Soldiers give ‘heartfelt’ performances

Christine June
415th Base Support Battalion


***image1***“The Heart of a Soldier,” theme of the 2004 U.S. Army Soldier Show beats for KMC audiences at noon Monday at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center dining facility and 7 p.m. Tuesday at Vogelweh’s Galaxy Theater.
The 415th Base Support Battalion’s Directorate of Community Activities sponsors this free event, which is open to all U.S. ID card holders.
“We’re very excited to have the Soldier Show coming to our community,” said Laurie Ellington, the 415th BSB entertainment director. “The talent in the show is strictly professional-level, and the show will have special meaning to all of us in the military community.”
This troupe is comprised of Soldiers who competed from posts throughout the world. Sponsored by the Army National Guard, the song-and-dance show brings today’s headlines to the tents of deployed Soldiers and to the dinner table for their families.
The 18-member cast weaves a storyline around the emotional significance of keeping in touch with mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters at the frontline and home front.
“The Soldier Show is rich in history, having begun in 1918 with Irving Berlin,” said Mrs. Ellington, who has worked professionally in theaters in Boston and New York.
Mr. Berlin, a composer best known for “White Christmas” and “God Bless America,” became the founding father of today’s Army Entertainment program by writing the first U.S. Army Soldier Show while serving on active duty in 1918 at Camp Upton, Long Island, N.Y.
The Galaxy Theater opens its doors at 6 p.m.
Those interested in attending should arrive early as seating is limited and is on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Also, strollers are not allowed in the theater.
The Soldier Show will also perform throughout Germany in Darmstadt, Hanau, Baumholder, Wiesbaden, Würzburg, Ansbach/Illesheim, and Grafen-woehr.
For more information, call Mrs. Ellington at 483-6626.