The Laguna Playhouse Welcomes Emmy Award-Winner Ed Asner as 'FDR', Now thru 11/23

The Laguna Playhouse Executive and Artistic Directors, Karen Wood and Ann E. Wareham are thrilled to present Ed Asner, recipient of seven Emmy Awards ("Mary Tyler Moore Show", "Lou Grant") and 16 nominations, five Golden Globe Awards, and member of the TV Academy Hall of Fame, starring in the solo performance drama, FDR, based upon Dore Schary's Broadway hit "Sunrise at Campobello", which ran 70 weeks on Broadway.

"To have a national treasure such as Ed Asner portraying the national institution that is FDR, on our stage is such a tremendous gift," offers Wood. "Our audiences are going to be spellbound by the passion and talent that Mr. Asner brings to this performance and it's just a golden opportunity to see one of our finest actors at the top of his craft," adds Wareham. FDR will open on Wednesday, November 19 at 7:30pm and run through Sunday, November 23, 2014 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

FDR explores the life of one of America's best-loved presidents and the events and decisions that shaped a nation. This powerful play follows the iconic president as he reflects on his years in office, from inauguration to the trials of World War II.

ABOUT ED ASNER
ED ASNER (born November 15, 1929) is an American actor primarily known for his Emmy-winning role as Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series, Lou Grant. He also appeared as a recurring guest star as Wilson White on the television series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Asner is best known for his character Lou Grant, who was first introduced on the The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970. In 1977, after the end of the Mary Tyler Moore show, Asner's character was given his own show, Lou Grant, which ran from 1977-1982. In contrast to theMary Tyler Moore show, which was a thirty minute comedy, the Lou Grant show was an hour long award-winning drama about journalism. Asner played the role of Guy Banister, FBI operative associated with the assassination conspiracy, in Oliver's Stone's 1991 movie "JFK". Asner is also known for his acclaimed role as Captain Davies, from the mini-series Roots, the man who kidnapped Kunta Kinte and sold him into slavery, a role that earned Asner an Emmy Award. While Asner's character in Roots was highly developed, full of metaphors on tortured ethics and the morality of slavery, biographer Alex Haley would later admit he had no idea who the actual Captain was who had commanded the historic slaver which had kidnapped his ancestor. Asner was a member of the Playwrights Theatre Company in Chicago, but left for New York before members of that company regrouped as the Compass Players in the mid-1950s. He later made guest appearances with the successor to Compass, Second City, and is considered part of the Second City extended family. Asner has also had an extensive voice acting career. He provided the voices for Pixar's animated film "Up." J. Jonah Jameson on the 1990s animated television series Spider-Man, Hudson on Gargoyles, Jabba the Hutt on the radio version of Star Wars, Master Vrook fromStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel, Roland Daggett on Batman: The Animated Series, Cosgrove on Freakazoid, Ed Wuncler on The Boondocks, and Granny Goodness in various DC Comics animated series. Both he and his late friend Linda Gary voiced many cartoons for the Filmation company. In 1993, he narrated the short documentary Legacy for Efrain, which explores the impact of the nonprofit world hunger organization Heifer International. In 2001 was the protagonist for "Papa Giovanni XXIII" fiction for Rai One (Italy). He made an appearance on the show Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2001.
"ABOUT SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO"

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 closed on May 30, 1959 running for 556 performances. It starred Ralph Bellamy as Roosevelt. Bellamy won a Tony Award for Best Actor. Others in the cast included Henry Jones as Louis McHenry Howe; Mary Fickett as Eleanor Roosevelt; Anne Seymour as Sara Delano Roosevelt and, in his Broadway debut, James Earl Jones. The production won three other Tonys including Best Play (producers were Lawrence Langner, Theresa Helburn, Armina Marshall and Dore Schary), Best Director of a Play (Vincent J. Donehue) and Henry Jones won for Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. Mary Fickett was nominated for Best Supporting or Featured Actress in a Play.

ABOUT THE SCHEDULE AND PRICING
FDR will open tonight, November 19 at 7:30pm and run through Sunday, November 23, 2014 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

Performances will be Wednesday, Thursday & Friday evenings at 7:30pm; Saturday at 2pm; Sunday at 1:00pm.

Tickets range from $41 - $61 and can be purchased online at www.lagunaplayhouse.com or by calling (949) 497-ARTS (2787). Group discounts are available by calling 949-497-2787 ext. 229.

The box office is open Mondays - Sundays: 12p.m. to 5 p.m. (open until 7:30pm on performance days). For more information on all shows and programming visit wwwlagunaplayhouse.com. LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE is located at 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

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