Public Record (Public Works)

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This year’s Public Works’ production of Public Record at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park is a tribute and celebration to New York and the people who live in all five boroughs, with 100 cast members singing, dancing and recounting their lives. Originally created by Dan Canham and Emily Lim for the National Theatre, Sunderland, in the United Kingdom, it has now been revised and rewritten to represent New York by Lisa Sanaye Dring. The NY version incorporates the stories of many of its performers, including that of guest artists Louis Cato, Maya Margarita, DJ Papi Juice, Arun Ramamurthy and music supervisor and orchestrator Michael Thurber. At each of the five performances from September 4 – 8, the evening is recorded live and will be preserved by the New York Public Library of the Performing Arts.

The evening is also made possible by partner organizations: Brownsville Recreation Center, Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education, Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, Children’s Aid, Domestic Workers United, DreamYard, The Fortune Society, Hunts Point Alliance for Children and Military Resilience Foundation and P.U.S.H. Dance Company, as well as Citizens Bank, their presenting partner. The cast made up almost entirely of amateur performers represent ages seven to 84 plus one baby born on the day of the show and introduced via video.

Directed by Emily Lim, and co-directed and choreographed by Dan Canham, Public Record is at times amateurish, and others incredibly moving, telling the amazing stories of its residents and depicting the range of the eight million people who call New York City home. The show is divided into eleven parts labeled “Tracks” with a Karaoke coda as an encore. Each is introduced by new hosts from the ensemble casts; some of the sections are musical, others are dance, still others are dramatic presentations.

The evening’s first sequence, “An Opening” presents guest artist Louis Cato (on guitar) singing “Hold to the Moment” and then five hosts introduce us to land we are on, formerly the all-Black community of Seneca Village it had been the land of the Lenapes for 2,500 years. Next Track Two (“Here We Are”), a dance number with the entire cast, informs us that the performers are from all five boroughs of New York City. In Track Three (“Local Knowledge”), various hosts describe typical New York moments ranging from sounds to sights.

The incredibly moving “Birth Certificate” (Track Four) introduces various performers as to their names and where they were born. This includes Gladys Ellington, the oldest at age 84, a mother and daughter, Doreen and Yizanne McGill, two twins, Isabellah and Sansaray Ebanks, now age 17, and Selena Xie, the youngest on stage at age seven – except for the video of the baby born that very day at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens. This is followed by each of them stating their wishes for the rest of us from joy to healing quickly from your first heartbreak and having a good life.

Following from there, Track Five (“Marriage Certificate”) introduces Nancy and Eric Pierre who tell the story of their wedding and struggle having children. Then a series of performers tell their own unique marriage and wedding stories plus their on-going commitments. Track Six (“After Dark”) is a dance number sung by guest artist Maya Margarita and played by DJ Papi Juice. “Tribute Act” (Track Seven) enumerates all the nightspots in New York that are no more from Miss Alma Hueston’s memories of a 1960’s basement party in Bed Stuy to Manhattan’s Limelight to Brooklyn Mirage.

Track Eight dubbed “Death Certificate” is not depressing as various performers relate how they wish to be remembered: among them Emily Garcia-Fantine who started a ballet program in the Bronx, and Ms. Vivian Jett, known as “The Diva” and celebrated as “the Black Lucille Ball,” who served 46-years with the New York City Parks Department. As they exit the stage, each one states what they expect to leave behind.

This is followed by an energetic dance number called Track Nine (“What Cmes Next”) by the young dancers of P.U.S.H. Dance Company accompanied by violinist Arun Ramamurthy. The next to the last Track Ten named “Lovesong” includes guest artist Arturo O’Farrill recounting the six nationalities that he and his wife represent, before Mireya Ramos sings Kander and Ebb’s “New York, New York” in Spanish. Then 13 performers tell us their origin stories from many different places in the world, proving New York is still a melting pot.

Track Eleven named “An Ending” includes Louis Cato again singing “Hold to the Moment” while various hosts recount the jobs that the cast work at:  educators, immigrants, native New Yorkers, nature lovers, idealists, pragmatists, organizers, a construction worker, trans people, healers, domestic workers, boyfriends, a part-time detective, two pastors, a retired probation officer, queer people, students, one retired subway train operator, widows, first generation Americans, elders, Justice impacted people, social workers, tias, one wedding DJ, veterans and artists. After the curtain call, music supervisor Michael Thurber offers a last track: Ms. Jett leads the audience in a Whitney Houston sing-along of “I Want to Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” with the entire cast dressed in costume designer Rodrigo Muñoz’s sparkly sequined jackets in many colors.

Ultimately, Public Record is inspiring and optimistic about our future. Not only does the show give 100 performers a showcase and a stage, but the five audiences go out in good spirits after an evening of music, dance and story. As we were told at the beginning of the evening, this is one of the first productions of an original play at the Delacorte.

Public Record (September 4 – 8, 2026)

The Public Theater

Public Works

Delacorte Theater, enter at 81st Street and Central Park West or 79th Street and Fifth Avenue, in Manhattan

Five ways to get free tickets: distributed at Noon at the Delacorte Box Office to those on prior line, Downtown Distribution Lottery at The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street at Astor Place, by Mobile Ticket Lottery powered by TodayTix at http://www.publictheater.org, in person distribution at locations throughout the five boroughs on day of select performances, or In-Person Standby Line in Central Park after six PM.

Running time: one hour and 30 minutes without an intermission