Actors, Writers, Academics Bring Electoral Politics To Life 5/19 At Cooper Union

Great Evenings in The Great Hall- An eight-part series from April 2009- February 2010 created by The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art "ELECTORAL POLITICS" A singular multi-media event featuring live performances

For 150 years, thousands have come to Cooper Union's Great Hall to protest or promote political change in New York City and across the nation: from Theodore Roosevelt and Fiorello LaGuardia to, more recently, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Reliving some of those momentous times in American politics, Great Evenings in The Great Hall presents "Electoral Politics"-an exciting multi-media event featuring a cast of notable New Yorkers: author, journalist and political pundit Fred Siegel, CUNY professor Frances Fox Piven, actors Rutanya Alda (Bella Abzug), Jason Griffith (Henry George), Simon Kendall (Theodore Roosevelt) James Ludwig (Narrator), Darren Matthais (Peter Cooper) Eric Morris ((William F. Havemeyer) and John O'Creagh (Boss Tweed) reenacting portions of these powerful and pioneering Great Hall speeches. Broadway tunes with electoral themes will be interwoven into the program. The festivities conclude with a montage of Great Hall political figures, including presidential-hopeful Barack Obama. Michael Unger directs; conductor/pianist Amy Duran provides the music. This free performance takes place on Tuesday, May 19th at 6:30 PM at The Cooper Union - The Great Hall, 7 East 7th Street at Third Avenue. For more information, call 212.353.4195 or visit www.cooper.edu.

Since 1859, the Great Hall has been a preeminent stage for pioneering individuals whose views reshaped society. Each of the eight programs in the "Great Evenings in the Great Hall" yearlong series will focus on one area of protest, reform, or education to be reenacted by notable New York actors, writers and historians.

GREAT EVENINGS IN THE GREAT HALL SCHEDULE 2009-2010

April 21, 2009 Abolitionism
May 19, 2009 Electoral Politics
Sept. 17, 2009 Workers' Rights
Oct. 15, 2009 Science & Technology
Nov. 19, 2009 Women's Suffrage and Women's Rights
Dec. 1, 2009 Art & Literature
Jan. 21, 2010 Radical Politics
Feb. 25, 2010 Abraham Lincoln in The Great Hall