Are you an entertainer cloaked in camouflage?
If you think you’ve got what it takes to hit the stage and perform with and for your fellow soldiers, then get ready to audition for the 2008 Soldier Show coming to a garrison near you.
As the musical show makes its way through Europe over the next few weeks, a soldier from each installation where the show is scheduled will be selected to perform with the troupe.
After a stint in the States, the song-and-dance extravaganza kicks off the overseas portion of its seven-month tour on May 15 in the Netherlands and wraps it up about three weeks later in Italy.
The free, 90-minute shows are considered the Army Entertainment Division’s marquee production. The entertainment division, a Morale, Welfare, and Recreation program, gives soldiers the opportunity to serve as singers, dancers, actors, musicians and stage crew for different events.
The 2008 Soldier Show will feature acts against a “deployed” stage setting complete with desert camouflage nets and faux sandbags to simulate the downrange field environment.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the show’s modern incarnation, first staged by songwriter and soldier Irving Berlin during World War I. Along with contemporary tunes, the Soldier Show cast will honor Berlin with a rendition of “This Is the Army, Mister Jones” — a song from Berlin’s World War II-era Broadway show “This is the Army.”
If you’re interested in joining the traveling show when it comes to your base, contact your local MWR entertainment director. A list and other details are available here.
Soldier Show 2008 venues
May 15: SHAPE Cinema, 7 p.m.
May 17: JTF Brunssum Alliance Theatre, 7 p.m.
May 19: Baumholder, Hall of Champions, 7 p.m.
May 21: Bamberg, Basics Building 7110, 7 p.m.
May 22: Schweinfurt, Finney Fitness Center, 7 p.m.
May 24: Garmisch, Edelweiss Lodge and Resort, 8 p.m.
May 26: Grafenwöhr, Tower Theatre, 4 p.m.
May 28: Stuttgart, Patch Barracks Fitness Center, 7 p.m.
May 30: Mannheim, BFV Sport Arena, 6 p.m.
May 31: Wiesbaden, Taunus Movie Theatre, 6 p.m.
June 2: Kaiserslautern-Vogelweh, Galaxy Theatre, 7 p.m.
June 4: Katterbach Airfield, Hangar 2, 6:30 p.m.
June 5: Hohenfels, high school gym, 5 p.m.
June 7: Vicenza, Post Theatre parking lot, 8 p.m.
