Community ensemble members in “The Tempest” at the Public Theater in 2013, directed by Lear deBessonet (photo by Joan Marcus)

3. In 2013, Director Lear deBessonet teamed up with musician/actor Todd Almond to produce a trimmed-down musical version as a special free event for the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park. They didn’t stop there: They also incorporated taiko drumming, mariachi dancing, Broadway regulars Norm Lewis and Laura Benanti, and a cast of 200 New Yorkers (most of them not actors) to turn this “Tempest” into a celebration of the diversity and the magic of New York City.