Soldier Show brings Baghdad on silver anniversary tour

(Photo by Tim Hipps) The cast of the 2008 U.S. Army Soldier Show performs shows in the U.S. and parts of Europe to bring experiences and environment from Baghdad.The latest 18-member cast and crew of the U.S. Army Soldier Show emphasize their working motto of "entertainment for the Soldier, by the Soldier" in a simulated deployed setting to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the modern show, which opens at 7:30 p.m. April 11 at Wallace Theater. Belvoir hosts another 90-minute, song-and-dance performance, at 2 p.m. April 13.

There is no admission charge and the shows are open to the public on a first-come, first-seated basis.

The Soldier Show then performs at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., April 26 and 27. The group then embarks on a seven-month tour of about 100 performances on military installations across the United States, Germany, Belgium and Italy.

The tour's international portion consumes most of May and early June.

The Soldier Show is a high-energy, live musical review showcasing the talents of active-duty Soldiers who were selected by audition from throughout the Army. They are amateur artists who have a passion for music, dance and performing. They come from aviation, biological, infantry, medical, musical, signal, transportation and other tactical units.

"The impression we want the audience to get is they've been transported to the Middle East to a combat area," Soldier Show director Tim Higdon said

The stage floor will be tan to simulate sand and the façade will be covered with desert camouflage nets and faux sandbags to simulate a field environment in Iraq or Afghanistan. Army Combat Uniform seatback covers will extend the setting throughout the auditorium.

A louvered wall stage backdrop that features a desert sunset with signs bearing the names of Army camps and forward operating bases will help make the set seem surreal, along with the sounds of a field environment: trucks bypassing, helicopters taking off and buzzing overhead, off-duty Soldiers at play, cadence calling, etc.

"The printed program has a smart book or field-manual layout, which goes back to the Soldier aspect of the show's mission," Higdon said. "The goal is to give the sense we are watching the Soldiers return from a mission, who then take the time to put on a show for the audience."

In the end, troops don their battle gear as they exit the stage.

"Just to drive home that they start the show as Soldiers and they leave the show the same way, as Soldiers - to do what their mission in life is," said Higdon, a 1988 Soldier Show performer who, this year, replaced Victor Hurtado in the director's chair. "Since we're not taking the show to Baghdad, we're bringing Baghdad to the show."

Nearly half of the cast and crew already have deployed during the War on Terror, so they know the drill. Just getting an opportunity to perform on a seven-month tour of entertaining Soldiers and military families fulfills a lifelong dream for most of them.

During the show, video screens will add visual elements to the performances. For example, the cast will honor the modern era of the show's 25th anniversary with a World War II tune: "This is the Army, Mr. Jones," which was written in 1942 by Soldier Show founder Irving Berlin for "This is the Army." During that number, a video montage of photographs, posters and video clips chronicle a quarter century of Soldier Shows.

"We touch on the 25 years, but the show isn't focused on that," Higdon said. "The show is still relevant to today's Soldier and family members in the communities. We have some fun with period pieces, as we always do, but there's no conscious effort to really drive home '25 years' throughout the show. It's really more about the Soldier and the environment they serve in today."

The show, however, pays tribute to the coincidental 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson's "Thriller," the best-selling album of all time on Billboard's charts.

As the song begins, a Soldier-performer on guard duty scans the audience with a night-vision camera and spectators can see themselves on positive screens. Using black lights and colored costumes, the night-vision effect spills onto the stage.

"So, it's as if the audience is watching this number in night vision," Higdon explained. "And, we've 'cartoonized' the original Michael Jackson video that will be shown on the plasma screens while we're doing it live on stage.

"It will be a pretty big production number."

Unrelated to the 25th anniversaries, the show also features Akon's remake of Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" mixed with Rhianna's "Don't Stop the Music." The show also pays tribute to AC/DC, a hard-rock band from Sydney, Australia.

"We will have a well-balanced mix of everything," Higdon said. "There will definitely be something for everybody - presented as if Soldiers had to do it themselves with what they had available. We'll still have nice gowns and all that stuff, but things will transition to help make it feel like it is set in the field. For instance, we're going to have a song done in a canteen-like arena."

From the opening montage to the finale, visual and song elements focus on the strength of our Soldiers, tying into "Army Strong."

"We never want the audience to forget that these aren't professional singers and dancers, that they're Soldiers," Higdon said.

He also praised the talented artistic staff that helped assemble the show.

"The team's already in place, so it's just a matter of having a vision and being able to share it with them," Higdon said. "They make it happen."

For the eighth consecutive year, the Army National Guard is the primary sponsor and partner of the U.S. Army Soldier Show, one of more than 100 programs and services provided to Soldiers and their families by the Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command.