Before the crowd at the opening night of Shakespeare in the Park enjoyed "Hamlet," they enjoyed, at a pre-show supper that raised $1.5 million, speeches inspired by "Hamlet."

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"To sponsor or not to sponsor?" the president of Bank of America's private wealth division, Alan Rappaport, said, referring to the financial support the bank gives to the Public Theater's presentation of Shakespeare in the Park. The answer was a definitive yes.

Mayor Bloomberg could have talked about what he will or will not do after his term as mayor ends, but he didn't. Instead, he talked about "another prince of Denmark" the city will soon have in addition to Hamlet: the Danish artist Olafur Eliasson, whose public-art waterfalls will debut next Thursday.

The designer David Rockwell pulled off a direct quotation: "We know what we are, but we know not what we may be." Mr. Rockwell, a board member of the Public, said, to describe the discoveries he has made since attending his first Shakespeare in the Park production, "The Taming of the Shrew," in the summer of 1978.

The actor who played "Hamlet," Michael Stuhlbarg, spoke to me at the party after the show, held at Belvedere Castle.

"I feel like I grew up here," Mr. Stuhlbarg said of Shakespeare in the Park, where he's been performing since 1992. "This is my first lead role. I feel very blessed."

agordon@nysun.com