BSPAC – Tea with Mrs. Roosevelt.

For those of you who had the opportunity to see Annette Hubbell’s wonderful one-woman show, “Witness to Gettysburg,” you’re in for another treat from this talented performer as she presents – for one night only – “Tea with Mrs. Roosevelt” at BSPAC on Saturday, January 21.

This play, written by Sherrie Colbourn, takes place as Eleanor and her friend Lorena Hickok sit down together over tea. Lorena interviews Eleanor about her family life in the White House, and the incredible partnership that shaped the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This delightful interview – part serious, part humorous – is a wonderful insight into one of America’s best known and loved First Ladies.

Lorena Hickok, played by Connie Cragel Le Pere, was a well-known journalist famous in her own right for her coverage of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. As an Associated Press reporter, she was assigned to report on Franklin Roosevelt when he became governor of New York. During that time she struck up a friendship with Eleanor, which continued for the rest of Eleanor’s life. Lorena actually lived in the White House for a time, serving as the Executive Secretary of the Women’s division of the Democratic National Committee. During the span of their relationship, the two women corresponded with over 3,000 letters, now housed in the Presidential Library.

Although this is a fictionalized account of an afternoon’s conversation, the interplay between the two illustrates their deep friendship as they explore Eleanor’s life as a child, Franklin’s courtship and her relationship with Franklin’s mother, Sara, who ruled the household with an iron hand. It’s an account, too, of the times in which they lived: Franklin Roosevelt’s Presidency. This three-term president led the country through the Great Depression and the Second World War – one of the most dramatic and historically important eras in the history of this country.

Some said “Eleanor was the greatest president we ever had!”

This is a rare opportunity to take a trip into America’s past and to encounter a woman who helped shape the history of this country. Don’t miss it.  Tickets available at the Fudge Factory and on line at the BSPAC web site: https://www.bspac.org/