'Sunrise at Campobello' begins 5/5

The Willows Theatre Company presents Dore Schary's Tony Award-winning drama SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO, May 5-June 1 at the Willows Theatre, 1975 Diamond Blvd. in the Willows Shopping Center in Concord.  A compelling story for all ages, SUNRISE is directed by Richard Elliott.

SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO tells the story of the beginnings of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's political career and his struggle with a sudden illness that turned the vital, energetic young father into a victim of total and permanent paralysis from the waist down.  This early view of Roosevelt's life also highlights the tensions between the two strong women closest to him, his wife Eleanor and his mother Sara, who clashed continuously for his affections and loyalty.  The play centers on Franklin and Eleanor each finding ways to build strength of character out of hardship.

 
The cast features Tim Hendrixson* as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Diana Boos* as Eleanor Roosevelt, and Barbara Grant* as FDR's formidable mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt.  Cassidy Brown* will play Louis McHenry Howe, FDR's friend and political adviser (
* Member, Actors' Equity Association).

 
The Roosevelt children are played by Kathleen Bower as Anna, Jonathan Bock as Jimmy, Jackson Donalds as Elliott, David Kahawaii as Franklin Jr., and Joseph Keane and Jack Goldfield-Askew alternating as the 10-year-old Johnny.  Ensemble players include Alan Bare, Ben Knoll, JanLee Marshall, Jeff Truscott and Allen Pontes.

 
Costumes for the production are being designed by Willows resident costumer Robin Speer.  The scenic design is by Jean-Francois Revon.  Robert Anderson is in charge of lighting design.  Sean McStravick will handle sound design, and properties are by Olga Vegvary.  The production's stage manager will be Jamie Mann*. Speer, Vegvary, and McStravick, as well as director Elliott, recently won critical kudos for their work on the Willows' other period piece for the season, Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs. 

SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO opened on Broadway in 1958 starring Ralph Bellamy as FDR. The production also marked the Broadway debut of a young James Earl Jones.  The film version, released by Warner Brothers in 1960, starred Bellamy and Greer Garson, whose portrayal of Eleanor Roosevelt earned her an Academy Award nomination.

Campobello Island was the Roosevelt family's summer home in New Brunswick, Canada.  Most of the play's action is set there, and in the family's New York City townhouse, where we see Roosevelt struggle to overcome the sudden and debilitating onset of total paralysis in his legs and the effect of his disability on his close family.  The play ends with his famous speech at the 1924 Democratic National Convention at New York's Madison Square Garden, which catapulted him back into politics after an absence of several years.

 
The original Broadway production was presented at the Cort Theatre by The Theatre Guild and Dore Schary and directed by Vincent J. Donehue.  It opened on January 30, 1958, and ran for 556 performances.  Ralph Bellamy won a Tony Award for best actor.  Others in the cast included Henry Jones as FDR's friend and political adviser Louis Howe, Mary Fickett as Eleanor, Anne Seymour as Sara.  The production won three other Tonys including Best Play, Best Director of a Play, and Best Featured Actor for Henry Jones.
 
The film version starred Bellamy again, with Greer Garson as Eleanor and Hume Cronyn as Howe.  Also in the cast were Jean Hagen, Tim Considine, Lyle Talbot, and Ann Shoemaker.  Schary, who began his career in Hollywood, wrote, directed, and produced the film.

 
Mr. Schary reveled that, once he decided to write the play, he knew it would end with the powerful image of FDR at the podium of the Democratic National Convention in New York's Madison Square Garden.  On June 26, 1924, Roosevelt gave the nominating speech for Alfred E. Smith as the presidential candidate for the Democratic Party.

 
SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO dramatizes the beginnings of what author Hugh Gregory Gallagher called "FDR's Splendid Deception."  Roosevelt contracted what was thought to be infantile paralysis (poliomyelitis) while vacationing at the family summer home at Campobello in August 1921.  He was 39 years old. Although totally paralyzed from the waist down, he was able with great effort to gain back the use of his arms and develop great upper body strength.  To the outside world, he appeared robust and healthy, when in reality he was unable to walk without assistance.  He needed braces on both legs, as well as crutches.  He mastered the art of appearing able-bodied when he was not by using a cane and the arm of a companion, often his son.  This deception was born of necessity, especially for anyone with political aspirations.

Although unsure that he could deliver the nominating speech on his feet, FDR assured New York Governor Al Smith, "You certainly can't make an effective speech sitting down."

Roosevelt himself was elected governor of New York in 1928.  He won the Democratic nomination for President in 1931 and became the 32nd president of the United States in 1932, serving an unprecedented (and today impossible) four terms.  His 1932 inaugural speech is best remembered for his assurance that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

 
Roosevelt faced many challenges, defeat, and ultimately despair, as he tried in vain to strengthen his frail legs as he had his arms.  He was fortunate to have the support he needed to get on with his life.  The press also respected his privacy to a greater degree than is possible today.  Few photographs were taken that show the extent of his disability.  Most pictures show him either already seated or "propped" at a podium in such a way that he appears to be standing normally, something that took enormous effort and skill.
 

In March 1957, Dore Schary wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt to ask her permission to write the play:  "What I propose to tell is the story of a man and the people around him who, after an ordeal, emerged strong and triumphant.  I hope to write a tribute that will do justice to a phase of his life.  I pledge my devotion and whatever skill I may have to do the task.  And I hope, with all my heart, that the task is well done."
 
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, at Hyde Park, New York.  He attended Columbia University and Harvard Law School.  On St. Patrick's Day, 1905, he married Eleanor.  Following the example of his fifth cousin, former President Theodore Roosevelt, whom he admired, FDR entered politics, but as a Democrat.  He won election to the New York Senate in 1910. President Woodrow Wilson appointed him assistant secretary of the Navy, and he was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 1920.  He died on April 12, 1945, in Warm Springs, Georgia.

 

Ticket and Schedule Information:

Tickets are $30-$40 with discounts for students (6-18), seniors (65+), groups (10+), and Preview performances.  To purchase tickets call (925) 798-1300 or visit the Willows Theatre web site at www.willowstheatre.org.  Performances are Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., with matinees Wednesdays at 3:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2:00 p.m., and Sundays at 3:00 p.m.

 

The Willows Theatre is located at 1975 Diamond Blvd. next to REI in the Willows Shopping Center in Concord, across the street from the Concord Hilton and one block east of the Willow Pass Road exit off Highway 680.

The Willows Theatre Company Daytime Box Office is located at 636 Ward Street in Martinez, in the lobby of the Campbell Theatre. Box Office hours are Monday-Saturday 10 am-6 pm and Sunday Noon-5 pm.  The theatre box office and will-call window, located in the Willows Theatre lobby, opens one hour prior to each performance.  For more information call (925) 798-1300 or visit our web site at www.willowstheatre.org.

 

Recipient of the 2002 Cyril Award of the San Francisco Business Arts Council for Nonprofit Arts Excellence, the Willows Theatre Company is led by Producing Artistic Director Richard Elliott. The Willows Theatre Company 2008 Season Sponsors are Best Western John Muir Inn of Martinez, Rocco's Pizzeria of Walnut Creek, Industrial Lumber of Martinez, Alphagraphics of Walnut Creek, the Concord Hilton, and US Bank (student/teacher discount ticket sponsor).

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