Asner's Up To the Test of 'FDR'

Support Brian Colón for Lt. Governor, by join us at the Ed Asner as "FDR." Your contribution includes a complimentary ticket to the show plus VIP entrance to the reception prior to the show. A contribution of $100 includes one complimentary ticket or for $150 you receive two complimentary tickets. A donor has graciously purchased tickets and donated them to the campaign. To participate in this event please call 505-319-7655.

By David Steinberg
Journal Staff Writer
Sunday, April 18, 2010

FDR are the initials of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the only president of the United States elected to four terms. It is also the title of a one-man dramatic performance starring award-winning actor Ed Asner that will be staged at Popejoy Hall.

First elected in 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, Roosevelt soon became embroiled in a number of controversies, including allegations that he packed the U.S. Supreme Court and in the late 1930s that he pushed Japan to attack Pearl Harbor to involve the United States in a major war.

"It is true that we were at swords' points with the Japanese for a long time. They were expanding in the Pacific and we didn't like their expansion," Asner said in a phone interview from Old Saybrook, Conn. "So we created difficulties for the Japanese, particularly in the acquisition of oil. I've heard it speculated that if they hadn't attacked us, they would have run out of oil, and that's one of the reasons for Pearl Harbor."

Asner doesn't think FDR realized the Japanese had the military capability to successfully attack the naval base on Oahu. The attack on Dec. 7, 1941 triggered President Roosevelt to declare war on Japan.

Asner began acting in the production last September. It is based on Dore Schary's 1958 Broadway play "Sunrise at Campobello," which focuses on Roosevelt's polio. He contracted it at age 39."

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If you go
WHAT: Ed Asner as "FDR"
WHEN: VIP Reception at 2 p.m. and show at 3 p.m. April 25
WHERE: Popejoy Hall, UNM Center for the Arts