Hercules Lottery is Open!

Are you ready to go the distance? Because the lottery for FREE tickets to the Public Works' production of Hercules is now open!

And here's Krysta Rodriguez to tell you how you can enter;

The Advance Digital Lottery is now open! You can enter once per show for any or all of the seven performances from now until noon (ET) on Wednesday 28th August. Winners will be randomly selected between midday and 4pm on Wednesday 28th August.

There will also be Advance Digital Lotteries for ADA Accessible and Senior Accessible seating following the same guidelines.

Each winner will receive 2 tickets to their chosen performance. These must be claimed in person from the Delacorte Theater Box Office between 4pm and 7:30pm on the day of your chosen performance. Seating allocations will be assigned randomly on the day of the show, not based on the order the tickets are collected.

But don't lose hope if you don't win the advance lottery because there will also be a Daily In-Person Standby Lottery for every show. These tickets are very limited in number and "may become available to winners of the standby lottery." Winning the Standby Lottery only grants you access to the show if tickets become available and does not guarantee that you'll get in to the show and pairs may be split up. Make sure you follow the link and read all the details as Public Theater Patron ID is needed to enter the Standby Lottery.

Public Theater staff will be available at the box office from 4pm each day to answer questions and assist guests in setting up Patron IDs if they have not already done so. Lottery entry cards will be distributed from 5pm to 7pm, and at 7:30pm (approx.) names will be draw and any standby tickets will be released to the winners.

So, who was the Greek God of luck? Best get worshipping!

James Monroe Iglehart to Star in Hercules!

Genie! Trainer of Heroes! Heroes like Ala... Sorry, wrong show! But I'm just so excited! James is gonna be Phil!!

Ok, calming down, back to the beginning!

Disney and Public Works have announced the principal cast for Hercules. Frozen's Jelani Alladin will play the title hero, whilst Aladdin's Tony Award winning original Genie, James Monroe Iglehart, will be playing Phil! Krysta Rodriguez will be playing Meg, with Jeff Hiller as Panic (strangely no one was announced for Pain). Ramona Keller will play Thalia, with Tamika Lawrence as Calliope, and Rema Webb as Terpsichore. I guess they are the Muses, but they could be new characters as well.

Am I missing anyone? Oh, yeah! Hades! I guess Harvey Dent was right, you either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain because Hades will be played by none other than Roger Bart! Yes, Hercules' original singing voice will now be playing Disney's fast talking Lord of the Dead.

Hercules will reunite the original team of Alan Menken and David Zippel to provide new music and lyrics for this original production. The show will be directed by Lear deBessonet with a book by Kristoffer Diaz, choreography by Chase Brock, scenic design by Dane Laffrey, costume design by Andrea Hood, lighting design by Tyler Micoleau, sound design by Kai Harada and Jessica Paz, wigs, hair, and makeup design by Cookie Jordan, puppet design by James Ortiz, music supervision and arrangements by Michael Kosarin, orchestrations by Danny Troob and Joseph Joubert, dance arrangements by Mark Hummel, and synthesizer programming by Randy Cohen.

In addition to the principal Equity cast, the Public Works production of Hercules will feature a cast of hundreds of amateur performers from around New York when it premieres at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park August 31st - September 8th.

Details on how to get tickets to the free event will be announced soon.

I just hope this show can go the distance and Hercules gets a Broadway run. I need to see JMI as Phil! I can't believe I never thought of that casting! So perfect!

Bless My Soul! Hercules is Coming to New York This Summer!

We're only just in February and Disney made my year already! Hercules is coming to the stage!

Announced by The New York Times this week, The Public Theater in partnership with Disney Theatrical will stage the world premiere of Hercules as part of it's Public Works initiative this summer. And best of all, this new stage adaptation will reteam Disney Legend Alan Menken with lyricist David Zippel to add new songs for the stage production.

In addition to the return of Menken and Zippel, Hercules will feature a new book by Kristoffer Diaz, choreography by Chase Brock, and will be directed by Lear deBessonet, who founded Public Works. The creative team also includes Dane Laffrey (Scenic Design), Andrea Hood (Costume Design), Tyle Micoleau (Lighting Design), Kai Harada and Jessica Paz (Sound Design), Cookie Jordan (Wigs, Hair, and Makeup Design), and Michael Kosarin (Music Director).

Public Works shows are exuberant productions, featuring a small team of professional actors working with hundreds of amateur performers from around New York. "Its populist musical treatment of a classical story about a hero's journey felt very specific to Public Works," Lear deBessonet told The New York Times, "I saw buried in the story these elements that subvert a traditional narrative of what a hero is, and what strength is. The thing we externally celebrate as being heroic is not real strength - there's a much deeper journey."

Hercules marks a continuation of Disney Theatrical creating new musicals in partnership with local and regional theatres, which began with Aladdin in 2011. It's a practice which has worked well for them, taking shows that aren't a sure thing and allowing them to try and find an audience. It's created new Broadway hits, like Newsies and Aladdin, and even when a show hasn't found a home on Broadway, it's still allowed them to reach a wider audience, with the studio cast recording of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and last year's TV adaptation of Freaky Friday.

There's currently no plans for Hercules to transfer to Broadway, but if this summer's production goes well, there's always a chance Herc could go the distance.

Hercules will play at the outdoor Delacorte Theater in Central Park from August 31st to September 8th.

Tickets to Public Works are free and will be available in person or by digital lottery (details to be announced closer to the time). According to the Public Theater website a limited number of reserved seats will be available (again, details to follow) and you can join their Partners Program to guarantee reserved seats now.