A REVITALIZED DELACORTE THEATER
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Get Ready For Summer 2025
The Delacorte Theater in Central Park provides hundreds of thousands of visitors access to extraordinary theater—for free. It provides hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and visitors with the transformative experience of The Public Theater's Free Shakespeare in the Park. After 62 years as the home of Free Shakespeare in the Park, The Delacorte Theater is due for a major makeover. When the theater reopens in the summer of 2025, it will be more welcoming, more accessible, and more sustainable than ever before.
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Be there when the stage lights turn on again with a high-powered production of Shakespeare's classic comedy, Twelfth Night!
THE LATEST.
DECEMBER 2024
Another big moment in The Delacorte Theater renovation wrapped!
In early December, the six new lighting towers that surround the grandstand were installed. This was a unique part of the renovation project involving a special crew and crane, capable of lifting each tower, brought in to handle the installation. In the revitalized theater, the re-design of these towers will help production teams be safer and more efficient when climbing and working in them.
(left) From Belvedere Castle, you can see just how tall the crane is peaking up above the top of the theater and treeline. (right) a temporary timber platform is laid down to support the weight of the crane. From this one location, the crane will be able to reach most of the tower locations.
(left) The towers are hoisted in the air to be moved to specific locations. Each tower is 60’ tall and weighs three tons! (right) The towers are lowered into existing foundation holes where the crew can bolt them into place.
(left) Crows nests, here one laying on its side, are mounted on top of the towers. (right) In the center of the photo, a crow's nest is mounted onto a waiting lighting tower. In the foreground, a lighting tower adjacent to an entrance gate gives you an idea of the scale. Behind the grandstand, a crow's nest is mounted onto a waiting lighting tower.
Photos by Rosalind Barbour, Chris Kam, and Shelly Vance.
The Delacorte project is publicly and privately funded with $42 million contributed by the New York City Mayor, City Council, and Manhattan Borough President, as well as $1 million from New York Assembly Member O’Donnell. The Public also wishes to acknowledge State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and NYC Parks who have contributed funding to the Central Park Conservancy’s Delacorte restroom renovation project. The Public is enormously grateful to those who have supported this project, including its generous Board of Trustees and donors.
The Public Theater, in partnership with the Central Park Conservancy, NYC Parks, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, is proud to lead this historic revitalization. This work will ensure The Delacorte remains part of this great city for future generations.
THE REVITALIZATION.
DRAMATIC IMPROVEMENTS
Built in 1962, the theater has not undergone meaningful capital upgrades since 1999. The plan — a major investment in outdoor cultural space as part of New York’s economic recovery — will dramatically improve the home of Free Shakespeare in the Park.This design comprehensively addresses the theater’s outstanding code and safety needs, makes core improvements to infrastructure and backstage efficiency, and makes meaningful upgrades to support its theatrical program. The design is also contextual and maintains The Delacorte’s current form, footprint, and views within the park while protecting the sanctity of the theater in the park experience.
We are thrilled to work with our longtime partner once again, Ennead Architects. Ennead oversaw the revitalization of the facade and public spaces at our flagship location on Lafayette Street in 2012 and the recent renovation of the Rehearsal Annex. Ennead has led many other marquee cultural revitalization projects in New York, including the Brooklyn Museum entry pavilion and plaza, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, and the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History. This continued relationship is based on shared commitments to creating spaces that center radical welcome and equity.
WHAT WE PLAN TO DO
The key proposed design includes:
- Ramps for audiences and more accessible seating
- Accessible box office and concessions booths
- Modified stage and work areas for artists, company members, and staff
- Improved building and wayfinding signage
- A stunning façade built using reclaimed redwood from decommissioned water tanks across New York City
- Water protection and drainage systems to reduce flooding and improve water mitigation
- Newly designed lighting towers improving lighting for the stage and performances
A HOME FOR FREE THEATER
With over six decades of operation, including the recent staging of the widely-acclaimed performances of Merry Wives, Much Ado About Nothing, Public Works' Hercules, Twelfth Night, and Public Works' As You Like It, and more than five million tickets distributed, Free Shakespeare in the Park is one of New York City’s most iconic cultural experiences.
Conceived by founder Joseph Papp as a way to make great theater accessible to all, The Delacorte Theater officially opened in Central Park on June 18, 1962, with The Merchant of Venice, directed by Papp and Gladys Vaughan and featuring George C. Scott as Shylock. The Merchant of Venice was followed that summer by a production of The Tempest, directed by Gerald Freedman and featuring Paul Stevens as Prospero and James Earl Jones as Caliban. The first Delacorte summer season concluded with King Lear, directed by Papp and Vaughan and featuring Frank Silvera as Lear. Since then more than 150 productions have been presented for free at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park.
MEDIA.
A Revitalized Delacorte Theater
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