ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Military personnel are invited Feb. 28 to watch 16 Soldiers vie for a spot in the 2009 U.S. Army Soldier Show.
Admission is free and seating is unreserved for the Saturday matinee at Fort Belvoir, Va.
The Wallace Theater curtain will open at 1:30 p.m. for the 2-hour talent evaluation of 15 Soldier-vocalists and one roller skater, who may skate upon the stage with a song or few.
"We're going to find out if he can sing," Soldier Show director Victor Hurtado said. "It should be interesting."
It's always interesting to watch the Soldier Show performers' progression after they depart Fort Belvoir each spring for a six-month tour of providing "entertainment for the Soldier, by the Soldier," the working motto of Army Entertainment Division.
Rarely, however, does anyone outside of AED get an up-close-and-personal look at the untrained talent. Likewise, many, if not most, of the troops have never been exposed to an audience before being selected to the cast and crew.
Staff Sgt. Deneen Murray knows the drill. She came from Camp Humphries, South Korea, to perform in the 2006 U.S. Army Soldier Show and is back for more.
"I love it. I crave it," said Murray, 44, now stationed at Fort Lee, Va. "I've been dying to get back. I just had to come back."
Hundreds of Soldiers contact the Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command every year expressing a desire to perform in the Soldier Show. But when it comes time to get released by their commander and step up for a live audition, the numbers quickly dwindle.
Nevertheless, as they say in show business, the show must go on.
"It was a little hard to get here," Murray said of getting released for an encore tour. "I scraped and I scrounged, but I got here. Within the Army, it's a big thing belonging to something bigger than you - just getting out there and doing this, it just makes you feel like this is what you were meant to do.
"When you're singing on stage, you feel like you touch so many people and so many lives. Just being a part of something you know is bigger than you is just phenomenal."
Spc. Cyril Powell of Fort Bragg, N.C., who finished third in the 2008 Operation Rising Star singing contest, will be one of the performers. Sgt. Toure Clark, an Army Reservist from South Carolina, will roll in on skates.
"This is their chance to show us how they will perform before a live audience after a compulsory week of evaluation," Hurtado said. "It will show us how they react in front of a live audience and what we need to work on."
When all is sang and done, the cast for the 2009 U.S. Army Soldier Show will be selected. They will spend several weeks rehearsing their music, dance steps and roadie duties before embarking on a tour that will feature 116 performances at more than 50 locations, including Hawaii and Korea.
Social Sharing