How To Steal an Election

Brown and Brand had the notion of Jazz Age President Calvin Coolidge materializing in the present day (that is, 1968). There he meets a couple of fervent young protesters, just back from the skull-cracking Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Disillusioned, these two protesters have no taste for the political machine. But what’s wrong with pragmatism, Coolidge wonders? What about learning to work within a corrupt system? Thus, Coolidge begins his history lesson, with vignettes and songs depicting cynical power grabs of yore. How to Steal an Election opened to rave reviews at Off-Broadway’s Pocket Theatre in 1968 and after 50 performances, the show was set to move to Broadway. But there was a glitch. According to Oscar Brand, the $80,000 lined up for the move was Mob money, and it would only be delivered after someone on the production helped with some securities laundering. Brand refused to cooperate; end of deal, end of production. How to Steal an Election will be directed by The York’s Associate Producing Director Joseph Hayward with choreography by Victoria Casillo and music direction by Miles Plant.