Not sure if everything went off completely on schedule because of the rain, but tonight (Wed, June 9) was supposed to be the first performance of the 2010 season of Shakespeare In The Park. Instead of two separately scheduled productions (which is often how SITP works), The Winter’s Tale and The Merchant of Venice will be performed in repertory at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park for the next 8 weeks. This year’s cast of actors has some fairly big names including Law & Order‘s Jesse L. Martin, Modern Family‘s Jesse Tyler Ferguson and the inimitable Al Pacino. As always, you can get tickets by going “on line” at the Delacote each day starting at 1PM, or you can go to online at www.shakespeareinthepark.org for virtual ticketing, or last but not least, you can get tickets at a number of special borough specific ticket outlets over the course of the summer.

SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK 2010
June 9 – August 1
Performances begin at 8PM
Performed in repertory for 8 continuous weeks

THE WINTER’S TALE
Directed by Michael Greif
With Happy Anderson, Gerry Bamman, Francois Battiste, Liza J. Bennett, Tyler Caffall, Cary Donaldson, Linda Emond, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Luke Forbes, Shalita Grant, Bill Heck, Bethany Heinrich, Tia James, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Byron Jennings, Heather Lind, Hamish Linklater, Alexander Maier, Jesse L. Martin, Nyambi Nyambi, Matthew Rauch, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Richard Topol and Max Wright

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
Directed by Daniel Sullivan
With Happy Anderson, Gerry Bamman, Francois Battiste, Liza J. Bennett, Tyler Caffall, Cary Donaldson, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Luke Forbes, Bryce Gill, Shalita Grant, Jade Hawk, Bill Heck, Tia James, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Byron Jennings, Kelsey Kurz, Heather Lind, Hamish Linklater, Brian MacDonald, Dorien Makhloghi, Jesse L. Martin, Nyambi Nyambi, Al Pacino, Lily Rabe, Matthew Rauch, Joe Short, Richard Topol and Max Wright