Just Before Election Day - October 28: Scenes from Mrs. President, an Opera by Victoria Bond

It's 1872, and Victoria Woodhull is the first woman to make a bid for the White House. Her story is the inspiration for Victoria Bond's opera, Mrs. President.

Just days before the election, scenes from Mrs. President, an opera by Victoria Bond, will be performed at the National Opera Center (330 7th Ave, NYC) on October 28 at 8:00 pm. Featuring the soprano Valerie Bernhardt as Victoria Woodhull and the tenor Scott Ramsay as Henry Ward Beecher, the high-powered preacher who is determined to destroy Woodhull, the cast also includes Katrina Thurman, Joy Hermalyn, Robert Osborne and Scott Joiner, with Naomi Lewin as narrator, Victoria Bond conducts. Tickets are $20 at the door.

In 19th century America, women didn't have the right to vote, much less run for president. But in 1872, Victoria Woodhull did just that, and, much more recently, has inspired an opera based on her life. In the opera Mrs. President, composer Victoria Bond and librettist Hilary Bell have crafted a seething drama of ambition and betrayal, which tells the story of Woodhull's visionary struggle to defy history and become the first female President of the United States.

The real-life Victoria Woodhull's story reads like a grand opera. Her run for president in 1872 was just the tip of the iceberg. She was a newspaper publisher, jailbird, stockbroker and proponent of free love. Despite her courage and persistence, Woodhull was viciously attacked by the conservative society in which she lived. This movement was spear-headed by the powerful and influential preacher, Henry Ward Beecher, pastor at Brooklyn's own Plymouth Church. Woodhull spent Election Day in prison, jailed for revealing Beecher's secret life, a sex scandal that ignited the public and the press.

The performance is followed by a free reception where the audience can meet the composer and performers. The event will be live-streamed worldwide.

MRS. PRESIDENT RESOURCES

• Learn about the real-life 19th century presidential candidate, Victoria Woodhull
• Read the synopsis of the opera Mrs. President
• Listen to excerpts from the opera
• More about the composer Victoria Bond
• Request an interview with Victoria Bond