Scenes from Letters Home produced by Griffin Theatre Company
A pair of productions coming to Valley stages were inspired by letters written during times of war. Hale Theatre Centre in Gilbert presents “The Price of Freedom” Sept. 11-Oct. 30. The production features music by Rob Gardner and lyrics/stories by McKane Davis. The “Price of Freedom” album, available online from Spire Music, features songs such as “Pearl Harbor,” “Enlisting,” “Coming Home” and “Your Brother By Your Side.”
A fillm called “The Price of Freedom,” which recounts the lives of a small group of WWII veterans, premiered during 2008 on PBS. It was produced by Steve Kalafer and Cynthia Van Cleef, and directed by Bruce Norfleet. Recently PBS debuted a series about WWII dubbed “The War,” written by Geoffrey C. Ward, and directed and produced by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. Lessons plans on the PBS website include one titled “Letters from the Front Line.” PBS also has a Veterans History Project.
A touring production of “Letters Home,” produced by Griffin Theatre Company in Chicago, comes to Higley Center for the Performing Arts for a single performance on Oct. 30. The work “commemorates and celebrates military men and women and the families they left at home.”
Chicago is also home to the National Veterans Art Museum, which opens at a new location on Veterans Day 2012. The museum launched its “NVAM Collection Online” on July 4th this year, so folks can now enjoy a virtual art experience featuring diverse works by U.S. military veterans.
The museum is currently seeking proposals (through Sept. 17) for events, art shows and performances that “explore the continued rupturing of the trauma of war in everyday America” — which has me wondering whether Monte Merrick’s “First Casualty,” which had a staged reading during the 2012 Hormel New Works Festival in Phoenix, might make a good fit. They’ve also issued a call for veteran artists to participate in a Pentagon exhibit (Oct. 30 deadline to apply).
— Lynn
Coming up: Remembering first responders
Stage Mom Musings 