On Thursday, February 25, 2010, the final performance of The Cooper Union's Great Evenings in The Great Hall will celebrate the 150th anniversary of The Cooper Union and the 150th anniversary of presidential-hopeful Abraham Lincoln's pivotal proclamation "Right Makes Might." Widely considered the turning point for the still-obscure Illinois senator, Lincoln's forceful appearance at The Cooper Union in February 1860 is credited with helping him secure the nomination for president. His stirring speech has proven to be one of the most influential presentations ever given in The Great Hall, a peerless host of American culture and political discourse.
Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Richard Dreyfuss (Jaws, The Goodbye Girl, Close Encounters) will lead a cast of acclaimed actors in voicing the powerful words that changed the nation, including Tony nominee and Emmy and Obie awards winner André De Shields (The Wiz, The Full Monty); Tony nominee and Drama Desk and Obie awards winner Kathleen Chalfant (Angels in America, Wit); and film actor, Tony nominee and Drama Desk award winner Stephen Lang (Avatar, The Speed of Darkness). Lincoln scholar and co-chairman of the United States Lincoln Bicentennial Commission Harold Holzer will introduce the evening of fiery oration filled with period music to heighten the drama. Accomplished theater veteran Michael Unger will helm the production. Unger has directed several other performances of Great Evenings in The Great Hall, including the moving Art and Literature and the dynamic Radical Politics.Videos