PHOTO FLASH: Beautiful Aerial View of Central Park's Delacorte Theater

While Central Park audiences this weekend will be enjoying the final performances of director Phyllida Lloyd's all-female production of The Taming of the Shrew, few may realize that though The New York Shakespeare Festival's free performances at the Delacorte Theater have become such a beloved New York tradition, it was a radical idea back in the 1950s.

Producer Joseph Papp got into a headline-making legal battle with parks commissioner Robert Moses over the free Shakespeare performances he was producing on the grass near Turtle Pond. Moses insisted that Papp charge something, even a penny, so that the money could be used to cover the erosion of the grass, but Papp stuck to his belief that free access to Shakespeare is a civic necessity. Finally, the frustrated Moses declared, "Well, let's build the bastard a theater," and designated city funds to build the Delacorte.

This New York cultural and social oasis looks all aglow in a beautiful photo by Steve Brown. The Delacorte will be welcoming audiences again when Tony winning director Daniel Sullivan returns to Shakespeare in the Park with one of the Bard's most rarely produced plays, TROILUS AND CRESSIDA, July 19 - August 14th.

Directed by Phyllida Lloyd, The Public's Free Shakespeare in the Park all-female production of The Taming of the Shrew began performances on May 24 and is part of the global 400th anniversary celebration of William Shakespeare's life and death. The free production officially opened June 13 and will run through Sunday, June 26.

The complete cast of The Taming of the Shrew features CAndy Buckley(Vincentio); Donna Lynne Champlin (Hortensio); Rosa Gilmore (Lucentio); Judy Gold (Gremio); LaTanya Richardson Jackson (Baptista); Cush Jumbo (Katherina); Teresa Avia Lim (Biondello); Janet McTeer (Petruchio); Adrienne C. Moore (Tranio); Anne L. Nathan (Pedant); Gayle Rankin (Bianca); Pearl Rhein (Ensemble); Leenya Rideout (Ensemble); Jackie Sanders (Ensemble); and Stacey Sargeant (Grumio).

This summer, the Tony nominated director Phyllida Lloyd turns Shakespeare's zany comedy of the sexes The Taming of the Shrew on its head, with an all-female cast and a bold new take. Lovely Bianca is the prize to be won by all the men looking to land themselves a wealthy wife. But the competitors will first have to marry off Bianca's clever, fiery older sister, Katherina played by Olivier nominee Cush Jumbo, who may just outsmart them all. Tony and Olivier winner Janet McTeer plays Petruchio, the wild outsider Katherina must outwit, in Shakespeare's original screwball comedy showing the lengths men will go to for their legacy, what women will do to break free and the outrageous things we all do for the human heart.