#PickoftheWeek | Kevin Spacey is Clarence Darrow at Arthur Ashe Stadium
BY QEDC It's In Queens
Watch the trial of the century in the most famous tennis stadium in the country.
Two-time Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey will offer two presentations of a one-man play about legendary lawyer Clarence Darrow at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows Corona Park on June 15 and June 16.
Darrow gained fame by advocating on behalf of various unions for their right to strike and representing Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, University of Chicago students who kidnapped and murdered a 14-year-old boy in 1924 in an attempt to carry out the “perfect crime” and demonstrate their intellectual superiority. He also successfully defended Ossian Davis, an African-American physician who fought back against an attacking white mob in 1925, but he is best known for representing Tennessee substitute high school teacher John Scopes, who was accused of violating state law by teaching the Theory of Evolution in class in 1925.
Scopes was found guilty and fined $100, but the verdict was later overturned due to a technicality. Nevertheless, what became known as the “Scopes Monkey Trial” drew fervent national attention at a time when believers of the Biblical version of creation were fighting with Evolution proponents.
Spacey, who has Oscar, Tony, and Olivier awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is currently riding a wave of popularity due to his portrayal of Francis Underwood, a ruthless Southern congressman who ascends to the presidency by hook and crook, in the blockbuster Netflix series House of Cards. He said that he first became enthralled with The Scopes Monkey Trial when he was in high school. He has played Darrow several times, most recently in The Old Vic Theatre in London, England.
As part of the play’s announcement, Spacey stated: “Clarence Darrow was one of the most important attorneys in the United States and I just love the idea of Darrow and Arthur Ashe coming together: both masters of two very different courts.”
This is the first time the Arthur Ashe Stadium has been transformed into an outdoor theater. Both shows are set for 8 pm. Ticket prices start at $59.
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