taylweaver | Shakespeare in the Rain and Broadway under the Clouds

Ah, summer in Manhattan...

Ordinarily, getting tickets to Shakespeare in the Park means either waiting in line from about 7 or 8 in the morning for the free ones - especially if it's a weekend - or paying $100 for the convenience of not waiting. (Technically, a donation...)

Yesterday,

mbarr and I walked up to the box office around 1:30 (they give out the tickets starting at 1:00) and asked for four - and thus we went to see Macbeth.

It's amazing what a little rain can do...

My favorite part? Watching the cast/crew break out the squeegees for some synchronized water herding after the half hour rain delay that, in addition to threatening the sound system (outdoor theater, for those of you outside NYC - hence the "in the park" part) also managed to soak the stage.

In general, though, the play was good. They did some very surreal stuff, especially at the end, with the way they did the various death scenes.

And we even had seats toward the front - though way off to the side...

And then tonight, another free event. Even overcast skies look good from the Great Lawn of Central Park - especially when they manage not to rain a single drop on the sea of people below - and the skyline looks cool from there when it is foggy. The fireworks at the end looked cool too.

Oh, and of course, the musical numbers were also good - the ones we could hear, anyway - but somehow it didn't matter that I missed half the words. The casual hanging-out-on-a-picnic-blanket-at-dusk-in-the-park atmosphere made me not really care if I was too busy chatting to catch the words, or if I just couldn't hear it.

All in all, I would just like to reiterate, the summer can be a wonderful time in Manhattan.