U.S. Army Soldier Show – Coming to an Army base near you

 

 

Spc. Elisabeth Graham is a soldier at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and after long hours of practice and hard work she is now part of the 2006 U.S. Army Soldier Show, which will be on tour from May to November of 2006. While Spc. Graham may be just one of the talented troops in the show, she is special here at LPJ because she is my cousin’s daughter (that would be second cousin) originally from Columbia, South Carolina.

 

If you have the opportunity to visit US Army posts like Fort Belvoir, VA; Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD; Fort Monmouth, NJ; Fort Detrick, MD; Tobyhanna Army Depot, PA; Fort Leonard Wood, MO; Red River Army Depot, TX; Redstone Arsenal, AL; Fort Rucker, AL; Fort Stewart, GA; Fort Jackson, SC; Fort Lee, VA; Fort Gordon, GA; Hunter Army Airfield, GA; Fort Knox, KY; Louisville, KY; Fort Campbell, KY; Fort Polk, LA; Fort Hood, TX; Fort Sam Houston, TX; White Sands Missile Range, NM; Fort Bliss, TX, Fort Huachuca, AZ; Fort Irwin, CA; Fort Carson, CO; Fort Riley, KS; Fort Sill, OK; Fort Leavenworth, KS; Fort McCoy, WI; Fort Drum, NY; U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY; Fort Dix, NJ; Armed Forces Retirement Home, Washington, DC; Warner Theatre, Washington, DC; Fort Meade, MD; Fort Bragg, NC; Fort Monroe, VA; Fort Eustis, VA; and Fort Belvoir, VA – the admission is free.

The theme of the U.S. Army Soldier Show for 2006 is “Operation America Cares,” a 90-minute song and dance production that expresses the importance of giving deployed Soldiers a touch of home and shows will be across America, Korea, Camp Zama, Japan and a European tour. The cast and crew entertain with music of different genre – rhythm and blues, new rock, country, gospel, new wave/new age, patriotic and movie themes. The show, says the show’s director, Victor Hurtado, is “our gift to the American soldier.” The show will also focus on how soldiers deal with the stress of war and long deployments.

More than 400 soldiers submitted applications to perform in the Soldier Show; 25 made it for live auditions and only 16 made it to the show. Three audio and lighting technicians will accompany the tour. The only returning performer from previous shows is SSG Joanne Makay, who performed a medley of Irving Berlin’s songs in her last performance along with tunes like “Heat Wave.” It is quite appropriate because Irving Berlin (Israel Beilin), best known for his songs “White Christmas” and “God Bless America” was a Russian immigrant turned song writer and wrote the music for the first U.S. Army Soldier Show while he was on active duty at Camp Upton, NY. The show later appeared on Broadway in 1918 and during World War II Irving Berlin created another Soldier show for Broadway entitled “This is the Army” – which became a 1943 film featuring stars like Ronald Reagan and Joe Louis. At the request of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the show toured for three years where troops were stationed in Europe and the Pacific theaters. The Army National Guard and AT&T are the co-sponsors for the U.S. Army Soldier Show. (Original story: Tim Hipps, USACFSC Public Affairs.)

So if you live near any of the posts listed or driving distance this summer and fall – be sure to make a point to visit. See the Soldier Show Itinerary. It will be fun and you can be a part of a soldier morale program – and see my cousin perform with 15 other talented soldiers.