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We get off at 81st Street, right?
a woman who has just boarded my C train in Brooklyn on Monday night asks another woman.
81st street is, coincidentally, where Im headed.
Its Greco-Roman via Anthropologie.
I lean over and ask.
Hercules.The low-keybest Disney moviethat never got its day in the sun.
It also means tickets are free and in insanely high demand.
In previous years, distribution of those Public Works tickets was first come, first served.
People lined up for multiday stretches, arriving with inflatable couches and coolers and umbrellas.
This year, the Public tried something new, lotterying off tickets online the week before opening night.
Winners were alerted three days before the run started.
Youll want to make a Public Theater patron account in advance.
From 7:10 right up until curtain time, a Public staffer draws names.
I put my name in and started chatting.
Herculesis my second-favorite, he says.
BehindHunchback of Notre Dame.
Greg saw it, naturally.)
A Public Works regular, Greg used to be among those who camped out for tickets.
April, an actress who is friends with Greg, tells me shes planning to lose.
Ally, who is in film PR, is jetting off to Toronto for TIFF this week.
Shes optimistic the show will transfer to Broadway down the road, so shes not too worried.
(Those involved with the show have said there are currently no plans for a larger run.)
Theres ample excitement in the air.
One of the kids, a little girl, was apparently dressed in a full Megara costume.
I secretly hope the lottery was rigged just for them.
(Two of them met in a middle-school production ofJoseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.)
Michael explains his theory while we wait: There are three categories of ALW musicals, he says.
The ones you see for the star in the lead:Evita.
A Public employee on a megaphone announces things are about to get underway.
Who put thegladingladiator, he shouts.
HERCULES, the crowd replies.
There are roughly 800 people gathered in the park, waiting with bated breath to hear their number called.
People will do crazy things when theyre in love … with an iconic, gospel-backed movie musical.
Which means my odds of winning while standing outside are likely better than they were online.
(The Public did not respond to prior request for comment on the digital lottery entries.)
Or, at least, this is what the standby veterans tell me.
Theyve started to recognize each other.
Its a tense but joyful hour.
Her clothes remain fully intact.
Marisa wins, too.
People gasp, whoop, scream, and occasionally cry when they hear their numbers called.
There are miniature heartbreaks when numbers are misheard.
The Public Theater does a great job organizing the chaos.
(Herculestickets being, clearly, of equal importance.)
When the staffers arrive with more tickets, we all cheer.
Our hope extends a little longer with each new pair that might become ours.
By the time the final numbers are called, its dark out.
People are sitting on the damp grass, looking much more weary than when we started.
My own personal torture involved hearing several numbers just before and after mine called, but never my own.
Even without the visual, my face is lightly melted by the riffing, and thaaats the gooooospel TrUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuUUUUth.
Im a little misty.
(Alan Menken and David Zippel wrote five new songs, and I simply must hear them!)
We are worms, worthless worms.
An earlier version of this story described the woman in the flower crowns outfit as Greco-Roman via Forever 21.
The woman in question reached out to inform Vulture, THE TOP IS FROM ANTHROPOLOGIE I SWEAR.
Vulture regrets the error.
