PHOTO CALL: A Midsummer's Opening Night

By Greg Kalafatas
September 4, 2007

A new group of young lovers took to the Delacorte stage Aug. 23 for the opening night of A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Public Theater's current Shakespeare in the Park offering.

The production, directed by Daniel Sullivan, features a children's chorus as the fairies, in addition to several musical scenes composed by Dan Moses Schreier. Tony winner Eugene Lee, who invoked the world of Oz for the hit Wicked, created the magical forest setting within Central Park.

Shakespeare's sparkling comedy follows four would-be lovers into an Athenian forest. They soon find themselves caught up in the magical world of the Fairy Kingdom. With entangled subplots and mismatched couples, A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies.

The cast for A Midsummer Night's Dream comprises Opal Alladin (Hippolyta), Jason Antoon (Tom Snout), Chelsea Bacon (First Fairy), Ken Cheeseman (Robin Starveling), Christine Corpuz (Ensemble), Keith David (Oberon), Mireille Enos (Hermia), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Francis Flute), Herb Foster (Philostrate), Simon Garratt (Fairy), Jon Michael Hill (Puck), Erica Huang (Fairy), Ben Huber (Ensemble), Cassady Leonard (Fairy), Austin Lysy (Lysander), Lily Maketanksy (Fairy), George Morfogen (Egeus), Tim Blake Nelson (Peter Quince), Daniel Oreskes (Theseus), Martha Plimpton (Helena), Mallory Portnoy (Ensemble), Laila Robins (Titania), Jay O. Sanders (Nick Bottom), Lina Silver (Fairy), Keith Randolph Smith (Snug), Jack Tartaglia (Fairy) and Elliot Villar (Demetrius).

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At left (from top): Director Daniel Sullivan; Jay O. Sanders and Laila Robins; Keith David; Jennifer Ehle, Martha Plimpton, Jason Butler Harner; Tim Blake Nelson; George Morfogen; Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Mireille Enos, Jason Antoon; Herb Foster; George C. Wolfe; and Michael Cerveris.

Below: The cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream takes its opening-night bows at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park.

photos by Aubrey Reuben