Remembering Roosevelt

Ed Asner starring in “FDR” is headed to Higley Center for the Performing Arts

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the nation’s 32nd president, served from 1933-1945 — and continues to fascinate all sorts of folks today. He’s the subject of Focus Films’ “Hyde Park on Hudson” and got a mention in this year’s New York “State of the State” address.

Arizona audiences can experience a bit of Roosevelt’s life and times this month at Higley Center for the Performing Arts — where Ed Asner, still spunky at 83, performs as FDR in a one-man show based on “Sunrise at Campobello,” a Tony-Award winning play by Dory Schary.

Asner, who’s received seven Emmy and five Golden Globe awards, served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild and was honored in 2002 with the SAG lifetime achievement award.

He’s got extensive theater credits too, including “Born Yesterday” on Broadway in 1989, but is best known to his youngest fans as the voice of Carl Fredricksen in the 2009 Disney Pixar film “Up.”

Ed Asner starring in “FDR”

Asner returned to Broadway last year in a dark comedy called “Grace,” which ended its run just last weekend. He’s working now to shift from one script back to the other, readying for his Arizona performance on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 7:30pm.

“I read five biographies,” recalls Asner of preparing for the FDR role he’s been performing for several years now. “I didn’t find anything surprising there.” The show is based on Roosevelt’s own written and spoken words, plus assorted materials gathered by Schary. “I let the words take me in,” reflects Asner.

Asner speaks of Roosevelt’s legacy with a healthy, well-informed respect rather than idolizing the man whose strengths and weaknesses are well known. “Roosevelt was able to take advice,” says Asner, “and put people to work.”

Roosevelt’s greatest strength, says Asner, was his ability to communicate. “He’s one of the greatest speakers in Western times.” Asner considers Roosevelt’s extramarital affairs his greatest weakness.

Ed Asner starring in “FDR”

After touring Roosevelt memorials in Washington, D.C. and NYC, I’m eager to see “FDR,” which chronicles Roosevelt’s White House years (which include the Depression and WWII) — plus personal life with Eleanor and affair with Lucy Mercer.

Promoters note that audience members experience FDR’s fireside chats, controversial packing of the Supreme Court, courage to break the Neutrality Act, manipulation of Congress to institute the draft and the Pearl Harbor controversy.

Click here for show and ticket information.

— Lynn

Note: Click here to explore the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum (located in Hyde Park, NY), and here to read the official Franklin D. Roosevelt bio.

Coming up: Spinning a yarn

Musings on freedom

Words from FDR’s Four Freedoms speech found at Four Freedoms Park in NYC. Photo by Lynn Trimble.

I experienced an unwelcome freedom from technology last week when a computer glitch left me unplugged during travels to New York City, where I was happy to experience a blissful bit of freedom from cooking. I flew to NYC on Thursday, and enjoyed a lovely Thankgiving meal of grilled cheese sandwiches and cheesecake (just like my mom used to make) at a local diner frequented by our youngest daughter, who lives in Brooklyn.

Turns out I was coming down with some sort of nasty bug at the time, and ended up foregoing my usual jaunts between museums, parks and libraries for time spent cozying up to tea bags and tissue boxes. Giving myself the freedom to be sick meant more time with Lizabeth, who might be regretting all those mother/daughter moments now that she’s the one feeling puny. Still, I had to make at least one pilgrimage while I was there.

I chose Roosevelt Island, home of the new Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park designed by architect Louis I. Kahn — which features portrait sculpture by artist Jo Davidson. It’s more conceptual, abstract and simpler in some ways than the FDR memorial in Washington, DC — but still a beautiful, moving monument to strength, courage and compassion. While on the island, I enjoyed walking a path along the East River and poking around for various types of plants and wildlife.

Truth be told, I wasn’t completely free of technology during my travels. I still had a cell phone, e-reader and sometimes fully-functioning camera. I’d been reading William L. Shirer’s “Berlin Diary: The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent, 1934-1941” on my Kindle during afternoons curled up in a cozy chair at Lizabeth’s place — so thoughts of FDR’s role in American life and world affairs was top of mind before I stood before the giant stone etched with words from his famous January 6, 1941 speech.

Freedom from cooking or computers pales in comparison to the freedoms FDR cited in his “Four Freedoms” speech — freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear. As post-election punditry and pre-holiday commercialism continue to flourish in coming days, pause to consider what’s really important in your life. What freedoms do you hold dear, and what are you doing to uphold them?

— Lynn

Note: Click here for information on the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, NY — and here to learn about the film “Hyde Park on Hudson.”

Coming up: Spinning a self-esteem tale