Like many guys in my genertion, I grew up assuming I would serve in the military; however, by the time I was in college my enthusiasm had cooled. We were involved in a war with which I did not agree and I had no desire to be a part of it. Still, when the draft notice came, I bowed to the inevitable and, at the urging of a recruiter, even kicked for an extra year so I could become a linguist, an assignment that I assumed would be better suited to my passifist nature. After I arrived in South Korea I did my job for eight hours and then joined my fellows at the NCO club where we eased our boredom with round after round. Then one day Recreation Services brought a play to the base. The production was Neil Simons Plaza Suite. It was beyond bad: the acting wooden, the blocking non-existant, but the set was actually quite nice. I knew I could do better, so I pulled together some friends and mounted my own production of Simons The Star-Spangled Girl. I had to apply to Recreation Services so they would pay the royalties and they even offered to build the set. I took them up on the offer and it arrived on a truck a week later. They also sent a complete set of lighting equipment and a board to run them. We set it up in the Service Club. I picked the show because it only has three characters and one set to keep things simple. In addition to directing, I played one of the characters. Opening night there was a power failure, so we gatherd every candle we could find and installed them along the front of the stage like footlights. The power came back on about halfway through the first act, so we took a short intermission to remove the candles. The audience loved the show and the Director of Recreation Services came to see it. He was excited, as well, and insisted we tour it to a few other bases, hauling everthing in a convoy of trucks. I followed that show with several others, my company growing with each show, as we toured to more distant bases by helicopter. I can still see the laughing faces of the thousands of G.I.s we entertained over the next 18 months. We also served who only sang and danced and sprayed seltzer down our pants! Ed Jones
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 12:17:39 +0000
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