Shakespeare in the Park after a two-year hiatus.<\/a><\/p>\nTheater lovers have decorated the area with chairs, blankets and even blow-up loungers. Robert Miller<\/p>\n
The section of Central Park where the famous program is held has transformed into the likes of a music festival, with temporary bathrooms erected in the greenspace-turned-waiting area and theater lovers decorating the area with chairs, blankets and even blow-up loungers.<\/p>\n
The massive crowd was tame Friday, with the campers keeping themselves busy by chatting, reading, eating snacks, playing board games or cards, napping and working remotely.<\/p>\n
Strangers became friends by holding one another\u2019s places in line as they used the bathrooms and went on snack excursions \u2014 although there is a 20-minute absence limit that is strictly enforced. <\/p>\n
Alex Courtney (left) and cousin Peter Shaughnessy are first in line Friday after arriving at midnight for the tickets. Robert Miller<\/p>\n
Only one unruly person tried to jump the line by sneaking into the park before it opened at 6 a.m., but staff quickly sent the rogue to the back of the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone\u2019s is very honorable,\u201d said Arthur Night of Brooklyn, who arrived at 5 a.m. for what is his third attempt at grabbing tickets for the \u201cTwelfth Night\u201d show. \u201cThey\u2019re honoring the line rules, no one\u2019s cutting, no one\u2019s taking anyone\u2019s place. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really actually nice. I\u2019ve waited on the lines before, and you had to fight.<\/p>\n
Campers keep busy by playing cards, reading, chatting and napping. Robert Miller<\/p>\n
The event\u2019s three separate lines \u2014 two of which are dedicated to seniors and disabled patrons \u2014 typically stretch so far back that they typically reach a large rock, dubbed the \u201crock of lost hope\u201d by would-be theater-goers, several hundred feet from the theater. <\/p>\n
Around 9 a.m. Friday, theater staff approached the rock and let people know they likely wouldn\u2019t get a ticket \u2014 but the warning did little to deter the determined campers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe line is part of the experience,\u201d said Arthur Night. <\/p>\n
Robert Miller<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m vibing, I\u2019m waiting, and I hope to get tickets, but I don\u2019t expect to get tickets. Not today,\u201d said Eliza Yarbrough-Saxon, 25, a choreographer who recently moved to Manhattan.<\/p>\n
She and her girlfriend, Nikki Deson, 22, hopped in line at 7 a.m., which regular theater-goers warn is much too late to secure a spot.<\/p>\n
They quickly learned their lesson, saying they would try again Saturday, though they would arrive much earlier.<\/p>\n
Shakespeare in the Park is back with a vengeance after taking a two-year hiatus. Robert Miller<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have a job yet, so I have nothing going on,\u201d Yarbrough-Saxon said.<\/p>\n
Bianca Pasternack, 36, brought her pup Pepper along for the wait. She and pal Andrew Vita, 39, hopped in line before 5 a.m.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t feel tired, though. I feel excited,\u201d said Vita, who has lined up for Broadway tickets in the past. <\/p>\n
\u201cI promised myself I would never do it again, but, you know, I thought with the cast and the reopening of the Delacorte, I was like, this is a good time to line up and get a ticket.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pasternack added: \u201cI think it\u2019s a fun New York classic activity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As usual, Shakespeare said it best. \u201cI am to wait, though waiting so be hell.\u201d Hundreds of some…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":150098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,18061,5249,5248,405,403,7619,5226,5225,5228,5227,31457,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-150097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-central-park","10":"tag-manhattan","11":"tag-metro","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-new-york-city-life","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkcity","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-shakespeare-in-the-park","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-us-news","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115037641388053554","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}