There will be no Shakespeare in the Park next summer – at least not at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park, which will soon undergo a lengthy renovation period and reopen in the summer of 2025.
But even if you missed the recent Shakespeare in the Park production of “Hamlet,” there are still some remaining opportunities to catch a performance at the Delacorte before it temporarily shutters.
From Aug. 29 to Sept. 3, the Public Theater will present a musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” at the Delacorte as part of the Public Works series, in which professional actors perform alongside a large and diverse assortment of community members from all five boroughs.
Tony Award winner and “Hamilton” original cast member Renée Elise Goldsberry will lead the cast as Prospero. The Public Works series began a decade ago with a different version of “The Tempest” and has since become one of the Public Theater’s most celebrated annual programs.
“The Tempest” will be followed by “A Brief Intermission,” a one-night event on Sept. 6 that will celebrate the Public Theater’s 61-year history at the Delacorte. Among the guests will be the hip-hop improv comedy troupe Freestyle Love Supreme, including creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and Christopher Jackson.
‘Camp’ anniversary
Before there was “Theater Camp” (the new film comedy with Ben Platt and Noah Galvin), there was “Camp,” another indie film about an upstate theater camp, which premiered in 2003 and featured an unknown Anna Kendrick and included a cameo by Stephen Sondheim.
To mark the film’s 20th anniversary, director Todd Graff (“Joyful Noise”) and various cast members, including Robin de Jesus (“Tick, Tick…Boom!”) and Sasha Allen (“Hair”), will appear on “Stars in the House,” Seth Rudetsky’s online series celebrating theater artists, on Aug. 23.
I fondly remember attending the opening night screening of “Camp” at the Ziegfeld Theatre during the summer of 2003. (Being a 19-year-old editorial intern at the time, I had to make quite a few calls to snag a ticket.)
Personally speaking, I find the film to be a flawed but extremely heartfelt and well-meaning celebration of youths who love musical theater. Considering how “Glee” came along six years later, “Camp” was ahead of its time, providing a glimpse of a future where musical theater would become much more acceptable and popular among teens.
Morales to join ‘Here Lies Love’
Vina Morales, a Filipino actress and singer who has appeared on 14 studio albums, will join the Broadway musical “Here Lies Love” from Sept. 22 to Oct. 22.
Lea Salonga (who is also a producer of “Here Lies Love”) completed her limited run in the role last weekend. The production plans to continue featuring guest artists from the Philippines in the role.
In other “Here Lies Love” news, on Aug. 31, Fatboy Slim (who co-wrote the electro-pop musical with David Byrne) will host a post-show DJ set following the Aug. 31 performance.
Also, beginning Sept. 23, the show will host four matinee performances in which audience members will be able to sign up for free childcare services within the vicinity of the theater.
Irish Rep to revive ‘Love Letters’
In June, Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti appeared in a short run of the late A.R. Gurney’s epistolary two-hander “Lover Letters” at the Irish Repertory Theatre.
The Off-Broadway company will now bring back “Love Letters” with three different casts doing limited runs: Matthew Broderick and Talia Balsam (Sept. 5-8), J. Smith-Cameron and Victor Garber (Sept. 19-24), and Brooke Shields and John Slattery (Sept. 27-Oct. 1).
First seen in 1988, “Love Letters” is exactly what its title suggests: a collection of intimate, revealing letters written back and forth between a male and female, who start out as pen pals as children and continue writing each other letters into their adolescence and adulthood. Since it takes the form of a staged reading, it is easy for actors to step in and out of the show.
