Eleanor Roosevelt II: The War Years
With Rene Goodwin
When the Roosevelts began their second term in the White House, they faced the
challenges of a fallen economy, a growing unrest of racial inequality, and a world going
mad with dictators, Fascism, and Communism. How were they to know it would get
worse before it got better?
Limited by the constraints of her role as First Lady, and with a husband growing
evermore distant from her, Eleanor Roosevelt strove to make a difference in the world
around her in one of the most remarkable periods in the 20th century. This program
invites audiences to view the world, between 1936 and 1945, through the eyes of the
most remarkable woman of the era.
This program is a first person historical interpretation and is the second part of a two
part series. Though this program may be enjoyed well enough on its own, it is
recommended that “Eleanor Roosevelt: The Early Years” be seen first.
Philadelphia-born Rene Goodwin seized the opportunity to begin studying voice, dance
and piano at age 11. Her training continued at the London Academy of Music and
Dramatic Arts and with noted local Soprano, Dolores Ferraro Cascarino. Since 1990 she
has continued private voice work. She currently teaches voice, and serves as a musical
mentor for the Philly Pops, with whom she has performed. Ms. Goodwin has studied
ballet and jazz dance, and she still studies tap. She credits her vibrant spontaneity to high
school debate training and to her experience traveling with the Annenberg Children’s
Theater Company. As an entertainer doing the Florida circuit as part of a standup duo
(formerly with Michael Ryan and now with pianist husband Ed Hagopian), Ms.
Goodwin fine-tuned the entertainer’s art of audience give-and-take.
In the 1980’s, Ms. Goodwin joined the American Historical Theatre in a murder mystery
written and produced by founders William and Pamela Sommerfield. She performed
again with AHT in Night Thoughts, a Sommerfield play commissioned by the
Pennsylvania Historical Society. Later, the Sommerfields approached her to develop the
Eleanor Roosevelt presentations. Goodwin has appeared at numerous venues including
the white House Visitors Center, the Theodore Roosevelt Museum, the National
Archives, and Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge,
213 Pierce Street, Philadelphia PA, 19148-1927 * Ph: 215-625-0986
Website: www.AHTheatre.org * email: Cynthia@AHTtheatre.comcastbiz.net