Hercules (Public Works) NYC Reviews and Tickets

83%

(65 Reviews)

Positive

92%

Mixed

Negative

Members say

Entertaining, Delightful, Ambitious, Funny, Great staging

About the Show

Disney's animated musical comes to life in this new participatory staging by Public Works. The free, outdoor production features a cast of professional actors and community groups from across the city.

From the show:

The Public Theater’s initiative that invites communities across New York to create ambitious works of participatory theater is closing out the summer in truly epic fashion. Public Works will present the glorious story of HERCULES, brought to vibrant life by professional actors and community groups from across the city. Directed by Public Works founder and Resident Director Lear deBessonet, this summer’s production, based on the Disney animated film, will feature the film’s beloved score, plus additional original songs by the film’s composer Alan Menken and lyricist David Zippel, with a new book by Kristoffer Diaz and choreography by Chase Brock. Journey with Hercules in this new stage adaptation that invites New Yorkers from all five boroughs to participate in a joyous musical that celebrates the heroes found in all of us.

Member Reviews (65)

Great staging, Uneven performances, Engrossing, Brash, Joyous

See it if you want an entertaining, unsophisticated evening. Actors have as much fun as audience. Many good songs, well-staged. Pure, silly delight.

Don't see it if you want all actors to be professnl (is community effort). Many lyrics get lost (enunciate!) Kids' story, but clever book/nice message.

Funny, Great staging, Clever, Entertaining, Delightful

See it if You want a show that has some substance yet will put a smile on your face at the same time. Lots of flash and fun, big dance numbers.

Don't see it if You’re looking for quiet and subtle. At times they fill the entire stage and the aisles too!! It’s loud, brash and in your face fun. Read more

Critic Reviews (17)

CRITIC'S PICK "Review: Public Works Finds the Heroism in ‘Hercules’ With shrewd casting and amateur performers joining professionals onstage, a middling 1997 animated Disney musical becomes a pageant of civic engagement."
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"The Strengths and Weaknesses of a Free Public 'Hercules'"
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"Community theater of the most spectacular kind."
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B+ "Hercules musical is a stage adaptation filled with heroics and heart"
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"Hit or myth? This legendary hunk finds a musical home — this time with a sense of community."
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"‘Hercules’ Off Broadway Review: Stage Adapted Disney Film Comes To Life In Central Park"
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"‘Hercules’ proves strong enough to lift all of Central Park, but only for a few days."
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3/4 Stars "Central Park ‘Hercules’ is a heartfelt wake-up call for Disney"
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3/4 Stars "'Hercules' review: Free Disney musical goes the distance The vibrant performance is being put on by the Public Theater's Public Works series, which has 200 New Yorkers acting alongside Broadway regulars."
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"Disney’s animated film 'Hercules' is now a stage musical. But the production, running for only one week at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, is quite different from previous adaptations…featuring nearly 200 cast members, it took a herculean effort to bring it to fruition."
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"Disney's 'Hercules' Musical Is Better Than Frozen and Aladdin — And It's Not Even on Broadway: Jelani Alladin and Krysta Rodriguez star in the Public Theater's outdoor production alongside 200 New Yorkers."
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"Public Works' Adaptation of Disney's 'HERCULES' Celebrates New Yorkers Via Greek Mythology: Director Lear deBessonet creates another joyous pageant at Central Park's Delacorte."
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"'Disney-in-the-Park' doesn't quite have the same ring as 'Shakespeare-in-the-Park,' but that didn't seem to matter much to last night's wildly enthusiastic audience filling every single seat at the open-air Delacorte Theater in Central Park for Hercules, the Public Theater's Public Works' adaptation of the 1997 animated musical Disney film of the same title."
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"'The Strong Man and Huge Cast Sing Lustily on Stage': The 1997 Disney cartoon, with Alan Menken-David Zippel score, transfers to the stage of the Delacorte"
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'A Heroic New Musical, and That's the Gospel Truth!': A 200-person cast goes the distance with the Public Works adaptation of the beloved Disney movie"
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"Stacked up against other Disney stage adaptations, this one avoids some of the standard Disney drawbacks - rather than overpriced, it's free; rather than overlong, it's only 90 minutes - and keeps what's best about Disney stage shows, above all, a terrific cast."
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"This was an audience happy to be in the al-fresco room where it was happening at the Delacorte Theater...a fitting backdrop for this world of gods, titans, townsfolk, and monsters."
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