Renaissance Salutes Rose Kennedy, the Power Within the Family

×

Expand

Photo by Johnny Knight

Linda Reiter as Rose Kennedy

Linda Reiter as Rose Kennedy

Renaissance Theaterworks completes its 2021-22 season with a closer look at a woman who played a pivotal role in American history: Rose Kennedy. Chicago actor Linda Reiter brings this fascinating woman to life in a one-woman show, Rose: An Intimate Evening with Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. The play opens May 20 at the company’s new home, at 255 S. Water Street.

Expand

Linda Reiter

Linda Reiter

In the Renaissance production, Reiter will be seated in the comfortable confines of Rose’s Hyannis Port summer retreat. The year is 1969, and a 79-year-old Rose Kennedy has recently heard the news about her son Ted’s Chappaquiddick tragedy. At this point, Ted is still missing.

Rose is understandably worried, having already lost four of her nine children. The most recent deaths were linked to then-president John F. Kennedy, who died in 1963, and his brother Bobby, who died in 1968. Both of the brothers were assassinated.

These tragedies were just part of many heartbreaking episodes that Rose had to endure in her life. “How she mustered the will to go on during those devastating days, it seems incredible,” says Reiter in a phone interview. A devout Catholic, Rose used her faith to keep her strong. She also knew that, as matriarch of the Kennedy clan, she had to “hold it together”—at least for her family, Reiter says. “Rose had a motto: ‘Kennedys are about moving on.’”

As an actor, Linda Reiter has appeared as “Rose” in several previous productions. She won Chicago’s prestigious Joseph Jefferson Award for her performance in a 2016 production. The 70-miniute play (no intermission) was written by Laurence Leamer, a New York Times best-selling biographer. The play’s dialogue is based on a series of interview tapes with Rose Kennedy that were passed on to Leamer.

Actor’s First Time on Milwaukee Stage

This will be Reiter’s first Milwaukee appearance as an actor, and also the first time she has worked with director Elizabeth Margolis. Reiter has been to Milwaukee many times, she says, and she enjoys her visits here. These days, she also is enjoying her time with the show’s director and the rest of the Renaissance organization. “Elizabeth (the director) has a very strong vision about this show,” Reiter says. “I think we will have something powerful and emotional to bring to audiences.”

Aside from the chance to emphasize the script in a different way, Reiter doesn’t improvise her lines. Most of the words coming out of “Rose’s” mouth are taken directly from the taped transcripts.

There will be stories of Rose’s lost dreams, as she was constantly under the control of men. Just before she was going to become a freshman at Wellesley College, for instance, her father changed his mind. Rose was packed off to a convent instead. Years later, her father forbids her to divorce her husband Joe despite his rampant infidelity. At the time, Rose was pregnant with her fourth child, and she did move in with her parents for a time before returning to Joe.

What Would Rose Kennedy Contribute to Today’s World?

Expand

Image: Renaissance Theaterworks

Rose Kennedy

Rose Kennedy

Reiter comments that public roles for women were very restricted in Rose’s day. Were she born in today’s world, Reiter muses that Rose might have become a strong politician herself, perhaps like a Nancy Pelosi or Kamala Harris.

Rose was wealthy and well educated and knew a great deal about history and current events. When the Kennedy children were young, Joe and Rose would grill them at the dinner table about their knowledge of political and geographical events.

In her later years, Rose campaigned heavily for both Jack and Bobby. “The Kennedy guys had a saying: ‘Don’t Speak After Mother,’ because she gave such stirring speeches” Reiter says. Nothing seemed to stop Rose, who lived until the age of 104.

Reiter’s own first impressions of the Kennedy family were similar to what many of us remember: TV clips showing the handsome new president, smiling and waving during his inauguration. She also recalls the fateful day when the president died. Reiter was in grade school, and on that afternoon, the teachers were all summoned to the hallway. When they returned to class, the teachers ended the day early and told all the students to go home. Little Linda broke the news to her parents, and she remembers the tears that followed. The tragic news consumed the TV evening news programs.

When growing up, Reiter became more familiar with the Kennedy’s contributions to American society. “They had an important impact on generations of Americans,” Reiter notes. “They were the closest thing America had to royalty. There isn’t a family out there who could match the political clout commanded by the Kennedys.” Among the social changes associated with the Kennedys are civil rights, space travel and improvements in health care.

Rose Discusses Her Relationship with Daughter Rosemary

Many Milwaukeeans will remember the Kennedy connection to Wisconsin through Rose’s daughter, Rosemary. The girl was born with mental health issues, and she lived at home until she was 23. She was then shipped off to the former St. Coletta School for Exceptional Children of Wisconsin in Jefferson, Wis. Secretly, her father, Joe, instructed doctors to perform a lobotomy on Rosemary. When Rosemary was taken to Wisconsin, Joe forbade anyone in the family to see her. Her name was not to be mentioned if Joe was within earshot.

However, after Joe’s first debilitating stroke, Rose got on a plane and visited Rosemary. At the time, Rosemary was living in a house constructed on St. Coletta’s grounds. Reiter promises that theatergoers “will hear all the details about Rosemary’s life” during the show. Rose Kennedy died in 1995, and her daughter Rosemary died in 2005.

As a result of knowing Rosemary, Eunice Kennedy Shriver began hosting Camp Shriver for children with intellectual disabilities. The camp began in 1962. This eventually led to the creation of Special Olympics in 1968. The program has grown and flourished since then. The upcoming 2022 Special Olympics USA will involve more than 5,500 athletes from all 50 states. It will be held in Orlando.

Renaissance Theaterworks production of Rose will be performed May 20-June 5 at 255 S. Water St. (also home of Next Act Theatre). Masks are required indoors. For more information on tickets and show times/dates, check r-t-w.com, or by calling 414-273-0800.