The award-winning Ed Kinney “An Afternoon/Evening With …” speaker series developed by Pleasanton’s Museum on Main became popular far outside of the Tri-Valley area after it transitioned to an online program in response to the pandemic. This year the museum is hosting the 14th season of the Ed Kinney Speaker Series in person at the Firehouse Arts Center while continuing to make the series available online as well.

For 2023, “we have an exciting lineup, including Chautauqua actors and other performers portraying famous historical individuals such as courageous suffragist Alice Paul, powerful abolitionist Frederick Douglass, iconic singer Cass Elliot, fearless pilot Chuck Yeager, and brilliant author Mary Shelley," according to Rachel Brickell, Director of Education for the Museum on Main and the coordinator for the speaker series. “With demand so high, we recommend attendees purchase tickets well in advance. If an in-person performance is sold out, we offer a virtual viewing a week after the in-person performance. This ensures more people have a chance to experience the performance.”

“This community continues to embrace the performance style known as Chautauqua,” notes Executive Director Sarah Schaefer. “Chautauqua performances are a unique way for people, young and old alike, to engage with history. The performance style links acting and scholarship together to bring historical characters to life on stage. Chautauqua performers each do a monologue as the historical character and then answer audience questions as the character.”

For each month of the series, which runs from January through October, there will be an Afternoon with… performance at 2:00 pm and an Evening with…performance at 7:00 pm at the Firehouse Arts Center. More than 3,000 people attended last year’s lectures. The speaker series is named in honor of former Pleasanton Mayor Ed Kinney, who museum officials say is “remembered as a wonderful advocate for the city.” This year’s series also includes performers portraying historic presidential candidate Robert Kennedy; scientist Nikola Tesla, known as the “master of lightning;” popular poet Robert Frost; and legendary British prime minister Winston Churchill.

“I think what makes the series so special is that it brings so many diverse stories and disciplines to the Pleasanton audience,” says Schaefer. “As a participant in the series, you hear from scientists, artists, politicians, soldiers, explorers, pirates, royalty, artists, architects, musicians, poets, activists, and cultural icons. History, scholarship, and theater tie it all together and bring these diverse historical characters alive on stage. Then the icing on the cake is that the audience gets to break down the traditional theater experience and interact with the historical character during a live and unscripted question-and-answer period. It is a unique experience, and we are one of the few places on the West Coast doing this type of performance style on a consistent basis. It’s one of many things that sets Pleasanton’s theater scene apart.”

For more information about the 2023 Ed Kinney Speaker Series, please visit www.museumonmain.org/ed-kinney-series-an-evening-with.html. For more information about the Museum on Main, please visit www.museumonmain.org.