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Straits Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Inside the $109 million renovation of Central Park's home for Shakespeare
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The Delacorte Theater has been the home of Free Shakespeare In The Park for 63 years. NEW YORK – At the heart of Central Park, nestled among the trees , sits the Delacorte Theater. For 63 years, it has been the home of Free Shakespeare In The Park, one of the great treasures of New York's cultural life. The theatre has charm and tradition, but the facilities have been sub-standard, particularly for performers and stagehands, as well as patrons with disabilities. About a decade ago, the staff and board of the Public Theater, which runs the Delacorte, began discussing a renovation. Some crazy ideas were bandied about, such as geothermal cooling and a dome for year-round performances. But with the Covid-19 pandemic came pragmatism . Making any kind of radical change inside Central Park was going to be challenging, if not impossible, given the romantic and nostalgic attachment many of the park's lovers and protectors have to keeping things the way they are. So, the Public pivoted to a combination of preservation and polish – a renovation that would look much the same, but function much better. 'There was absolutely no way to improve the experience once you're sitting in the grandstand. You're outside, in Central Park, the moon is rising over the stage, Belvedere Castle is in the background, a breeze is hopefully blowing, and that's the magic of the theatre, and that will not have changed at all,' said Mr Patrick Willingham, the Public's executive director. 'But externally, the experience has been elevated.' After two years during which the open-air amphitheatre has been closed for a US$85 million (S$109 million) upgrade, the venue is reopening , with modifications and modernisations to improve the experience for audiences, performers and stage crews . Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Life How do household bomb shelters in Singapore really work? Asia Johor authorities seize four Singapore-registered vehicles over illegal e-hailing Singapore Sengkang-Punggol LRT line resumes full service 4 hours after power fault brings trains to a halt Singapore Owners call for stronger management rules in ageing condos, but seek to avoid being overburdened Asia Japan's PM Ishiba mentions wartime 'regret', toeing right-wing line Asia Beijing-Manila row over collision of Chinese ships chasing Filipino boat a reminder of geopolitical risk There is better signage. More capacious seats. Decent dressing rooms. And, yes, better bathrooms. The project was funded half by local government, and half by private fund-raising. And the Public is raising another US$90 million to preserve and endow the free performances of Shakespeare In The Park, as well as the Public's other free programming, like its Mobile Unit, which brings theatre to neighbourhood locations , and its Public Works programme, in which amateur performers from the city's five boroughs create shows with professional actors and creative teams . The Public Theater, a non-profit, previously called the New York Shakespeare Festival, has presented more than 160 shows on the 22m-wide stage since 1962. One hidden change: There are now modular traps built into that stage floor for easier movement of actors and set pieces. The reopened theatre, where performances of Twelfth Night began in August, has 1,864 seats – about a dozen fewer than before. Some seats were lost to make the venue more accessible. Others were added in the new back row. And many are bigger to acknowledge the growing girth of Americans. The theatre's rustic facade got a glow-up. Pre-renovation, it was cedar shiplap. Now, it is tongue-and-groove redwood. That redwood comes with its own backstory: It is from 25 reclaimed city water towers. The Delacorte Theater's new facade is made of redwood from reclaimed water towers. PHOTO: SARA KRULWICH/NYTIMES The Delacorte also has a slightly different shape. Previously, it resembled a cylinder, with the exterior wall perpendicular to the ground. Now, it is more like a cone, with the exterior wall tilting outwards. There are symbolic reasons – it is intended to feel more welcoming – and practical advantages – it can accommodate more seats. A canopy goes around the whole facade, from 1.8m to 4.8m deep. Aesthetically, it creates more of a grand entrance for the theatre. Practically, it offers more cover for patrons to duck under if it starts to rain during a performance . The theatre should be accessible to people with disabilities. There are more ramps, better seating positions for wheelchair users and a lift to the sound booth. The dressing rooms – below the grandstand – have been significantly upgraded. 'It was very primitive before, with cinder block and Formica, and bathrooms I could describe only as gross,' Mr Willingham said. A dressing room at the newly renovated Delacorte Theater. PHOTO: SARA KRULWICH/NYTIMES The crew area – a so-called Klondike village of temporary sheds next to the theatre for use by costume, tech and other backstage workers – is also nicer. The six lighting towers were all replaced, as were the web of speakers and the sound-and-light control booth. Challenges remain. The weather, of course: Climate change has made outdoor performance more difficult. The raccoons too – there is a long history of raccoons traversing the Delacorte grounds, sometimes during performances. Though there is a new barrier to keep them from burrowing under the seats, there is not much to be done in the open-air portion. And then there are the helicopters, a noise nuisance that policymakers are promising to study. The open-air stage being prepared for a rehearsal at the renovated Delacorte Theater. PHOTO: SARA KRULWICH/NYTIMES One of the major construction challenges was preserving the many trees surrounding the theatre – some more than a century old. The Public worked with the Central Park Conservancy and hired arborists to help with protection, trimming and planning. A particular concern was avoiding putting too much weight on root systems. An improvement that will be of intense interest to many theatregoers: The Central Park Conservancy, which operates the public bathrooms by the theatre, is in the final stages of a US$8 million renovation of the facilities. (There are temporary restrooms.) The granite structure, built in 1912 in the English Gothic style, was once called the Belvedere comfort station. The bathroom has been given a new slate roof, restored masonry and new doors and windows , and some architectural features that had gone missing have been replaced . There are also new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, and the The new women's restroom has nearly double the number of fixtures. The structure housing the bathrooms has been given a new slate roof, restored masonry, and new doors and windows. PHOTO: SARA KRULWICH/NYTIMES Most of the women in New York have not seen the first 10 minutes of the second act of any Shakespeare play for the last 50 years, joked Mr Oskar Eustis, the Public's artistic director. 'It's just absolutely necessary for gender equality that we double the number of female stalls in that bathroom.' NYTIMES
Bloomberg
08-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Bloomberg
A New Stage for the Theater that Gave America Shakespeare in the Park
About 15 years ago, after Patrick Willingham was first hired as artistic director of New York City's Public Theater in 2011, he was walking past the Delacorte Theater, the group's open-air stage in Central Park, when he heard two women talking. One pointed at the weathered concrete structure and asked what it was. 'Oh, I think it's a baseball stadium or something,' her friend replied. This was the same stage where James Earl Jones once thundered as Claudius in Hamlet. Where Raúl Juliá faced down Meryl Streep in Taming of the Shrew. Where Jeffrey Wright said he found his most important early role in the part of 'Third Cypriot Gentleman' in Othello. The Delacorte Theater was more than a crusty amphitheater: It's the stage where free summer Shakespeare — a staple of the season in city parks across the US — was born.
