Every morning between early August and mid-September, hundreds of people wake up at the crack of dawn and wait outside Central Park’s famed Delacorte Theater for a slim chance at free tickets to see big stars in Shakespeare in the Park productions.

But for about 50 years, there's been one performance line-waiters have been guaranteed to see: Garald Farnham playing the lute.

On a recent morning, the line for "Twelfth Night" tickets snaked from the theater near 80th Street several blocks up around a path near the Great Lawn. While the line didn’t officially open until 6 a.m., some people at the front said they had started waiting outside the park at midnight.

At 8:30 a.m., Farnham started his busking routine. He was eager to entertain the captive audience.

“It’s a crazy time to sing,” he

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