THOUSAND OAKS, CA - California Lutheran University will screen an Abraham Lincoln movie and present a discussion with the featured local actor and a history professor on Thursday, March 14.

“Lincoln: The One-Man Show” will be shown at 6 p.m. in Preus-Brandt Forum. A discussion with Camarillo resident Gary Saderup, who portrays Lincoln, and David Nelson, an assistant professor of history at CLU, will follow.

Released on DVD in November, Saderup’s two-hour show encapsulates the 16th president’s life, from his folksy frontier humor to the eloquence of his presidential years. The film touches on how his views on politics, slavery and war formed and why he is the president revered most by a majority of Americans today. It features highlights like the Lincoln-Douglas debates, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address as well as his early years as a prairie lawyer, his turbulent marriage to Mary Todd and his determination to preserve the Union.

Civil War era photos, music and graphics accompany Saderup’s portrayal of Lincoln. He also gives voice to other characters from the time, including Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

“It is, in a word, awesome,” Los Angeles Time reviewer Tom Titus said.

Saderup read extensively about Lincoln, studied old dialect tapes, consulted costume experts and lost 28 pounds to play the part. Like the 2011 film of Saderup’s one-man show, “Douglas MacArthur: Return to Corregidor,” “Lincoln” was shot at Santa Paula High School.

The veteran stage actor has played other historical characters including John Barrymore and Charles Darwin. He has also appeared as Macbeth, Othello and Richard III. He has worked with author Ray Bradbury tocreate leading roles in two original plays.

Saderup studied illustration and film at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and is a successful portraitist whose many charcoal drawings of famous people include one of Lincoln.

Preus-Brandt Forum is located south of Olsen Road between Mountclef Boulevard and Campus Drive on the Thousand Oaks campus.

The CLU History Club and University Relations Division are sponsoring the free event. For more information, contact Cindy Keitel at 805-493-3958 or ckeitel@callutheran.edu.