DOCUMENTS OF HOPE AND RESISTANCE
Inspired by Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States
READINGS + MUSIC BY:
Rosario Dawson / Ariana DeBose / Stephanie Hsu
Valerie June / L Morgan Lee
Martha Redbone + Aaron Whitby
Marisa Tomei / M. Ward
Kerry Washington / DJ Laylo
Ted Lambert, Executive Director
Melay Araya, Artistic Director
Jeff Mann, Marketing Director
Alex Koveos, Digital Media Manager
Carl Acampora, Production Manager
Dennis Rakauckas, Graphic Designer
Kacey Fassett, Publicist
Steven Swartz, Publicist
Inspired by the original Voices of a People’s History of the United States, edited by Arnove and Zinn (1922–2010), this new book features speeches, essays, poems, and calls to action from Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, Indigenous struggles, immigrant rights activists, the environmental movement, disability justice organizers, and frontline workers during the global pandemic who spoke out against the life-threatening conditions of their labor. Together, their words remind us that history is made not only by the rich and powerful, but by ordinary people taking collective action.
Voices of a People’s History of the United States in the 21st Century includes contributions from Angela Y. Davis, Nick Estes, Colin Kaepernick, Rebecca Solnit, Christian Smalls, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Howard Zinn, Rev. William Barber, Bree Newsome, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Tarana J. Burke, Dream Defenders, Sins Invalid, Mariame Kaba, Naomi Klein, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Linda Sarsour, Chelsea E. Manning, Chrishaun “CeCe” McDonald, Julian Brave NoiseCat, H. Melt, and others.
Marisa Tomei said, “I am thrilled that, 20 years after my first performance with the late Howard Zinn, I can join such a talented cast to highlight these vital voices and continue his important legacy.”
“We are so excited to bring this performance to a stage that has been home to Lorraine Hansberry, Paul Robeson, and so many other artists who spoke out against injustice in their day and inspired countless movements for social change,” said Anthony Arnove, who is directing the performance.
This event is produced by Town Hall and Voices of a People’s History, in association with Civic Bakery.
Town Hall is a 1,500-seat, 501C3 nonprofit national historic landmark venue in the heart of New York City, created by suffragists in 1921 and host to countless cultural and musical milestones.
Voices of a People’s History is a 501C3 nonprofit arts and education organization. By giving public expression to rebels, dissenters, and visionaries from our past—and present—Voices seeks to educate and inspire a new generation working for social justice.
Civic Bakery is a 501c3 organization that produces entertainment with a purpose at the nexus of popular culture, media, and social change.
Rosario Dawson is an actor, producer, designer, and activist. She is extremely passionate about helping empower LatinX millennials to vote and lead, so in 2004 she co-founded Voto Latino. The organization has registered more than one million people to vote and was one of the co-founders of National Voter Registration Day. In 2021, Rosario joined as an advisory council member to the Smithsonian Women’s Museum, dedicated to creating a new federal museum honoring women and their histories. This past year, Dawson filmed Ahsoka Tano for Disney’s Star Wars Universe. She has appeared in several performances of Voices, and appears in the documentary The People Speak.
Ariana DeBose is an award-winning actress known for her varying roles onstage and in film and television. DeBose is best known for her groundbreaking performance in Steven Spielberg’s reimagining of West Side Story, for which she received an Academy Award, along with BAFTA, Critics Choice and SAG Awards for her star-turning role as Anita. Her performance has received universal critical acclaim, with Variety calling her a “radiant force of nature” and Forbes writing, “Ariana DeBose shines in an absolutely star-making performance.” In winning her Oscar, she became the first openly queer Afro Latina to win an Academy Award.
Stephanie Hsu is an accomplished actress and performer, known for her record-breaking work in Everything Everywhere All at Once as “Joy/Jobu Tupaki,” which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, for which she won a SAG Award (Best Ensemble) for her work as “Mei.” She has also originated roles in SpongeBob the Musical as “Karen The Computer” and Be More Chill on Broadway as “Christine Canigula,” and is set to appear in several upcoming projects, including American Born Chinese and the Untitled Adele Lim project.
Valerie June is a Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Tennessee. She’s been hailed by The New York Times as one of America’s “most intriguing, fully formed new talents.” She has recorded three critically acclaimed, best-selling solo albums and has also written songs for legendary artists such as Mavis Staples and The Blind Boys of Alabama. She is also the author of the children’s book Somebody to Love: The Story of Valerie June’s Sweet Little Baby Banjolele, published by Jack White’s Third Man Books. When she’s not touring, she splits her time between Tennessee and New York.
L Morgan Lee is a Tony-nominated actress and storyteller known for her history-making turn in A Strange Loop on Broadway. In London, she was seen playing famed artist, Lili Elbe in a musical adaptation of The Danish Girl, currently in development. Other work includes over a decade of Off-Broadway, regional, international/national concerts and tours. In the studio, L Morgan was the voice of Ornate Williams in Sugar Maple (Osiris Media) and Julia in Playwrights Horizons’ upcoming Soundstage play, The BachelorX. Albums: Joe Iconis’ album (Ghostlight Records), The Rainbow Lullaby Album (Broadway Records). For more: lmorganlee.com.
Martha Redbone is a multi-award-winning vocalist/songwriter/ composer/educator and one of today’s vital voices in American Roots music. Martha’s storytelling sings of her life experience as a Black/Native American woman and mother navigating in the new millennium. With her longtime collaborator/husband Aaron Whitby and family band, Redbone’s music gives voice to issues of social justice, connecting cultures, and celebrating the human spirit. Redbone and Whitby are the 2020 Drama Desk Award Winner for Outstanding Music in a Play with Original Music and Score for the Public Theater revival of for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuff by the late Ntozake Shange. She serves on the board of Voices.
Marisa Tomei received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for My Cousin Vinny. She earned her second Academy Award Nomination for In the Bedroom and her third for The Wrestler. Tomei’s diverse credits include Slums of Beverly Hills, Welcome to Sarajevo, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Big Short, and Spider-Man: Homecoming. On stage, Tomei starred on Broadway in Tracy Letts’s The Realistic Joneses’ and Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls.. Tomei has appeared in numerous performances of Voices, including its first-ever staging at the 92nd Street Y in New York City in February 2003, and appears in the documentary The People Speak.
A prolific writer, producer, and performer, M. Ward has established himself as one of modern American music’s most unique and versatile voices. Rolling Stone has hailed him a “folk hero;” The Guardian has praised him as “a maverick auteur who draws upon blues, folk, country and art-rock, and is equally adept within each genre.” He has partnered with Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Jim James to form the beloved supergroup Monsters of Folk, paired with Zooey Deschanel for six records as She & Him, and has worked in the studio and on the road with the likes of Mavis Staples, Jenny Lewis, Norah Jones, Cat Power, Neko Case, Lucinda Williams, Peter Buck, and countless others.
Emmy-winning, SAG and Golden Globe-nominated actor, director and producer Kerry Washington is a versatile and fearless multi-hyphenate who has received high acclaim for her work in film, television and theater. She is a lifelong advocate and activist dedicated to using her voice to help ensure that all eligible Americans—particularly those who have been historically underrepresented—are engaged and empowered to affect change in their communities. Washington has served on President Obama’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, and is a co-chair of Mrs. Obama’s When We All Vote campaign and is the Founder of Influence Change, a strategic initiative to increase voter turnout. Washington has appeared in numerous performances of Voices and appears in the documentary The People Speak.
Aaron Whitby is a multi-award-winning record producer, composer, songwriter, pianist, and engineer known for his work with an array of noteworthy artists, including George Clinton, Natalie Cole, Randy Brecker. Whitby is best known for his work with his longtime collaborator and wife, Martha Redbone; together, their credits include Revelation by Flannery O’Connor, directed by Karin Coonrod; HUMAN, an exploration in puppetry directed by Nehprii Ameni; Stars— Privacy in the Digital Age in 5-Minute Plays, commissioned by the New York Theater Workshop and Goethe Institute, and many more. Whitby and Redbone are recipients of Creative Capital awardees, the New England Foundation for the Arts Award, MAPFund, and National Performance
(director, producer, and narrator) is the editor of several books, including, with Howard Zinn, Voices of a People’s History of the United States and Terrorism and War. He wrote the introduction for the thirty-fifth anniversary edition of Zinn’s classic book A People’s History of the United States. Arnove cofounded the nonprofit education and arts organization Voices of a People’s History of the United States, wrote, directed, and produced the documentary The People Speak, and has directed stage and television versions of The People Speak internationally. He produced the Academy Award–nominated documentary Dirty Wars. He was named one of the Frederick Douglass 200, “a project to honor the impact of 200 living individuals who best embody the work and spirit of Douglass” today.
(narrator) is a socialist activist living in Queens, New York. They have participated in struggles against police brutality and mass incarceration, in solidarity with Palestine, in defense of abortion rights and reproductive justice, and as a legal service worker and union delegate for 1199SEIU (Service Employees International Union). Pessin has spoken at conferences in Switzerland, Australia, Ireland, Quebec, and throughout the United States on the struggle for Black liberation. Their writing has appeared in New Politics and at Tempestmag.org, where they currently serve on the editorial board.
“Howard Zinn made a unique contribution to civilizing the country. This collection of inspiring voices from the struggles is a fitting complement to his incomparable legacy.” — Noam Chomsky
“Documenting two decades of activism from Occupy Wall Street to the #MeToo movement to the uprisings for Black lives and a resurgent labor movement, these urgent, vibrant voices are a bulwark against hopelessness and a reminder that always and everywhere, even under the harshest conditions, people organize collectively on behalf of a more just world. Facing state-sanctioned murder, Troy Davis calls on supporters to keep pushing for an end to the death penalty. When COVID-19 plunges the planet into a public health crisis, Christian Smalls demands stronger workplace protections and a union for Amazon’s ‘essential workers.’ In the wake of ongoing and intensifying police violence, Mariame Kaba pushes for abolition. In gathering the words of these and dozens more activists and authors, Arnove and Pessin offer a crucial contribution to a historical record and an essential antidote to despair.” — Emily Drabinski, American Library Association President, 2023–24; Critical Pedagogy Librarian, Graduate Center, City University of New York
“A profound collection. I bounded back and forth through the book, proud to see my peers, shocked by many of the new voices, comforted by old ones. This bracing and essential edition of Voices slices through the blare of the demagogues and disinformation merchants with their clear-ringing words of truth, power, and clarity. This new century, with its clamorous dangers, horrors, and threats, has also brought us so many fresh new voices of hope. Let this radiant multitude ground you, renew you, and rouse you to making the expansive world we all want.” — Jeff Chang, author of Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
THE TOWN HALL FOUNDATION
The Town Hall’s mission is to provide affordable world-class entertainment by new and established artists to a diverse audience; to inspire the youth of our community to appreciate and participate in the arts at The Town Hall and in schools through our Education Outreach Program; and to preserve and enhance The Town Hall as a historic landmark venue for the enjoyment and cultural enrichment of generations to come.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
PRESIDENT
Tom Wirtshafter
PRESIDENT EMERITUS
Marvin Leffler
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
Susan Zohn
GENERAL COUNSEL
Ellen Miller-Wachtel
TRUSTEES
Teniola Adedipe
Shauna Denkensohn
Anne Frank-Shapiro
John A. Jenkins
David F. McCarthy
Natalie Moreno
Rita Robbins
Madhu Southworth
Timothy Stambaugh
Nevin Steinberg
LIFE TRUSTEES
Phyllis Putter Barasch
Leona Chanin
Mary Dettling-Wright
Alfred H. Horowitz
Bruce S. Leffler
THE TOWN HALL STAFF
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Ted Lambert
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Melay Araya
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING
Jeff Mann
DIRECTOR OF MEMBERSHIP, SUBSCRIPTIONS AND ADMINISTRATION
Helen Morris
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
Donna Banks, PhD
DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION
Jocelyn Bonadio-de Freitas
DIRECTOR OF BOOKING AND EVENTS
Paul Cameron Hardy
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Bill Dehling
VICE PRESIDENT
Nevin Steinberg
TREASURER
David McCarthy
SECRETARY
Rita Robbins
WARNING
The photographing or sound recording of any performance or the possession of any device for such photographing or sound recording inside the theatre without the written permission of the management is prohibited by law. Violators may be punished by ejection and violations may render the offender liable for monetary damages.
FIRE NOTICE
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Kathleen Rosenberg, Chair
Nancy Berman
Sandy Horowitz
Elizabeth Iannizzi
Candace Leeds
Zita Rosenthal
Rhoda Rothkopf
ARTS IN EDUCATION
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Dr. Sharon Dunn
Michael Fram
Gary Hecht
Ernest Logan
Dr. Eloise Messineo
Dr. Lisa Mars
Dr. Pola Rosen
George Young
DIGITAL MEDIA MANAGER
Alex Koveos
BOX OFFICE MANAGER
Angel Rodriguez
CHIEF ENGINEER
Steve Franqui
HOUSE MANAGER
Johnny Lee Green
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Britni Montalbano
DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE
Tammy Renae Greer
EDUCATION ASSOCIATE
Ifemi Quiñones
PRODUCTION ASSOCIATE
Gloria Lee
The exit indicated by a red light and sign nearest to the seat you occupy is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire or other emergency please do not run, WALK TO THAT EXIT.
Thoughtless persons annoy patrons and endanger the safety of others by lighting matches or smoking in prohibited areas during the performances and intermissions. This violates a city ordinance and is punishable by law.
-FIRE COMMISSIONER
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Cell phones should be silenced prior to the performance as a courtesy to the performers and audience.
LOBBY REFRESHMENT BY Theatre Refreshment Company of NY
