Shakespeare in the Park Casting Announced

not exactly excited, only thing the low name cast makes me hope is that people wont camp out for 8 hours to get tickets

Aaaaaah! Tonya Pinkins!! Well this just made my week.

---

Well, my excitement can make up for your lack of it. It's nice to see that they've gone the route of getting talented actors rather than relying on names only. Having seen actors like Michael Hayden, John Cullum and Reg Rogers do Shakespeare brilliantly, I'm glad to see them represented here. Tonya Pinkins will be a perfect Mistress Overdone.

---

Well, well. well...a former student of mine is doing well. I taught Joe Forbrich 10th grade English. He played the lead in BRIGADOON in his senior year.

Glad to know he's succeeding!

---

My first thought was also, "With this cast, maybe I won't have to get up crazy-early to get in line." I don't think that's a bad thing, either; I don't think big names are necessary. There are some great actors in this group and some that I look forward to being introduced to.

^^^ Oops, yes I do.

---

I admire them for not going the celebrity route. I don't know what it will mean for ticket sales, but ah well...

---

"how does Shakespeare in the park make money"

Shakespeare in the Park is underwritten by The Public Theatre. The Public Theatre has many advantages.

It's a non-profit organization and can get all sorts of tax breaks. Its work is well known and can get lots of government money.

The Public Theatre has a subscriber base and many wealth donors.

The Public Theatre gets huge corporate sponsorship. In the past, it has received money from Target and JP Morgan Chase.

The Public Theatre has reaped financial benefit from A Chorus Line. The Public allowed ACL to workshop in their theater in exchange for future royalties.

Shakespeare in the Park doesn't pay huge salaries, most of the people work for union scale or as interns. Additionally, most of the expense of The Delacorte Theater in Central Park is underwritten by the taxpayers and wealthy donors that make up such organizations as The Central Park Conservancy.

The gift shop and snack stand don't bring in much, but there is a tiny profit from those areas.

---

Updated On: 3/29/11 at 12:32 AM

There are so many inaccuracies in the last two posts that even though I haven't posted in months, I thought I would jump in :)

My roommate worked for Shakespeare in the Park/The Public for MANY years so here is what I know:

Government money is very little of the overall budget. There is no federal and no state money that goes to Shakespeare in the Park. There is some city money, which I gather in the past two years has gone down by a bit. It is a myth that this is paid for by taxpayer money. The amount of government money is actually tiny.

There is no "subscriber base" - the public has memberships that are $55 each. The money from that goes to fund downtown shows.

The Public must raise money like with all of it's shows - they have corporate sponsors, foundations and private individuals who must donate to keep it going. The only difference is it has no ticket sales so it must raise all of the money, not just some of the money like you do with most shows.

CHORUS LINE money is no longer a factor since the show is not running anymore.

I have never heard of actors donating their salaries back. This is their job. Everyone except a few interns get paid -- all the crew, designers, actors, concession people and the ushers. Union scale is what everyone in this business, except stars on Broadway, get paid. In grad school, we called it "the minimum as maximum." Producers don't give much more than the minimum.