SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK LINE

[Sarah White2]

Posted: 6/19/22 at 5:00pm

I know Richard III just started its run, but I was wondering if anyone had any info on what the line is looking like this year, and when people are arriving? 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/19/22 at 5:26pm

It hasn't started yet. The first preview was delayed until Tuesday.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Danai-Gurira-Led-RICHARD-III-at-Free-Shakespeare-in-the-Park-Announces-New-First-Preview-Date-20220602

 

[alexidarling15]

Posted: 6/20/22 at 10:40am

In my experience, the line isn't long at all for the first few performances, especially on weekdays. Standby is also a good possibility. The only time I've arrived at 6:30 a.m. was when Jonathan Groff was in Hair, way back when (it was more than worth it). 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 6/22/22 at 4:31pm

Bump

[sorano916]

Posted: 6/22/22 at 6:47pm

Pretty sure the weather has deterred people and it's the first week so you can probably still get tickets right now at the box office up until curtain. The performance tried to go yesterday but was cancelled after waiting out the rain for too long.

When I saw "Othello" a few years ago, they started and within maybe 10 minutes they stopped and held for like an hour & a half before finally finishing the show. Outdoor theater is very unpredictable. LOL.

[Sauja]

Posted: 6/22/22 at 7:39pm

Did last night’s performance happen? I was t paying much attention to the weather after I lost the lottery. Curious to hear any reports on the production. Big fan of Gurira and O’Hara. Less a fan of the history plays, but…I want to want to see it, if that makes sense.

[alexidarling15]

Posted: 6/22/22 at 8:09pm

If anyone is there tonight, please report back!

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 6/22/22 at 9:50pm

The weather looks like it’ll be nice tomorrow, so I’m going to try to get standby if I don’t win the lottery. Will definitely report back.

[supersam1026]

Posted: 6/22/22 at 11:46pm

Just getting back home from today (6/22). Knew the weather looked spotty, but decided to take the chance.

Got to the park at 11:45am this morning and there were MAYBE 50 people there at most. So was easily able to get a ticket. The Public tweeted around 6 that they still had tickets for the night. 

It was busier than I thought it would be, but no where near a sell out, maybe 50-60% filled? There was some drizzle on and off through the night, but was primarily dry.

HOWEVER, at 10:30 the skies really started to open up and by 10:35 they put it to a hold. Around 11 we got the update that they were still trying to get the rest in as there was only 10-15 minutes left. At 11:10 it hadn't really slowed down and they officially canceled the performance. By the time I was out of the park around 11:20, no umbrella needed and no rain at all! Summer in New York!

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 6/23/22 at 12:43am

Any comments on the show itself?

[LarryD2]

Posted: 6/23/22 at 9:27am

Last night they still had tickets available at showtime. You could just walk up and get one. Might have been due to the weather but my guess is that this week you can probably just show up whenever and get a ticket.

[sweetepy389]

Posted: 6/23/22 at 5:37pm

Just stopped by the box office about 10min ago (5:35pm now) and they had tickets still available for tonight! Also skies are very much clearing up - still a bit cloudy right over the theater but on one side of the theater it's totally clear and the clouds seem to be moving away from the theater. Of course that could change again, but as of right now it's looking promising for a nice show tonight

ETA: started raining right at 8pm. Show is on hold for now.

Updated On: 6/23/22 at 05:37 PM

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/23/22 at 5:59pm

I wonder why crowds are so sparse so far. Are people just afraid of the rain, and waiting to go later?

I've done SITP maybe 10 times, and I've never heard of walk-up ticket availability like that. I know the days of waiting in line overnight are behind us, since they've stopped hiring A-list stars - but still, I think they've had comparably high-profile productions in recent years that still managed to fill the house, and still managed to have a line for standby.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 6/23/22 at 6:41pm

Just walked up at 6:30 and was able to grab a couple together. There was only one other person there grabbing tickets as well. Heads up to have your Public patron ID on hand; they’ll ask for it or have you create an account on the spot (as the other person had to).

They said they were running out of seats together, but seemed to be heading back to the box office to grab more tickets. As for why crowds are so sparse, it’s the first week - which is always the easiest time to get a last minute ticket - and while Danai Gurira is a star, she’s not going to pull in sold out crowds the whole run.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 6/23/22 at 8:54pm

Right at 8:00 it started raining. Terrible luck, indeed. Will try again next week.

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 6/24/22 at 11:29pm

Caught this tonight and WOOF pardon the scattered thoughts

In my 10+ years of seeing shows in the park this might be the worst one I have seen.

Bloodless, boring and miscast

dozens of weird choices and bad staging and just laughable blocking

two ENTIRE scenes are done in ASL with no supertitles or interpretation, so if you have never seen the play, good luck following along, some scenes are partially signed which also just made no sense, the battle at the end is borderline corny, and the biggest sin is Danai's performance which is just all over the place and never quiet lands

I could go on and on but save yourself the nearly three hours and skip this one

[spicemonkey]

Posted: 6/25/22 at 10:13am

I was trying to enter the lottery on TodayTix app. Does anyone know how to enter for only 1 ticket. It seems like the only and default option is 2 tickets 

[alexidarling15]

Posted: 6/25/22 at 10:45am

I’m entering today (though having second thoughts after reading last night’s review!!) it’s free, so I’m just entering for two people and if I win, I’m planning to make someone in the standby line very happy! Or sad, if the show is bad. 

[alexidarling15]

Posted: 6/26/22 at 10:08am

Oh, boy. I echo the above poster in that this is my least favorite production in many years of seeing Shakespeare in the Park -- I could barely follow it, It did seem miscast or maybe I didn't understand what most of the performers were trying to do -- the only performer that left any kind of positive impression was Sharon Washington as Margaret, who was **fantastic** and got literally the only applause and cheers I heard until intermission, when the lights came up and everyone looked at each other in total confusion. My friends were sitting very close to the stage and even they were falling asleep, and they know the play way better than I do. I mean, look, any night at the Delacorte is a good night, but this was extremely disappointing. I left at intermission and noticed many others did too. Would love a report from someone who saw the whole thing - maybe it perked up later?

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 6/26/22 at 12:08pm

the second act is even worse 

and agreed Sharon Washington is the best part and fun fact a picture of her when she did Richard III in the park with Denzel Washington from 30 years ago is in the playbill 

[billybilly2]

Posted: 7/1/22 at 2:22pm

My experience this week with the "line" (never really waited on one):

Arriving later Tuesday (6/28) and wanted to see show that night, figured standby would be good and we couldn't make the line that morning. But we (four of us) attemped the digital lottery to lock in tickets without hassle. All four lost.

So went to Delacorte about 5:15 for standby and no one was on any line yet (a previous year, early in the run and midweek we started the standby line about same time and got tickets, natch)... But I checked their twitter and they said tickets were available at the box office so I just walked up and got the pair we needed, no wait. Even though tickets seemed plentiful they sure managed to about "sellout" - very very few seats were open at curtain.

Now, daughter wanted to see it again the next night, this time with her brother. So the two entered the lottery and one won this time, so they didn't even have to do standby, either.
 

This was on nights about as perfect as weather the run will probably have.

(As noted, I've done a couple of SiTP on reasonable weather days, early in run, midweek, via standby and had sucess, but never for a show that had a big name actor or any appreciable buzz. And I'd say Richard III isn't getting a lot of buzz, I suppose. Daughter raved about it, didn't agree with the other posters here who had mostly neg opinions. I lean more toward the view of those posters but enjoyed it enough, myself)

[Robbie2]

Posted: 7/1/22 at 2:32pm

alexidarling15 said: "In my experience, the line isn't long at all for the first few performances, especially on weekdays. Standby is also a good possibility. The only time I've arrived at 6:30 a.m. was when Jonathan Groff was in Hair, way back when (it was more than worth it)."

That's true, same here around 6am and we ended up with greats seats lucky - 6 row center such a fab production and fun night!

[thirtythirtyninety]

Posted: 7/1/22 at 8:03pm

FYI in case you miss seeing this production live, Great Performances will be recording it next week for broadcast later in the year, or early next year

[JBroadway]

Posted: 7/4/22 at 11:42am

I thought was very middle of the road. I didn’t hate it as much as some, but it’s pretty bland. I think the actors had enough of a firm grip on the text that the production was reasonably engaging on a moment-to-moment basis. But broadly, the pacing dragged, and it felt pretty lackluster and toothless.

I’m not really sure what O’Hara was going for with regards to the topic of disability. The fact that there are something like 5 disabled actors in the cast, and Richard is now presented as able-bodied, is undoubtedly deliberate. Seemingly meant to subvert the play’s ablism, but not in a way that really says anything. There’s a moment early on where Richard makes a gesture to suggest that his skin color is the reason he’s mistreated. And yet there are a number of other Black actors playing royalty in this production, so that doesn’t make sense. Did I misinterpret this moment?

Then there’s the scene where he shows his “withered” arm, looking perfectly normal, and everyone reacts confused, because his arm is totally normal. Are we meant to assume that this Richard imagines himself as disabled to make himself a victim? If so, that’s an interesting idea, it just didn’t seem very well-explored.

That said, I think Dana Gurira is quite good. Her Richard is one who seems to constantly be overcompensating for his insecurities. A certain feigned, empty bravado. A desperate attempt to be liked, even while stabbing people in the back. When we get the nightmare scene at the end of the play, it feels very earned.

[Synecdoche2]

Posted: 7/4/22 at 12:13pm

Much like Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, people seem obsessed these days with finding ways to make Richard III a misunderstood or mistreated character that Shakespeare secretly sympathizes with. Of course, if you actually read the play, you'll realize that there's absolutely zero textual evidence for this.

Shakespeare writes Richard as a monster, and the reason he's a monster is because he's crippled. That's not a very modern or palatable perspective, but it's what the play says. Attempting to make Richard a victim of oppression is like making Shylock a victim of oppression: absolute nonsense and genuinely offensive to whoever you cast in those villainous roles.

Updated On: 7/4/22 at 12:13 PM