FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Livermore Valley Arts
Contact: Ruth Egherman (925) 583-2306
A Wide Variety of Topics from Stars and Experts Opening the 2025
Bankhead Presents Rae Dorough Speaker Series at The Bankhead
Livermore, CA – (August 15, 2025) – Starting out the new year of the exciting continuing partnership where Bankhead Presents The Rae Dorough Speaker Series, Livermore Valley Arts is excited to share three thrilling speakers, covering a wide range of interests for the Tri-Valley. From a return visit from a needs-no-introduction, past Brilliance at The Bankhead star at As Long As You’re Asking—A Conversation with Jason Alexander on Friday, September 5, to the opportunity to join the former head of the Pentagon’s UFO Investigation Unit at Luis “Lue” Elizondo: Universal Truth, The Evidence is Clear: We Are Not Alone on Thursday, September 18, to a hunt for some of history’s greatest treasures and the pirates who ruled the ocean with archaeologist Lisa Briggs: A Pirate’s Life on Thursday, November 13, these three insightful speakers in the 2025—2026 RDSS season will provide insights into a wide array of interesting topics for the Tri-Valley; all of these fascinating evenings of conversation will take place right at the beautiful Bankhead Theater in Downtown Livermore.
A star whose name says it all, Bankhead Presents The Rae Dorough Speaker Series is proud to continue to elevate the names coming to the Tri-Valley with RDSS. As Long As You’re Asking – A Conversation with Jason Alexander is an evening of comedy, music, and conversation with the award-winning star of stage and screen, in which the audience determines what they want to know the most. Alexander will present a variety of topics for the audience to pick and choose, culminating in behind-the-scenes stories of his life, career, and social activism. Or ask about anything you’ve always wanted to know and see if he can answer. Alexander has starred on Broadway, in hit films like Pretty Woman and Shallow Hal, and, of course, Seinfeld. He is an actor, director, producer, writer, children’s book author, award-winning magician, semi-pro poker player, and social/political activist. It’s all on the table, and the conversation is completely in your control, making for a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Though best known for his award-winning, nine-year stint as the now iconic George Costanza of television’s Seinfeld, Jason Alexander has achieved international recognition for a career noted for its extraordinary diversity, from lauded performances on stage, screen, and television to his extensive works as a writer, composer, director, producer, and acting teacher. Jason began as a teenager doing commercials for television and radio. While still in college, he made his Broadway debut in the original cast of the Hal Prince/Stephen Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along. He continued starring on Broadway in the original casts of Kander and Ebb’s The Rink, Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound, Rupert Holmes’ Accomplice, and his Tony Award winning performance in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway. Jason also authored the libretto for that show, which won the Tony Award for Best Musical. His many films include Pretty Woman, Jacob’s Ladder, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Dunston Checks In, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Shallow Hal. Additionally, he directed the feature films For Better or Worse and Just Looking. He also directed television episodes of Seinfeld, Til Death, Everybody Hates Chris, Mike and Molly, Criminal Minds, and Franklin & Bash. His direction of Brad Paisley’s “Online” video won him a Country Music Award.
Aside from Seinfeld, Jason has starred and produced the series Bob Patterson, Listen Up and Hit the Road. Other notable roles are in Friends, Two and a Half Men, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Criminal Minds, Monk, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Young Sheldon. Jason tours the country as a speaker, comedian, and symphony artist. In his spare time, he is also an award-winning magician, children’s author, poker champion, political and social activist, martial artist, ceramicist, teacher, and a husband to artist Daena Title and proud dad of his sons, Gabriel and Noah. Audiences do not want to miss this unforgettable evening at The Bankhead on September 5, with a star of this renown coming again right to Livermore.
Luis “Lue” Elizondo is a former senior intelligence official and Counterintelligence Special Agent who was recruited into a strange and highly sensitive US Government program to investigate UAP incursions into sensitive military installations and airspace. To accomplish his mission, Elizondo had to rely on decades of experience gained working on some of America’s most sensitive and classified programs. Even then, he was not prepared for what he would learn,
and the truth about the government’s long, shadowy involvement in Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) investigations, and the lengths officials would go to keep them a secret. Lue’s new book, Imminent: Inside the Pentagon’s Hunt for UFOs (HarperCollins) published in August 2024, it immediately became a NY Times best-seller. He’s been all over the media, including a Joe Rogan appearance and write-up in The New York Times. Imminent is a first-hand, revelatory account inside the Pentagon’s most closely guarded secret and a call to action to confront humanity’s greatest existential questions. Luis Elizondo’s focus is to champion government transparency, including but not limited to disclosure of UAPs in a meaningful way to ensure transparency and accountability within Governments, and effect positive change for our society. With the belief that truth and honesty are the best approaches for a collaborative future, his work is deliberate and calculated, with the goal to challenge current mindsets and policies in order to enable joint efforts across all governments, people, institutions, organizations, academia, and scientific communities. The success of this endeavor is only possible with the help of our global citizens and the courage of those within our governments to demand and champion the truth.
Renowned theoretical physicist Michio Kaku recently praised Lue’s work, saying he has “done a public service” by releasing a “mountain of classified data, which gives us hard numbers for the first time.” Lue’s not-to-be-missed live theater event in Livermore on September 18—Universal
Truth, The Evidence is Clear: We Are Not Alone—reveals long-hidden truths with profound implications for not only national security but our understanding of the universe.
Pirates might be reduced to a Halloween costume for some people, but they are a year-round fascination for archaeologist and National Geographic Explorer Lisa Briggs. We go on an assignment with her to the Mediterranean Sea to explore how piracy shaped the Roman Empire. We also meet the Pirate Queen of China and then head into the lab with Lisa to follow the most famous renegade, Blackbeard. Lisa Briggs is an underwater archaeologist, scuba instructor, and technical diver. Her current research examines ancient shipwrecks of the Mediterranean Sea and how scientific methods can illuminate the stories of the cargoes these ships carried and the daring sailors who plied the seas of the past. She also has a particular interest in demonstrating how the intersection of science and adventure can inspire young students to pursue STEM subjects.
National Geographic Live brings its Explorers from the field to cities all over the planet, live on stage, and A Pirate’s Life will be an extraordinary, fascinating evening on November 13 in Downtown Livermore.
Tickets for shows in the 2025—2026 Bankhead Presents season are available online, by calling 925-373-6800, or at the box office windows. For a complete list of events, visit LivermoreArts.org. The speaker series honors the late Rae Dorough, a respected Livermore resident and strong supporter of cultural events. Members of her family and friends were the initiating sponsors in 2008. The series features provocative, entertaining, and enlightening presentations on a wide variety of topics. Past speakers have included engineers, scientists, fiction and non-fiction writers and historians, entrepreneurs, comedians and entertainers, diplomats, astronauts, journalists, and even a former Secretary of Defense. The 2025 Rae Dorough Speakers Series is sponsored in part by Jean King. Lisa Briggs: A Pirate’s Life is sponsored in part by Quest Science Center. The Rae Dorough series also partners with the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District and Las Positas College to provide free or reduced-price tickets to students and educators. Additionally, individual and corporate supporters help sponsor specific presentations.
# # #
Livermore Valley Arts is an independent 501(c)3 non-profit offering wide-ranging programs that provide access to the arts for the Tri-Valley community and beyond. The Bankhead Theater and Bothwell Arts Center are home to eight resident performing arts companies, over 40 studio artists, and cultural arts instructors. LivermoreArts.org
Show: As Long As You’re Asking—A Conversation with Jason Alexander Date/Time: Friday, September 5, 2025, at 8:00pm Selling Fast
Tickets: $75—$160
Show: Luis “Lue” Elizondo: Universal Truth, The Evidence is Clear: We Are Not Alone Date/Time: Thursday, September 18, 2025, at 7:30pm
Tickets: $25—$60 ($25 student/military personnel)
Show: Lisa Briggs: A Pirate’s Life
Date/Time: Thursday, November 13, 2025, at 7:30pm
Tickets: $25—$65 ($25 student/military personnel)
Dates, times, and ticket prices for other events available at www.LivermoreArts.org
