, while the backstage areas were covered only by tarps; some actors refused to perform at the Delacorte due to the bad conditions there. [4]

2023–2025 renovation

In 2018, the Public announced plans for the first major renovation of the Delacorte. [7] [8] They cited several goals for the renovation: better accessibility for disabled patrons and performers, improved backstage flow and operations, a new facade, replacement of the stage floor due to exposure and weather damage to the original deck, and better lighting. [9] Bjarke Ingels was originally hired to redesign the theater, which was intended to cost $110 million. [7] [8] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Public indicated that it did not want to spend as much money on the renovation. [4] As such, the Public hired Ennead Architects, which had previously redesigned the Astor Library Building, [4] to renovate the Delacorte. [10] [11] The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the plans in January 2022. [12] [13]

The Delacorte closed for renovation in September 2023 [14] [15] after the final show of the summer 2023 season, a musical version of The Tempest , closed. [16] The renovation was expected to take around 18 months, with the theater planned to reopen in time for the summer 2025 season. [14] [17] As part of the renovation, the theater was rebuilt with wood recycled from water towers atop apartment buildings in New York City. [18] The theater was rebuilt in a conical shape, and the backstage facilities were also refurbished to accommodate a higher number of performances. [4] The renovated theater reopened on July 15, 2025, [19] [20] having cost $85 million to rebuild. [4] [20]

Productions

The 2007 season productions were Romeo and Juliet , directed by Michael Greif, who directed Rent , and A Midsummer Night's Dream featuring Jon Hill and Mallory Portnoy. [21]

The 2008 season began with Hamlet (27 May – 29 June), with Michael Stuhlbarg in the title role, under the Public Theater's Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. Sam Waterston, who played Hamlet the last time the tragedy was presented at the Theater (1975), played Polonius. The second presentation was James Rado's, Gerome Ragni's, and Galt MacDermot's Hair (22 July – 14 September) led by Jonathan Groff and Will Swenson. [22] Christopher J. Hahnke took over the role of Claude when Mr. Groff left to film "Taking Woodstock". Hair made its original debut in October 1967 at Joseph Papp's Public Theater, the initial presentation of the theater.

The 2009 season began with Twelfth Night (June 9 – July 12), with Anne Hathaway playing Viola, and Euripides' The Bacchae (August 11 to September 6), with music by Philip Glass. [23]

The 2010 season (June 9 – August 1) featured The Merchant of Venice and The Winter's Tale performed in repertory. [24] Al Pacino starred as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, but a conflict with rehearsals prevented him from participating in The Winter's Tale. [25] The repertory plays also featured Jesse Tyler Ferguson (as Solanio in Merchant and Young Shepard in The Winter’s Tale); Jesse L. Martin (Gratiano/Polixenes); Lily Rabe (Portia/First Gentlewoman); Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Prince of Morocco/Leontes); and Max Wright (Old Gobbo/Old Shepherd). Daniel Sullivan directed Merchant of Venice, and Michael Greif directed The Winter’s Tale.

The 2011 season (June 6 – July 31) featured All's Well That Ends Well, directed by Daniel Sullivan, and Measure for Measure, directed by David Esbjornson running in repertory on alternate evenings. [26] [27] The repertory cast features John Cullum, Danai Gurira, Michael Hayden, Annie Parisse, Tonya Pinkins, Lorenzo Pisoni, and Reg Rogers.

The 2012 season celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Delacorte Theater, featuring Lily Rabe and Oliver Platt in Shakespeare's As You Like It directed by Daniel Sullivan and Amy Adams and Donna Murphy in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Into the Woods , a transfer of an outdoor production done in Regent's Park in London in 2010. The season also featured a one-night only reading of Romeo and Juliet starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline in the two lead roles, supported by Phylicia Rashad, Sam Waterston, Sandra Oh, Bill Irwin, Christine Baranski, John Cullum, Raúl Esparza, Jesse L. Martin, Jerry Stiller, Christopher Walken, David Harbour, and others.

The 2013 season began with The Comedy of Errors , directed by Dan Sullivan and featuring Shakespeare in the Park alumni Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Dromio and Hamish Linklater as Antipholus. Ferguson and Linklater last performed together in The Winter's Tale and The Merchant of Venice in 2010 for The Public's Shakespeare in the Park. The second show of the 2013 season was a new musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost , directed by Alex Timbers with songs by Michael Friedman, and book adaptation by Alex Timbers. Timbers and Friedman last collaborated on the award-winning musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson at The Public and Timbers directed the new David Byrne musical Here Lies Love that spring at The Public's downtown home at Astor Place. [28]

The 2014 season featured Hamish Linklater, Lily Rabe and John Lithgow all in starring roles. Linklater and Rabe took on the witty love-match of Beatrice and Benedick in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing while Lithgow tackled the title role in Shakespeare's King Lear . [29]

Ticketing

With the exception of pre-reserved tickets for donors to the Public or friends of the production, all tickets for shows at the Delacorte are distributed the day of a performance. Traditionally, tickets are distributed at the Delacorte Theater's box office beginning at noon and until they are sold out, with audiences lining up as soon as if not before Central Park opens at 6:00 AM. All performances also have a standby line, where any tickets that were cancelled, returned, or not picked up before 7:30PM are distributed. Audiences are allotted two tickets per person.

Beginning in 2007, the Public offers alternate methods of gaining tickets to productions at the Delacorte. On the day of performances the theater distributes ticket vouchers at a designated location in one of the five boroughs beginning at noon. Vouchers are also distributed at the Public's in-person lottery, held downtown at their 425 Lafayette Street location at noon. A digital lottery, currently managed by TodayTix, is also drawn at noon. Recipients of vouchers and/or winners of the lotteries can exchange or pick up their tickets at the Delacorte box office between 5:30 and 7:30PM, prior to the performance. [30]

References

  1. ↑ Gardner, Paul (June 19, 1962). "Central Park's Shakespeare Amphitheatre Dedicated; Name Honors G.T. Delacorte, Donor of $150,000". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Public Theater – Home". www.publictheater.org. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  3. 1 2 Kandel, Myron (May 27, 1962). "The Bard's New Home in the Park; Recollections". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kimmelman, Michael (July 23, 2025). "Free Shakespeare's Central Park Home Gets an $85 Million Glow Up". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved July 24, 2025.
  5. ↑ Central Park Conservancy Archived July 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved July 21, 2013.
  6. ↑ Morris, Bob (June 20, 2012). "A Bronx Guy Talks Trippingly". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  7. 1 2 Pogrebin, Robin (November 1, 2018). "A Restoration for Shakespeare's Home in Central Park". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  8. 1 2 Walker, Ameena (November 1, 2018). "Central Park's iconic Delacorte Theater will get Bjarke Ingels-designed makeover". Curbed NY. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Revitalizing the Delacorte". The Public Theater. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022.
  10. ↑ Hickman, Matt (December 9, 2021). "Central Park's iconic Delacorte Theater will get a historic $77 million revamp". The Architect’s Newspaper. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  11. ↑ Rahmanan, Anna (December 9, 2021). "Check out these renderings of the revamped Delacorte Theater in Central Park". Time Out New York. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  12. ↑ Cohen, Michelle (December 8, 2021). "Landmarks approves design for $77M renovation of Delacorte Theater in Central Park". 6sqft. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  13. ↑ Yakas, Ben (January 26, 2022). "Central Park's Delacorte Theater Approved For Renovations After Pandemic Delays". Gothamist. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  14. 1 2 Hickey, Magee (September 4, 2023). "Delacorte Theater closes for renovations". PIX11. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  15. ↑ Levin, Annie (September 8, 2023). "A Musical Rendition of 'The Tempest' Marks the End of an Era at the Delacorte". Observer. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  16. ↑ Green, Jesse (August 31, 2023). "Review: In Central Park, 'The Tempest' Sings Farewell to Magic". The New York Times.
  17. ↑ "Delacorte Theater closing for $77 million renovations". NBC New York. August 30, 2023. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  18. ↑ Barron, James (October 11, 2024). "The Wood That's Starring in the Delacorte Theater Renovation". The New York Times. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  19. ↑ Culgan, Rossilynne Skena (July 15, 2025). "First look: Peek inside the newly renovated Delacorte Theater in Central Park". Time Out New York. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  20. 1 2 Tran, Diep (July 15, 2025). "The Public Theater Reopens the Delacorte Theater, With Sandra Oh, Peter Dinklage, Jesse Tyler Ferguson Delivering Shakespeare". Playbill. Retrieved July 24, 2025.
  21. ↑ Robertson, Campbell (January 30, 2007). "Shakespeare in the Park". The New York Times . Retrieved September 2, 2010.
  22. ↑ Reagan, Gillian (April 29, 2008). "Lauren Ambrose Returns to Shakespeare In the Park". The New York Observer . Retrieved September 2, 2010.
  23. ↑ Itzkoff, Dave (February 12, 2009). "Anne Hathaway to Star in Shakespeare in the Park's 'Twelfth Night'". The New York Times . Retrieved September 2, 2010.
  24. ↑ Itzkoff, Dave (December 7, 2009). "Pacino to Star in 'Merchant of Venice' in Shakespeare in the Park". The New York Times . Retrieved September 2, 2010.
  25. ↑ "Al Pacino to play Shylock in New York's Central Park". BBC News . December 8, 2009. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
  26. ↑ Public Theater vs. RSC – Theater Time Out New York
  27. ↑ Repertory Casting Returns for Shakespeare in the Park
  28. ↑ Itzkoff, Dave (February 12, 2013). "'Comedy of Errors' and Musical 'Love's Labour's Lost' on Shakespeare in the Park's Bill". The New York Times . Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  29. ↑ Kozinn, Allan (February 13, 2014). "Shakespeare in the Park Lineup: 'Much Ado About Nothing' and 'King Lear'". The New York Times . Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  30. ↑ Tran, Diep. "How to Get Tickets to Free Shakespeare in the Park in New York City". Playbill. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.