MABOU: A Hollywood star will be making his Strathspey Place Performing Arts Centre debut next month, not to mention his first visit to Cape Breton, and the prospect leaves a certain seven-time Emmy Award winner all smiles.
“My wife and I are both looking forward to that,” said Ed Asner, chatting to The Reporter by phone on September 12. “We’ve never been there. I’m sure I’d remember it if I’d been up that way, and I’m hoping to have a very good time.”
Asner was in Minnesota during the phone call, prepping for a performance that night at the Nic Schuler Performing Arts Centre. With actors Trigger Weddle and Brandon Michael, he was all set to bring audience members the political comedy God Help Us.
Asner plays the title character.
“God decides to medal in worldly affairs, and he selects a couple who were once lovers but who separated because they differ too vehemently over particular subjects,” the actor said. “He tries to get them to compromise but He fails. In the end, He gets them to walk in each other’s shoes.
“The subjects of the day are certainly discussed, but we won’t reveal which way God leans.”
The play will be performed at Strathspey Performing Arts Centre on Friday, October 18, at 7:30 p.m. Asner and CBU Boardmore Theatre’s Todd Hiscock and Kerrianne MacKenzie bringing the characters to life.
Asner will also take to the stage for a production of A Man and His Prostate on Saturday, October 19, at 2 p.m.
“It’s a wonderfully written play by Ed Weinberger who had an attack of prostatitis on a cruise to Italy,” he said. “Every 16 minutes a man dies of prostate cancer in the United States.”
Weinberger was a key player in the creation of several iconic shows, including Taxi and The Cosby Show. His writing credits are extensive, earning him a Writers Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award.
Asner has also done pretty well for himself over the years.
Arguably best known as the character Lou Grant (both on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Lou Grant), the actor is cited on Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB) as having acted in 391 films and TV shows.
His early credits include reoccurring roles on The Untouchables, Route 66, Gunsmoke, and The Fugitive. He’s had central roles in movies like Elf, JFK, Up, and Roots. With that, he’s still making things happen on shows like American Dad!, Grace and Frankie, and The Boondocks.
Besides acting, Asner is known for activism and being direct about his political leanings. He’s a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, supported Barack Obama during his presidential bid, and speaks very well of Democratic stalwart Bernie Sanders.
“How’s your Prime Minister doing these days?” he asked.
When told Justin Trudeau’s Liberals and Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives are running neck-and-neck, with a federal election looming next month, Asner was pretty direct about the way he’d vote if he was Canadian.
“I hope they [the conservatives] fail,” he said.
Tickets for the shows are on sale now and can be purchased on-line at:
tickets.strathspeyplace.com, by phone at 902-945-5300, or in person at the Strathspey box office in Mabou (Monday – Friday, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.).