2001tour




			Celebration & Tragedy 2001 Tour Our 10th Anniversary


When Letters From the Front opened in Atlanta on March 6, 1991 it was scheduled to run for three weeks. As of 2001, ten years later, it was still going strong. During that time Letters From the Front played at over one hundred military installations around the world in either its original Desert Storm version, or its current World War II edition. It also spawned an annual letter writing campaign that lets service men and women stationed abroad know how much they are appreciated by their fellow Americans back home. The play and the contest have been credited for boosting morale and helping to break down the glass wall separating civilian and military worlds.

		On the Heels of 9/11

	On Sept. 11th we were in Atlanta, about a week into rehearsals for the fall leg of the tour. Most of our cast and crew were from either New York City or Washington, DC. Playwright Robert Rector was still in DC and only a few miles from the Pentagon when it was hit. He watched the thick cloud of black smoke roll up into the sky. It was a numbing, shattering day with frantic calls to loved ones and hours spent by the TV or radio. But we soon heeded Katharine's advice in the play: "The best thing we can do now is get back to work. If we don't we'll go crazy." We got back to work, aware that Letters From the Front would take on new meaning for the military personnel we play to and their loved ones, and that the "healing effect" so often commented on during the past decade would be sorely needed. No one brings about this catharsis more effectively than Della Cole, who once again stepped into the shoes of Katharine Hartgrove, the role she originated. She was teamed with the very talented Bob Curren, who deftly captured Johnny Chastain's witty antics while always allowing a glimpse of the lost soul beneath. Once on the road we found that security at each installation was, as expected, very tight, sometimes taking us hours to get through the gate. Plans were constantly being changed. Often the venues in which we were originally scheduled to play were suddenly not available. Bringing in the surrounding community to attend a performance was virtually impossible because of the gridlock it would cause at the gate. But we prided ourselves on being able to adapt to every situation. We played at Ft. Campbell, KY when the 101st Airborne was being deployed. We played at Whiteman AFB the day before the B-2s were sent on their first bombing mission. The show always went on, even after F. Lee Reynolds, our Production Stage Manager and a member of the Army Reserve, was called up for active duty. When the tour was over, we received a copy of a letter sent to the Director of the Defense Commissary Agency by Van Stokes, Chief, Recreation Division, Ft. Campbell, KY, in which he said, "The cast and crew went above and beyond the call of duty to provide a show that was most meaningful to this community. As a result of the events of 11 September and subsequent security measures on our installation, the original plan of four performances was reduced to two shows. Thanks to the professionalism of Mr. Bob Rector and the entire crew, we were able to adjust the venues from our theatre to a local school and our recreation center. While the crew was faced with constructing the set at two different locations, they responded in a selfless manner. Both performances were presented in the highest level of professionalism."