Mark Murray, an events producer with the Military District of Washington, calls them “military operas.”  I have been involved in more than twenty of them.  Some events you might even call military variety shows.  Whatever they’re called, they enabled me to direct in DAR Constitution Hall, The Warner Theatre, Washington, DC, the (then) MCI Center, Wash., DC, and arenas in Pittsburgh, PA,  Cleveland, OH, Rochester, NY, Albany, NY, Worchester, MA, Manchester, NH and Columbus, Ohio.  Some of these events would involve musical groups from all of our military services along with guest stars like James McEachin, Tom Brokaw, Peabo Bryson, Ruth Pointer or even Gladys Knight.  Some would be a mix of theatrical event and concert ... involving the 82nd Airborne Chorus, The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, The United State Army Orchestra, the Army Chorus and others.  One event even had eleven members and a drum major from each of the five service marching bands.

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Act II Finale, WWII Tribute Production - MCI Center, Wash. DC

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I first worked with Mark when I was a sub on a sub contract for the opening ceremonies for AUSA in 1993.  I had heard of him, even spoken to him once or twice by phone because Mark was the guy I would call whenever a client was in need of a military color guard for their convention.  Our paths crossed several times while I was working for others with whom he was also working in some capacity.  There were several times when I would pick up the phone and hear his gravely Georgia drawl, “Harry, your country needs you.”  It always meant a challenging, yet fun staging job was on the horizon.

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Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to be working with the company that has won the “Spirit of America” contract. (more on that production below).  I also helped create & direct The National Tribute to Korean War Veterans at the MCI Center in 2003.  In 2004 The American Battle Monuments Commission was preparing for the dedication of the WWII Memorial in Washington, DC and approached Tom Hanrahan at View One, Inc and Mark Murray asking for a “Spirit of America”-size show about WWII.  It would involve military personnel and musicians from all five services.  The result was “Remembrance of Things Past - A Tribute To A Generation”  It was the most amazing, frustrating, challenging and rewarding production with which I have even been involved.

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Champagne+by+Hudson.

The soldiers of Alpha Company thank me for my work on SOA 2005

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PIX – HB on Horse

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Okay - a fuzzy pic, but that's me about to ride a horse out of the Gund Arena garage.  That morning I enjoyed riding with the Caisson guys when they exercised the horses they rode in SOA '05.  When we arrived back at the arena, my production management team of soldiers from A Co dared me to ride on stage for the finale of the matinee show.  The Caisson guys egged me on … so I did it.

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PIX - Me on stage on horse

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“SPIRIT OF AMERICA”

Of all the events that I have staged for the Military District of Washington, “Spirit of America” is the most complex.  Multiple moving parts and players (on stage and behind the scenes) make it a great logistical puzzle, and I love puzzles.  Where else would I get to work with a 60-member orchestra and three composer/arrangers as well as a cast of up to 350 and 4 horses?

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It was honor to have been involved as the director of the production from 2000 to 2007, and as a writer from 2002 until 2007.  I was part of an incredible team lead by executive producers, Mark Murray, Special Project Officer, Military District of Washington on the Army side, and Tom Hanrahan of View One, Inc. from the civilian side.  Mark has been writing, directing and otherwise mother henning “Spirit of America” since the 1970’s. He brought me in as director in 2000. Tom, with his wife Karen Turtzer, work behind the scenes and seldom get the credit they deserve for keeping us on task.  Together with and array of officers and enlisted personnel from The US Army 3rd Regiment (The Old Guard), The United States Army Band, the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, the United States Army Drill Team, and many talented civilian designers and theatre craftspeople, we have delivered six different SOA productions since 2000. We have played arenas in Washington, DC, Columbus, Ohio, Pittsburgh, PA, Worchester, MA, Albany, NY, Rochester, NY, Manchester, NH and Cleveland, OH.  At one performance in Cleveland we had more than 13,000 in the audience.  Their positive response was inspiring,

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Considering the times in which we live, some friends and associates have questioned my choice to work with the US Army and the Military District of Washington. 

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Our work is about the soldiers – the “boots on the ground.”  For over 230 years men and women have been inspired to serve in the United States military.  Unlike the militiamen in 1775 who held a town meeting on Lexington Green following the battle with the British and decided, yes, they would move on to Concord, today’s soldiers do not choose their engagements. The politicians do.  

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The men and women of today’s Army choose to serve our nation.  Long before they know whether or not they will be shot at, or where, they choose to put their lives on the line on behalf of me, my children, you and yours.  It is their story we tell in SOA.

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In that vein, SOA writing team member James Hanrahan created the following scene for “Spirit of America 2005” based on a conversation we had with SGT Michael McGee, A. Co., US Army 3rd Infantry (The Old Guard).  The SOA Narrators, SGTS Foehrkolb and Cooper, set up the scene …

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• NARRATOR 3: Over the years Spirit of America has tried to tell the story of the American soldier and let folks take from that what they will. We do believe the stories are inspiring.

• NARRATOR 4: They are about our friends and our neighbors and our families who have given so much to keep this country free. We hope the show causes each of us to examine our role as citizens - some of you may choose to join the military.

• NARRATOR 3: The Army is one of the essential underpinning s of our nation. Period. Our soldiers take an oath "to defend the constitution of the United States -not a leader, people, government, or territory." That is from the Army Field Manual One, the basic document that defines our role as soldiers. To maintain our Army we need the best soldiers we can possibly get.

• NARRATOR 4: I had a Sergeant, he's in Iraq now, we had long conversations about this. The conversation continues by email

• The lights then came up on a solider in Iraq sitting on his cot and typing on his laptop. We get a sense that he is writing a letter home. He stops for a moment, and addresses the audience saying:

• SOLDIER: I have a friend who told me the very best way for him to serve the nation was to make a lot of money. "Think what I'll be doin' for the economy!," he said. It's certainly his right, and I know in his way he is supporting us, and we need his support. But his way didn't work for me. It used to be that the military was a rite of passage, part o f completing one’s education. Has something changed in our constitution? Has something changed about the importance of the citizen soldier? Is the world less dangerous? To have the very best possible Army, we need the very best people. We need those who believe in citizenship and in our nation - both inside and outside the military. Not as a phrase on a bumper sticker, but, as those first citizens put it, those who will pledge their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. One of the things that made our nation possible was the military service of so many of the delegates to the constitutional convention. It wasn’t that they had experienced war, it was that they had experienced each other. They could see a common good. They learned that they could work together toward a difficult goal. We wouldn't be here today without their strength.”

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This very effecting speech was performed by SGT Seifert in Rochester, NY and then by SGT Robert Hudson in Washington, DC and in Cleveland, OH.

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The last SOA on which I worked had its final performances in Pittsburgh, PA in September, 2007.  Unfortunately, The US Army chose a different civilian producing/writing/directing team for their 2008 & 2009 SOA presentations – the lowest bidders.  “Nuff said.

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On the other hand, I must say that after seven years of exciting, challenging and very successful shows, I miss working with the guys from A Co, the US Army Band, the FDC and USADT. 

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I have assembled a series of pictures here that will hopefully give you a sense of the scope of this wonderful productions we created to acknowledge and inspire service to the nation.  To view the pictures, click on the MDW Gallery tab on the left.

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A TRIBUTE TO A GENERATION

MCI Center, Washington, DC – May 2004

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There is so much I want to write about this production ... the audience was so moved and so appreciative, making this the most rewarding creative endeavor with which I have been involved.  (See picture below) Friends, relatives and even strangers who saw this show have told me that bringing their folks to see this production actually got them talking about their war years - something they had seldom, if ever, had done.  We have been thanked over and over by boomers whose parents were positively affected by this event, as well as by members of "the greatest generation" themselves.

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From time to time I will add a paragraph or two of my memories of this very rewarding production.

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Music

The United States Army Band composers  made a major contribution to the integrity of the show, creating a very fitting and moving underscore for almost every scene as well as accentuating music hits and transitional musical pieces.  Three words come to mind when I think of the composer/arrangers, the conductors, the technicians and the musicians with US Army Band  - consistent high quality.

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Scripting

Mark Murray, James Hanrahan and I immersed ourselves in WWII history and developed a script that I consider our best as a writing team.  It wasn't easy putting together an hour-long one-act play representative of the five services participation in both theatres of war while capturing life on the home front - all from Pearl Harbor to VJ Day to the homecomings that followed it.  Our script ultimately ran more than an hour, but no one complained.  We managed to create an involving story about members of five different families from different parts of the country and, to varying degrees show their participation in the massive effort to win the war.  The lead family had two sons - one joined the Marines, one, the Army.  Their Mom worked in a war plant, their sister, just 14, collected scrap metal, and Dad, a vet from WWI, was on the Draft Board.  Another family represented included a Dad who joined the Army Air Corps. and became one of the Tuskegee Airmen.  His wife worked in a plant building airplanes. 

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It was an honor to be on the writing team and to direct the production for MDW.  All five branches of the US Military Service participated, providing musicians, marching units and several dozen service men and women to perform speaking roles in this drama about the European and Pacific theatres of War -- as well as with the home front effort -- during WWII.  During the scripting process we spent several hours with a veteran Marine cameraman who was actually one the ground at Tarawa. Amazing stuff.  I wish we had recorded our conversations.

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Pix - The six Navy Men, me and the lifeboat backstage

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I was particularly pleased that we were able to work the Merchant Marines into the story.  My Dad, Michael Bagdasian, was a member of that service.  When he wqas 3^rd Engineer on the Myer Lindin the ship was hit and sunk by a German U-Boat in the Mediterranean.  The lifeboat scene in this production was based on my Dad's experiences.  When the sailors who portrayed the scene heard that my Dad was at the show, they asked to meet him.  When they did, my Dad re-told the story of the sinking and of his lifeboat experience in greater detail than I ever remember.  Those guys were respectful and so nice to my Dad.  It meant a lot to him on many levels.

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The journey from pre-production to final blackout was the most challenging of all the military productions with which I have been involved.

To see several pictures from this show, click on the WWII Tribute tab over there to the left.

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Video Feature

Marine TV produced a feature story about “Tribute To A Generation” when the WWII Memorial was dedicated. I found a dub of the Marine TV feature, cut it into two parts and uploaded it to You Tube.  If you would like to check it out go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhDHx_g1i1k  for part one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-ItkiTTJWE  for part two