-By Janet L. Falk, Contributing Member and Public Relations Professional

“Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them” Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene V or Two Ways to Get Tickets to Shakespeare in the Park which started last night.

We LOVE Shakespeare in the Park, great acting, great plays and it’s FREE.

But do we love getting up early Saturday morning to drag ourselves to Central Park, newspaper and coffee in hand, to sit for hours on that endless line waiting for the box office to open at 1:00 pm?

Not one whit, to quote the Bard.

Now that we are sitting on the sidelines, with time on our side, we can cut
the wait by planning to see the show on a weeknight. The line officially
started Wednesday, June 10 at 10:00 am outside the Delacorte Theater in
Central Park (enter at West 81 or East 79 Streets) with a second location at
the Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street (below Astor Place/East 8th
Street). Bring a beach chair, Ipod, deck of cards and reading material to
while away the hours until tickets are distributed at 1:00 pm. You can ask
your neighbor to watch your spot while you take a bathroom break. Go with a
pal; each person on line can get two tickets (unless you only want one
ticket) until supplies run out.

Alternatively, you can join the virtual line and take your random chances of
winning the ticket lottery for two tickets, until they are all distributed.

The virtual line opened Wednesday, June 10 (perhaps at 12:01 am); you
register once and log on before 1 pm of the day you wish to see the play.
Then, check again between 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm to see if you’re a lucky
winner for that evening’s 8:00 pm show. You can log on once a day, every
day, and try your luck.

In 2008, I joined the virtual line about a dozen times and I got tickets
twice. Sadly, the performance of Hamlet had a rain delay and then was
cancelled, which was indeed a tragedy. But, on the subway platform I met Sam
Waterston going home; we talked about the show, so that was cool enough to
make up for the rain-out.

If you’re buddies with a Senior Citizen, there’s a special line for them at
the Delacorte Theater; my mom says it rarely sells out. Once the senior
receives two tickets, there is no requirement to show ID again at the
theater. So, if you want to sit up front in the Senior Section, use your
salesmanship on a 60-plus friend to get them to score the tickets for you in
exchange for cooking dinner.

For more details on the rules and procedures for the real and virtual ticket
lines, click here: http://www.publictheater.org/content/view/128/223/

In case your Freshman Seminar did not include Twelfth Night, here’s a quick
summary of how girl and boy twin siblings engage in some cross-dressing and
the usual escapades resulting from mistaken identity:
http://tinyurl.com/ncjv6y. The show is scheduled June 10 to July 12, closed
Mondays. The Bacchae by Euripides will run August 11 to 30.