Ed Asner Superbly Tackles FDR as Pasadena Playhouse Reopens

FDR
by Dore Schary
Pasadena Playhouse
through November 7

It's great news that the Pasadena Playhouse has reopened its doors, less than a year from the time that it filed Chapter 11. The first entry into the current season is unusual for this venue, a one-person show, written in 1977 by Dore Schary as a sequel to his 1958 popular hit Sunrise at Campabello. The Pasadena stage is too large for this play, but due to the present state of the economy and The Playhouse's tight budget, FDR will have to suffice, and with octogenarian favorite Ed Asner as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, it becomes a wholeheartedly valuable and enjoyable experience.

Self-directed, Asner plays most of the 100 minute piece either in a wheel chair, as Roosevelt was crippled due to polio, or sitting at his desk in the oval office, or walking stage center on two canes and leaning against the desk or moving stage right to a chair or stage left to a podium. His blocking is limited, and the play, covering the four terms of the Roosevelt Presidency from 1933-1945, deals primarily with events leading up to WW II and the war years themselves. Schary was an FDR fanatic, and spent a great part of his writing years composing plays and films about the icon, considered a tightwad by many - a man, who, in spite of his physical deficiencies more than made up for them by his intensely tireless intellectual and emotional struggles to save our country from depression, unemployment and world war. Sound familiar? Not much has changed in the last 75 years.

Roosevelt, a people's President, literally took on the pain of the entire world, feeling deeply for the losses in France and England, as well as at home. FDR had integrity to spare, and a tremendous sense of humor; for a fairly quiet man, he loved an audience, granting 100s of press conferences during the course of his four terms. Although low-key as to his affiliations, he relished every opportunity he had to rake Republicans over the coals. He was known to have had an extra-marital affair but the media kept it under wraps, and he and Eleanor (affectionately nicknamed Babs) fought fiercely to preserve their marriage, family and to stay together at all costs. He was what he was, upfront, with few deceptions or lies, as was Eleanor. Asner creates her by either conversing with her in person or by phone, as he does with chum Louis Howe and other officials in his cabinet. Asner, like FDR, possesses great integrity and a strong, contagious sense of humor in essaying any character, making him ideal for this role. He is ageless, extremely likable and the audience might even have elected him to higher office (he was a SAG official) during his prime and given the right opportunity. The marriage of actor to role here is a terribly reliable one.

The politics are familiar, so the play bogs down every now and then, but Asner's wicked humor, spunk and overall positive energy in depicting FDR's unique charisma keep it flowing along smoothly.