Feinstein’s/54 Below, Broadway’s Supper Club, presents a 75th anniversary concert of Irving Berlin’s “This is the Army” on Veterans Day, November 11, 2017 at 9:30pm.
On July 4, 1942, Irving Berlin’s all-soldier musical This is the Army opened on Broadway before touring the US, making an Oscar-winning Hollywood film, playing the London Palladium, and visiting the front lines of World War II. This Veterans Day, an all-star Broadway cast will remember how this troupe of Broadway soldiers became the first racially integrated US Army unit, had openly gay soldiers who risked military prison, and avoided brushes with death as they brought their vaudeville show to the war’s most dangerous combat zones. Featuring songs like “This is the Army, Mr. Jones,” “Ladies of the Chorus,” “Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning,” and “God Bless America.”
History has largely forgotten this troupe of Broadway performers who were recruited by the Army to raise money for the war effort, and then to bring joy to the front lines of a difficult war. Many performers were bringing their talents to the battlefields, but there was nothing else like the logistics of bringing a full-scale Broadway show to the front lines. There were lights, costumes, setups, takedowns, a cast of 150 that needed sleep somewhere and be fed, and there was the difficulty of following the dual command of Army brass and the civilian Mr. Berlin.
“Irving Berlin’s This is the Army” will be directed and produced by Jason Ferguson and will feature an all-star cast of Broadway performers.
“Irving Berlin’s This is the Army” plays Feinstein’s/54 Below (254 West 54th Street) on Veterans Day, November 11, 2017 at 9:30pm. There is a $30-$40 cover charge and $25 food and beverage minimum. Tickets and information are available at www.54Below.com. Tickets on the day of performance after 4:00 are only available by calling (646) 476-3551.