Video: See Lin-Manuel Miranda & More on the Red Carpet of A BRIEF INTERMISSION at The Delacorte Theater

There's nothing like telling a story to the people of New York

with Belvedere Castle at your back and the moon and the stars above you

It's magical. I'm so thrilled. This is New York City, Central Park, the Delacorte Theatre

This is what I dreamed of when I was a kid. Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World

This fall, the Public Theatre will launch an 18-month renovation of the legendary Delacorte Theatre in Central Park, the largest in its history

so that it can return as a more accessible theatre for all in 2025

And I'm here at the Delacorte for the one-night-only benefit called a brief intermission, where I caught up with many of the stars who have played the park

This is the last performance we're going to do in the Delacorte before we close down for 18 months to do a complete renovation of the place

When we reopen in the summer of 2025, it's going to be absolutely gorgeously refreshed

This theatre is at the center of New York City, both geographically and culturally

It's the place, because it's free, that everybody can come and sit shoulder to shoulder

no matter how much money you have or don't have. Wealth doesn't matter in here

What matters is to come together as a community, see these incredible productions

and by enjoying them together, feel like you're part of the same city

And that sense of creating a collective is really important to us

We are not only enjoying Freestyle Love Supreme, its original cast that is here

They have been together now for over two decades. But we are saying bye to the Delacorte the way it looks today

and welcoming a new Delacorte 90 million dollars later. It will be accessible, it will be great for actors and for staff

and it will have a great experience for everyone who comes to a Delacorte for free every single year

It was really exciting. Actually, you know, it's funny, the first time I met Oscar Eustace many, many years ago

I was actually pitching him the Hamilton mixtape as a concert, because it wasn't a show yet

And I was like, could we maybe, if I ever finish writing this thing, could we premiere it at the Delacorte

That was so, so I've always dreamed of performing here, and the fact that I get to do it with my friends is really exciting

And the importance of the public theater, I know it means a lot to you, because of Hamilton and everything else, what this organization means to you

Yeah, well, even before I had any involvement with it, it's always been at the vanguard of American theater, from Hair to Free Shakespeare in the Park

I mean, Joe Papp's legacy is very much still with us. But just the shows, I mean, from Fun Home to Passing Strange to

it's such an incredible track record and an incredible place to nurture emerging artists

So I'm really proud to support them and perform in this show before they

in this venue before they renovate it. This is the best night ever. I mean, first of all, it's hot, which is, for me, a good thing

It's the summer, it's August, but it's bringing back a lot of memories for me

This is, I think, one of the most exciting things in New York, Shakespeare in the Park. This theater is one of the most exciting things in New York

Well, the Delacorte, yeah, on the town, Shakespeare for free, back in the day

Joe, Joe Papp, yeah, yeah, we're still alive and kicking. Not only is it my favorite stage and theater to perform in and on

but it's my favorite place to be a member of an audience witnessing theater

Truly, my very favorite. Years ago, a photographer friend of mine was doing a piece about

New Yorkers and their favorite place in the city, and mine was on this

and it took a picture of me lying on the Delacorte stage. So I love it

Now, you've done a lot of shows here. What have you enjoyed the most about always coming back here to play at the Delacorte

The audience, yeah, the audience, yes. And it used to be, and I think it still maybe is

that you would be riding your bike into the theater from either side of the park

and there would be people sitting on the benches saying, you know

be good tonight, you know, we waited all afternoon. Or for overnight to see you in something

Yeah, yeah. Oh, it's incredible. I mean, the public theater, as a young actor growing up in the 80s

was the most important theater that one can aspire to as a New York actor

And I was so lucky that Joseph Papp coached me when I was doing

he was doing the marathon of doing all the Shakespeare's plays, and I was playing Puck

and he tried to coach me to help me fit in. And, you know, we went through the whole thing, how to pronounce it, how to, you know

if you feel the tempest in your bones and all that, and he left, and then I went back to doing it my way

It's really exciting to be here. You know, it is something that's been long underway to, you know

keep this beautiful, stunning, magical place going, and to give it the time it needs to be, you know, restored

And so it's really exciting to say goodbye and say hello at the same time

because it's something so spectacular is about to happen here. I love seeing plays in the park

We really love the Public Works project that happens at the end of the summer

We were here for the Tempest. My favorite was the Twelfth Night that Shana Tobe wrote the music for

It really reminds you what amateur means from the heart, and my heart just bursts and soars and sings all at the same time

when I see those Public Works projects. I love them. What was the craziest memory of that summer for you

I mean, just like being roommates with raccoons, the baby raccoons would like crawl onto the stage in the middle of it

Thunderstorms, heat waves. But my favorite part was drinking champagne every night with Margaret Cullen and Lauren Ambrose

We shared a dressing room and the three of us just had a nightly ritual

before we went off out of the park on home. Yeah. I think nothing's better than theater under the stars and the elements

and to be able to have that here in New York City with everybody pulling, it's kind of fun to sit back and chill out

with everybody who really has come to enjoy themselves and do what theater's supposed to do, be for everybody. Yeah

Everything, everything, everything is better outside. Yeah, yeah. Food tastes better outside

Theater is better outside. Huh? Interviews are better outside. Interviews are better outside