Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 6/22/01
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple   98

Editors: Photo accompanies release   Please note local interest      
ATTORNEY MAKES TEMPORARY JUMP FROM COURTROOM TO STAGE
     HAMMOND -- It's not that big jump from the courtroom to the stage, especially if your
career has also included a stint in the political spotlight. Therefore, Hammond attorney and
former mayor Tom Anderson is finding that he's getting the hang of acting pretty quickly as he
takes on the role of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Southeastern Louisiana University's
summer production of the hit musical "Annie."
     "Most trial lawyers are performers anyway. We have to perform in the courtroom, we
have to be prepared, to practice what we're going to say," he pointed out. "I don't plan on being
nominated for any Emmies -- or whatever it is that they give out for the stage -- but I'm having
fun."
     Anderson is one of the six cast members who have been recruited by producer Scharmal
Schrock and music director Chuck Effler to play the President and his cabinet in "Annie," which
will run June 28-30 at Pottle Music Building Auditorium. 
     The five men and one woman are not stage dressing. They are finding themselves
devoting hours of rehearsals to learning to deliver lines, and sing and dance their way through
key scenes in Act Two, when Annie and her benefactor, mover-and-shaker Daddy Warbucks, pay
a visit to the Oval Office. At least Anderson, ensconced in FDR's wheelchair, doesn't have to
do any dancing. 
     He's sharing the stage with Cedric Bridges as Ickes, Jeff Davis as Howe, Terrel Stewart as
Hull, Josh Tillotson as Morganthau and Heidi Cohenour as the cabinet's only woman, Frances
Perkins. 
     Anderson admits that he was somewhat taken aback to be  approached about playing
Roosevelt. When he was introduced to Effler at a downtown Hammond service station, "Chuck
promptly informed me that he had heard that I would make a great FDR," Anderson said. "I
didn't even know what he was talking about. The next thing I knew, I got an e-mail from Miss
Schrock saying that play practice started the next week. Then, the script was delivered and I
started learning my lines and researching the character."
                             (MORE)
ATTORNEY PLAYS PRESIDENT -- Add One
     "I'm trying to get some audio of FDR, so I can get the accent down a bit," he said. He's
even checking the Internet for video footage of the President and his cabinet chums, although he
hasn't located any yet. "I'm just trying to get a feel for it all," he said.
     Anderson said being on stage is a new experience for him and that his singing has been
limited to his church choir. He admits that he initially was a little apprehensive. "I've always
loved going to the theatre, but I didn't know anything about what goes on backstage," he said. 
     "Even the language was new. To me, blocking is what they did for running backs in
football," laughed the former Hammond High School Tornado. "Most of the people in 'Annie'
have some experience, so when the director started shouting out terms, I would have to raise my
hand." Now that he has got a month's worth of rehearsals behind him, however, "I feel like I'm
hitting the deck running and it's fun."
     Anderson said his wife, Southeastern Fanfare director Donna Gay Borden Anderson, a
graduate of the Shakespeare Conservatory in New York City and a former professional actress,
agent, and theater teacher, has been tactfully giving him a tip or two. "She's given me some basic
pointers, like telling me that, on stage, you have to open your mouth wider and relax your jaw, so
the sound will project," he said.
     "I have a glimpse of an understanding of what professional career people in the theatre
put themselves through," Anderson said. "Very few become the stars that have the glamor and
make the big bucks, but there are all these folks all over the country who bring this kind of
entertainment to us."                     
     "Oh, well, I always wanted to be president and FDR was a good Democrat," he laughed.
"Now, if I had to play a Republican, that would be stretching my talents a little too far."
     Curtain time for the June 28-30 production is 7:30 p.m, nightly with a 2 p.m. matinee
also scheduled on June 30. Guest-directed by Wendy Taucher, "Annie" is co-sponsored by the
Southeastern College of Arts and Sciences, Gulf States Theatre's Hammond Palace Theater,
North Oaks Health System, Hibernia Bank, Wal-Mart and the Southeastern Development
Foundation. 
     Tickets, will go on sale June 18 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Pottle Music Building lobby
and Bayou Booksellers in downtown Hammond. They also will be available at the door. 
     Tickets are $15, general admission; $10, Southeastern faculty and staff, senior citizens,
and non-SLU students. Southeastern students are admitted free with their university I.D.
     For additional information, call 985-549-5938.
                             -SLU-
Press release available online at www.selu.edu/NewsEvents/PublicInfoOffice/newsm01.htm