Test Market - Ft. Bliss, TX

The new set -- Katharine's home in New London, CT, complete with running water ( designed by Guy Tuttle).

By the end of the initial three week, 17 performance run at Atlanta's 14th Street Playhouse, playwright/director Robert Rector knew exactly what changes needed to be made and spent the next six months rewriting the play.

The focus of the story was shifted from Johnny to Katharine.  The setting was moved from his cold, disheveled New York loft, to her warm, cozy home in New London, Conn.  Johnny's pregnant little sister, along with a subplot about her losing the baby, was dropped.   So were the noisy neighbors.  Johnny's agent, Myron, became Katharine's agent, Myra.  The Stars and Stripes parody at the head of the show was moved back to give more time to establish the characters.  Letters now opened and closed the play, which was trimmed to a tight two hour running time.

The make-or-break night for Letters From the Front was December 10th, 1991 at the Center Theatre, Ft. Bliss, Texas.  We had to test the play before a broad spectrum of the military community -- veterans, active duty and raw recruits -- to determine whether a full scale tour of military installations was feasable.  How would people who had dedicated their lives to the Armed Forces respond to the play?  To make it even more of an acid test, at least half of the audience was comprised of shaven-headed trainees who had been marched into the theatre by their drill sergeants.

The curtain went up for the two hour play at the traditional time of 8:00 PM.  During the first two acts the audience responded enthusiastically and we breathed a sigh of relief.   But during an emotional scene in the third act, when Katharine Hartgrove (played by Della Cole), is literally on her knees praying for her son's life, one of the drill sergeants abruptly stood up and called out a signal.  A large number of the trainees rose obediently and marched out of the theatre.

Being a seasoned professional, Della never missed a beat, but privately her heart was sinking.  Producer Marsha Roberts was standing at the back of the theatre, mouth agape, wondering what had triggered this response.  Was there something in the play that offended the young soldiers?  We began to see our hopes of a military tour going up in smoke.

Finally the curtain came down and to our surprise there was thunderous applause.  People jumped to their feet and ran toward the stage to cheer the actors.  There were pats on the back, hand shakes, bear hugs.  We were baffled.

One of the drill sergeants, a six foot three Goliath, threw his arms around a couple of his recruits and said, "You made me realize how much I love my boys! " When asked why one of the drill sergeants pulled his men out of the show, he laughed and said, "Aw, he's just one of those by-the-book types.  Trainees are supposed to be in bed by ten.   So at 9:30 he ordered his boys out.  You might want to consider moving your show up an hour."

We gave another performance the following night and it was received with equal enthusiasm.  After this successful test market at Ft. Bliss, Letters From the Front was now ready to hit the road.  Showtime was set at 7:00 PM.