Local Flavor: Park Play House

From time to time, I like to talk about the local flavor of the place I live.  While my city is pretty great, it is also awesome to be so close to the Capital District.  Albany has tons to offer and one of my favorite places is Washington Park.  There are playgrounds, a pond and an outdoor theater.  Each winter brings Lights in the Park, each spring Tulip Fest, and every summer for the past 25 years, amazing productions by the Park Playhouse.

I've been going with my family for as long as I can remember.  We'd pack up the blankets, chairs and card games and get there early to sit in the amphitheater seats that are free to the public.  We'd usually grab subs on the way and once we were old enough, we could to dip into the wine or margaritas our parents would pack.  It was always the one of the best parts of summer. Now that I am older and don't have my parents to plan for me, Mike and I usually end up in the paid seats since we don't have to get there early.  The paid seats are very reasonably priced.  The rows of seats run between $14 and $16.  Just last year, they started adding special "table seats" for certain productions.  We missed out on the table seats that were actually part of the set for Cabaret last year but booked table seats this year. There was actually a Knight waiting on patrons during intermission!

Table Seats, life is good

The productions themselves are incredible.  Many think of it as community theater but while community theater is well and good, many of the actors in these productions are professionals which takes the show to a whole new level.  This year there are two shows, Monty Python's Spamalot for the month of July and Shrek for the month of August.

  Spamalot was so incredible that Mike and I went back on the last night, braved the rain and sat in the free seats to just see it again.  I feel like we have seen so many "heavy" plays this winter that left me crying at certain points that I was glad this show just produced tears of laughter!

I would totally recommend going to see Shrek in August, which should be just as funny! Take the kids with you, they definitely won't forget it!  Tickets are available online http://www.parkplayhouse.com/ or free if you are prepared to go early.  If the weather is good and it is getting toward the end of the run or a weekend, I would suggest going at least 3 hours early.  Mid week,  you might be able to get away with 1.5 to 2 hours early.  

I didn't take any pictures in the rain,but here are a few from the first night we went.