I was having a friendly argument with Mary Beth about whether all of Shakespeare's plays have been produced at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. So I went looking for a list of the New York Shakespeare Festival (later renamed the Public Theater) productions in the park... couldn't find one online. So I made one. Turns out all of Shakespeare's plays have been presented in the Park, except for The Two Noble Kinsmen, attributed to Shakespeare and John Fletcher. ('Kinsmen' was produced at Lafayette Street's Public Theater in 2003.) Starting and ending dates of each show are not all correct. Corrections, comments welcome.
1962 (first year of Delacorte Theater)
Merchant of Venice June 18-
George C. Scott
The Tempest
Paul Stevens, James Earl Jones
King Lear
Frank Silvera
1963
Antony and Cleopatra Jun 13
As You Like It July 11
The Winter's Tale Aug 8-31
1964
Hamlet June 10 - July 4
Othello July 8 - Aug 1
James Earl Jones
Electra (Sophocles) Aug 5-29
1965
Love's Labour's Lost June 8
Coriolanus July 13
Troilus and Cressida Aug 10
1966
All's Well That Ends Well June 16 - July 2 (the play's New York professional premiere according to the NYT!!)
Measure for Measure July 6 - 30
Richard III Aug 3-27
1967
Comedy of Errors Jun 8
King John Jul
Titus Andronicus Aug
1968
Henry IV Parts I and II June 11 - Aug 3
Romeo and Juliet Aug 7-31
1969
two shows
Peer Gynt (Henrik Ibsen) July 8 - Aug 2
Twelfth Night Aug 6 - Aug 30
1970
The Wars of the Roses Jun 21- Aug 22
In repertory -
Wars of the Roses Part One, Wars of the Roses Part Two, (a retitling of Henry VI Parts 1, 2 and 3) and Richard III
Marathon production given twice - June 28
Wars of the Roses and Richard III
1971
Timon of Athens Jun 29 - Jul 18
Two Gentlemen of Verona Jul 22 - Aug 8
Cymbeline Aug 12-29
1972
Hamlet June 20
Ti-Jean and His Brothers (Derek Walcott) Aug
Much Ado About Nothing - Aug 17
1973
two shows
As You Like It June 21
King Lear Aug 1
James Earl Jones
1974
two shows
Pericles June 20
The Merry Wives of Windsor Jul 31
1975
Hamlet Jun 18 - Jul 19
Sam Waterston
Comedy of Errors Jul 24 - Aug 24
1976
Henry V Jun 24
Measure for Measure Jul 28
1977
The Threepenny Opera (Brecht/Weill) Jun 28 - Jul
Agamemnon (Aeschylus) Aug
1978
All's Well That Ends Well Jun 29-
Taming of the Shrew Aug 3
Raul Julia, Meryl Streep
1979
Coriolanus June 28
Othello Jul 27
1980
only one show
The Pirates of Penzance (Gilbert & Sullivan) Jul 15 - Aug 24
Kevin Kline, Linda Ronstadt
1981
The Tempest June 26 - July 26
Henry IV Part 1 July 31 - Aug 30
1982
Don Juan (Moliere) June 14- July 17
A Midsummer Night's Dream Jul 30 -Aug 28
1983
Richard III June 30 - July 31
Non Pasquale (rewrite by Nancy Heikin and Anthony Giles of Donizetti's opera) Aug 9 - Sep 4
1984
Henry V Jun 22 - Jul 23
Kevin Kline, Anthony Heald
NYT review
The Golem (H. Leivick) Aug 3 - Sept 2
F. Murray Abraham, Randy Quaid
1985
Measure for Measure June 30 - July 21
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Rupert Holmes's adaptation of Dickens's unfinished novel) Aug 3 - Sept 1
1986
Twelfth Night June 20 - July 20
Medea (Euripides) Aug
1987
Richard II Jun 24 - July 19
Two Gentlemen of Verona Jul 24 - Aug 16
Henry IV Part I Aug 27 - Sept 13
1988
Much Ado About Nothing Jul 9 - 31
Kevin Kline, Blythe Danner
King John Aug 5 - Sep 4
1989
Twelfth Night Jun 23 - Jul 23
Jeff Goldblum, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michelle Pfeiffer, Gregory Hines
Titus Andronicus Aug 4 - Sept 2
1990
Taming of the Shrew Jun 22 - Jul 22
Richard III Aug 3 - Sept 2
Denzel Washington
Romeo and Juliet Sept
1991
Othello June 21- Jul 14
Raul Julia, Christopher Walken
A Midsummer Night's Dream July 30 - Aug 11
The Tempest Aug 27 - Sept 8
October 31 - Joseph Papp died at 70
1992
As You Like It July 9
The Comedy of Errors Aug 6 - 30
1993
Measure for Measure July 1 - 25
Kevin Kline, Andre Braugher
NYT review
All's Well That Ends Well Aug 5 - 29
Miriam Healy-Louie
NYT review
1994
The Merry Wives of Windsor Jul
David Alan Grier, Tonya Pinkins, Andrea Martin
NYT review
The Two Gentlemen of Verona Aug 18
Peter J. Gerety, Camryn Manheim
NYT review
1995
The Tempest June 22 -July 19
Patrick Stewart
Troilus and Cressida Aug 4 - Sep 3
1996
Henry V Jun 30
Timon of Athens Aug
1997
Henry VIII Jun 13 - Jul 9
On The Town (Bernstein/Comden/Green) Jul 31 - Aug 31
1998
Skin of Our Teeth (Thornton Wilder) Jun
Cymbeline Aug 16
1999
The Taming of the Shrew July 1
Tartuffe (Moliere) Aug 22
2000
The Winter's Tale July 6-16
Julius Caesar Aug 8 - Sept 3
2001
Measure for Measure Jun 17-28
The Seagull (Chekhov) Aug 12-26
Natalie Portman, Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Philip Seymour Hoffman
2002
only one show
Twelfth Night Jun 25- Aug 11
2003
one show
Henry V June 26- Aug 10
2004
one show
Much Ado About Nothing Jul 1-Aug 8
2005
back to two shows
As You Like It Jun - Jul 17
Two Gentlemen of Verona Aug 28 - Sep 11
2006
Macbeth Jun 28 - Jul 9
Liev Schrieber
[Cycle of all 37 plays completed at the Delacorte]
Mother Courage and Her Children (Brecht) Aug 21- Sep 3
Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline
Peer Gynt (Ibsen) Oct
2007
Romeo and Juliet Jun 7 - Jul 8
A Midsummer Night's Dream Aug 23- Sep 9
Hair (Rado/Ragni/MacDermot) Sep 22-24
2008
Hamlet Jun 17-29
Hair Aug 7 - Sep 14
Jonathan Groff, Will Swenson
2009
Twelfth Night
Anne Hathaway
The Bacchae (Euripides) Aug 11-30
2010
(Two Shakespeare plays in repertory)
The Winter's Tale
The Merchant of Venice (first time at Delacorte since 1962)
Al Pacino, Lily Rabe
The Capeman (Paul Simon/Derek Walcott) Aug 14-16
2011
(In repertory)
June 6 - July 30
Measure for Measure
All's Well That Ends Well
2012
As You Like It June 5 - 30
Into the Woods (Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine) July 23 - August 5
2013
The Comedy of Errors May 28 - June 30
Love's Labour's Lost Jul 23 - Aug 18
2014
Much Ado About Nothing
King Lear
2015
The Tempest May 27 - July 5
Cymbeline July 27 - Aug 23
2016
The Taming of the Shrew May 24 - June 26
Troilus and Cressida July 19 - Aug 14
2017
Julius Caesar May 23 - June 18
A Midsummer Night's Dream July 11 - Aug 13
CROSS-REFERENCE
All's Well That Ends Well - 1966, 1978, 1993, 2011
Antony and Cleopatra - 1963
As You Like It - 1963, 1973, 1992, 2005, 2012
The Comedy of Errors - 1967, 1975, 1992, 2013
Coriolanus - 1965, 1979
Cymbeline - 1971, 1998, 2015
Hamlet - 1964, 1972, 1975, 2008
Henry IV Part 1 - 1968, 1981, 1987
Henry IV Part 2 - 1968
Henry V - 1976, 1984, 1996, 2003
Henry VI Part 1 - 1970
Henry VI Part 2 - 1970
Henry VI Part 3 - 1970
Henry VIII - 1997
Julius Caesar - 2000, 2017
King John - 1967, 1988
King Lear - 1962, 1973, 2014
Love's Labour's Lost - 1965, 2013
Macbeth - 2006
Measure for Measure - 1966, 1976, 1985, 1993, 2001, 2011
The Merchant of Venice - 1962, 2010
The Merry Wives of Windsor - 1974, 1994
A Midsummer Night's Dream - 1982, 1991, 2007, 2017
Much Ado About Nothing - 1972, 1988, 2004, 2014
Othello - 1964, 1979, 1991
Pericles - 1974
Richard II - 1987
Richard III - 1966, 1970, 1983, 1990
Romeo and Juliet - 1968, 1990, 2007
The Taming of the Shrew - 1978, 1990, 1999, 2016
The Tempest - 1962, 1981, 1991, 1995, 2015
Timon of Athens - 1971, 1996
Titus Andronicus - 1967, 1989
Troilus and Cressida - 1965, 1995, 2016
Twelfth Night - 1969, 1986, 1989, 2002, 2009
The Two Gentlemen of Verona - 1971, 1987, 1994, 2005
The Two Noble Kinsmen - Not yet produced
The Winter's Tale - 1963, 2000, 2010
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13 comments:
I'll leave a couple of comments, one of which is that there is almost no amount of effort which one will not give to winning an argument. :-) Even a friendly one. I myself once bought and read a book on copyright law for the same reason.
I do hope that you did all that in a spreadsheet, so that the cross-reference part (at least) was easy.
I went to one of two of those performances, but I can't remember which ones. My cousin used to run the Central Park Conservancy, so she could have tickets put aside (so we wouldn't have to wait on the line). Once she left that job, I had been spoiled, and I never tried again.
It's worth waiting on line.. though usually MB does it. I have been to several performances. Though while compiling this list, I found myself wishing I had attended more of them in the 80's and 90's. The 1970 "War of the Roses" all-night marathon sounds special... though I was 13 at the time.
I would love to know what you learned about copyright law from that book.
Thought you might like the dates for the Summer 1968 performances.
According to a poster I just bought, Henry IV: Parts 1 & 2 were scheduled for June 11-August 3 (nightly except Mondays) and Romeo and Juliet was scheduled for August 7-31 (nightly except August 19 & 26).
Any idea where I might find cast lists for those productions?
Thanks, Pudd! I've corrected the blog entry with the dates you posted. As for the cast lists -- The Public Theater's web site http://www.publictheater.org has some information on past productions, but the site seems to be broken as I write this. You could do what I did and search the New York Times web site.
This is a great list!
Congrats on pulling it together - I think it is the most complete one that I've ever seen!
You are missing the performance of Paul Simon's "The Capeman," which, like HAIR, was done for a 3 nights at the Delacorte in Aug. 14 - 16, 2010.
Also, there was a one-time only staged reading of "Romeo & Juliet" featuring Meryl Streep & Kevin Kline as well as a ton of others on June 18, 2012.
I believe "The Bacchae" ran Aug. 11 - Aug. 30.
Thanks! Will update the entry!
Wow, thanks for this list! Was just debating with someone how many shows I've failed to see over the years; sadly, the number is a little higher than I'd hoped. Still, there's a LOT of summer nostalgia here.
Don't have much input to add; if you're looking for some more celebrity completion, Andre Braugher was also in the '96 production of Henry V.
Just to say so, the 1 night only "Romeo and Juliet" with Meryl and Kline was a Donor Appreciation Gala performance that was not open to the public. You might count it, although you should then count the Pirates of Penzance Gala June 11th 2013.
Also, while technically part of the 2014 Fall Season, The Tempest was performed at the Delacorte as a new Public Works community event 9/6-9/8/13. It was followed by an event in participation with NY City Center called Fall for Dance 9/16-9/18.
These events sat in the same slots at "The Capeman" and the "Hair" concert. So i think you might count them.
Thanks, Zach! This theater historian stuff is difficult but fun.
I cannot say how grateful I am for this (as a veteran of over 20 SitP productions. I do think you should note that the 1971 and 2005 productions of Two Gentlemen was of the musical version. Similarly, the 2013 LLL was a musical adaptation. Thanks again for triggering some wonderful memories!
I have two ticket stubs for the Sunday June 30, 1974 and Sunday August 11, 1974 for the shakespeare festival at the Delacorte Theater. Reviewing your list, I do not see those dates related to a Shakespeare play, however, I believe the Delacorte was used also for small venue rock concerts. Just curious if you know what was performed on those dates? Thanks Rich
The dates given are for the beginning of the plays' run. So it's possible those tickets were for Shakespeare plays.
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