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One-Woman Show Set For Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center

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Actress and scholar Susan Marie Frontczak will portray the life of Eleanor Roosevelt in a one-woman show at the Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center on April 5. Frontczak has portrayed other famous women of history, including scientist Marie Curie and "Frankstein" author Mary Shelley.

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By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: March 28, 2009

TARPON SPRINGS - Your eyes will not be playing tricks on you if you think you see former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt walking around City Hall in early April.

Actress and scholar Susan Marie Frontczak will re-create the life of the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in a one-woman show at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 5, at the Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center.

During her time in the White House Eleanor Roosevelt helped shape national policy during the Great Depression and World War II eras, inspire the creation of child labor laws and a minimum wage, championed Social Security and campaigned for women's rights.

Gen Haley, the city's cultural services communications coordinator, said Frontczak's motto is: "Give me a place to stand and I will take you somewhere else." A storysmith, the Colorado-based actress dissolves boundaries between theater, storytelling and public speaking, Haley said.

During her 20-year career Frontczak has portrayed other renowned women of history, such as scientist Marie Curie and writer Mary Shelley.

The story of Eleanor Roosevelt's life during the 1930s and '40s is relevant to today, Haley said Frontczak believes.

"In times of strife, we must look to our heroes and heroines," Haley quotes Frontczak as saying. "No only did they pave the way for where we are today, but their forgotten wisdom can guide us as we move forward."

Through a series of carefully staged vignettes in which she re-creates Mrs. Roosevelt's gestures, intellect and voice, the Frontczak moves back and forth between intimate glimpses of the first lady's behind-the-scenes thoughts and her public pronouncements. People attending the performance will be able to ask the actress questions, both in and out of character.

General admission tickets are $15, with Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center members and students getting a $2 discount. The center is inside City Hall, at 324 Pine St.

For more information visit the center's Web site, www.tarponarts.org, or call its box office at 727-942-5605.

Mark Schantz can be reached at 727-815-1075 or mschantz@suncoastnews.com.

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