Ed Asner As FDR at Newly Reopened Pasadena Playhouse

Last night I went to the newly reopened Pasadena Playhouse to see Ed Asner's one man show as FDR which was written by Dore Schary. It was a delight to be back at the historic Pasadena Playhouse and to know that it is struggling its way out of bankruptcy. Last time I was at the Playhouse, it was to see Camelot and to mourn its closing.

Ed Asner gave a magnificent performance. Having now done two roles where I've had long speeches to perform without error, I was in awe of the complicated and complex performance he gave. So were other people, because at the end, many gave him a standing ovation.

While I applaud Ed Asner's performance, I can't say the same for the material by Dore Schary. The monologue starts with FDR's polio and how he felt about it, struggled with it, and tried to not let it interfere with his life. That was all great and helped me understand aspects of the man I never knew about. Then the play continues with FDR's viewpoint of his presidency and there's where I have the problem.

Don't get me wrong. I have much admiration for FDR and what he accomplished. But there are a couple of blights on him and a couple of other decisions that should have been explored. The play offers up a viewpoint that FDR was angered by the people who said he invited the Pearl Harbor attack, but it never deals with the central complaint about that tragedy -- the foolishness of having our entire fleet together in one spot, a sitting duck for an air attack, for no apparent vital reason, if not to say, come and get us, with an eye on being able to use it as an excuse to get Congress fired up enough to declare war.

The play doesn't deal with the terrible injustice FDR did to our Japanese American citizens by incarcerating them in relocation/interment camps for the duration of the war and confiscating much of their land and possessions without any consideration that children born here were not enemy traitors and spies, nor were the adults who would've welcomed the opportunity to defend their adopted country.

The play doesn't deal with the fact that FDR wouldn't sanction the boat landing of Jewish children fleeing the Nazis and what would have been certain death for them in concentration camps. That the boat had to turn around and return to the UK to unload its young passengers there.

The play doesn't deal with the fact that FDR set in motion the plan to drop A bombs on the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Granted it was President Truman who actually gave the order, but it was FDR who gave the greenlight to develop and get them ready. He would have been the one to deploy them as will, if it hadn't been for his untimely death.

And the play glossed over the complex relationship he had with his wife Eleanor, of whom we learned little, despite the number of times he called out for her on stage.

So while the play was magnificent on the polio beginning, the presidential years were pretty much a white wash, in which you didn't learn anything of great substance. Still, Ed Asner did a great job handling the material and it was great to see the Pasadena Playhouse alive again.

Camelot Musical Marks the End of the Pasadena Playhouse

When a friend offered me the chance to see "Camelot" at the Pasadena Playhouse, I jumped at it. Little did I know that the Pasadena Playhouse, which had been a landmark for decades (founded in 1917, so that's 93 years), would close its doors after this limited run.

I found this shocking and unbelievable, for the theater is such a thing of beauty. And it has such history. It is also designated as a State of California theater, so you would think that this wouldn't happen to it.

Apparently this is not the first time the Playhouse came close to closing its doors. In 1937, it faced bankruptcy but the theater was bought by the Pasadena city government and subleased to a theater group for $1 a year. Unfortunately, that company went bankrupt, too. This time the Playhouse is several million in debt.

I'm glad that Melvin was able to score us tickets so that I didn't miss out on this sad occasion. This was not the very last night, but it was close enough. But perhaps the very fact that there were comp tickets for us was the very problem. We couldn't afford to be paying customers any more than the Pasadena Playhouse could afford for us not to be. Still, we did help them fill the house, and I don't think there were many of us comped that night.

This was a new version of Camelot. Much like my Shakespearean director pared down King Lear when we performed it in the park, the Camelot director pared down the Camelot cast as well... to 8 characters. Recognizing that the heart of the story was the love triangle between King Arthur, Guenevere and Lancelot, David Lee went through the script and eliminated everything that didn't add directly to the telling of their story. He also used minimal sets, and in his words "only the most elementary suggestion of costumes." He claims that this allowed him to add back music that is usually cut for time.

In his director's notes, David Lee went on to say. "This led me to see just how simply I could do everything. I found a chair could be a throne, an actor could don a simple vest and call it armor. About this time, too, other elements began to fall into place. When I read about Winchester Castle, where for years a group of locals would gather and re-enact the Arthur legend beneath a replica of the Round Table which still hangs on a wall there, I knew I had found the way to tell the tale here in Pasadena. I also read in Alan Jay Lerner's autobiography of his favorite performance of the show. It was the final run run-thru before it opened on Broadway. It was done with no costumes, no sets, just a group of actors singing these magnificent songs and telling this engaging tale on an almost bare stage. That it was his favorite gives me hope that he would have been pleased with what we are attempting here."

The performance itself was uneven. Some of the actors did better than others. Some sang with more strength than others. Some were weaker voices and less fun to watch.

I admit that it has been a long time since I've seen the musical, even though I know the Arthurian legends well. But it seemed to me that some of my favorite songs were missing and that made me feel disappointed. I can't tell you which ones they were, only that I was anticipating some that weren't delivered.

I do hope that the Pasadena Playhouse can find its way out of its financial woes and that the benefactor whom they were hoping could pledge $5 million does materialize. I would really like it to open its doors again. Its walls have had so many good actors strut their stuff (like Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman) that it would be a travesty not to. And I hope that I can be there on that day.

My further hope is that on that day, we can have a triumphant return of this musical Camelot, since Camelot has for so long, and so many, been a symbol of hope and goodness. It fueled our imaginations during the President John F. Kennedy years and some people even talk about Camelot returning today.

Yet, this musical is about the end of Camelot with the hope that it may live again. And for that, if the Playhouse had to close at the end of a play's run, it is fitting that it is this one.