Singing, and sitting, in the rain

Front row seats at the Delacorte Theater

There was good news and bad news when it came to our annual mother-daughter traditional trip to Shakespeare in the Park on Saturday.

For the good news, the four-hour wait for free tickets went as quickly as it always has, and was as entertaining as usual, with dogs and people on parade. The seats, randomly assigned, were in the front row, the best we ever had. The musical production of Twelfth Night,  featuring professional actors and members of community groups from all five boroughs, was FANTASTIC. As in, fall off your seat incredible.

I could have written slide off your seat, because promptly at 8, when the show began, it started to rain. The huge cast performed valiantly, in the rain, for 50 minutes.

The bad news is that despite a rain delay when hopes were high that the show could continue,

they had to call it when it turned into a downpour. There were about 40 minutes to go. Cast and crew, and even Artistic Director Oskar Eustis, were out there squeegeeing. Having a front row sea during this portion was pretty amazing also, but it would of course have been better if they were able to continue. Some theatergoers in the know were smart to bring ponchos to keep them dry. We had only rain jackets, which only go so far to keep you dry.

We had a rain delay one other year, but the rain subsided and the show continued. I was soaking wet and not very comfortable, but it made for a fun memory.

We had learned that a pre-show would start at 7:30. Knowing it might rain, we got there on time for what turned out to be an onstage carnival in which audience members could wander around. In a tweet, Shaina Taub, who wrote the music and lyrics and plays the role of Feste, called it "a boost of communal joy."

It truly was.

The collaboration was originally performed in 2016 through Public Works, which brings together professional artists and community members from all five New York City boroughs.

Performances will continue through August 19. Weather permitting, we want to go back and see it through to the end. This would mean waiting on line again, but it would be worth it...though maybe not so much fun if it rains again.