Academic Year 23-24 was defined by four major projects, each one unique and each one a success. In October, USAFA hosted an interdisciplinary conference on War, the Holocaust, and Human Rights. Having been commissioned by the conference leadership team to stage a dramatic piece as part of the symposium, Bluebards presented an original dramatic work titled “Depth of Our Souls.” The piece was structured as a thematic and chronological exploration of the Holocaust, and it consisted of survivor testimonies, monologues from plays, pieces of poetry, and other forms of performance; C1C Amber Norman, one of the many outstanding cadets performing in the piece, suggested the title “Depth of Our Souls,” which is part of a quotation from the opening pages of Elie Wiesel’s NIGHT.
The project was based on the textbook ENACTING HISTORY, which offers a guide to how theatre can be used as a medium for teaching about the Holocaust; it was also heavily informed by Colonel Michell Ruehl’s scholarship on trauma-informed theatre. “Depth of Our Souls” was received passionately and powerfully by members of the USAFA community and by visiting scholars. Brigadier General Linell Letendre, the Dean of the Faculty, sent the message below to the entire faculty:
The success of this performance underscored that the theatre arts can promote both active learning and empathy, and participating in this production left a profound impact on the cadets involved.
Toward the end of the fall semester, the organization performed its mainstage fall show, CLUE. This farcical murder mystery was adapted from the beloved 1985 film, which was in turn adapted from the celebrated boardgame. Though largely ignored upon its initial release, the film developed a cult following and has been embraced by audiences for its outstanding cast of character actors (including Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Martin Mull, Leslie Ann Warren, Eileen Brennan, Michael McKean, and Christopher Lloyd). The goal of the cadet directorial team on this production was to maintain the classic, chaotic, and comedic spirit of the film without copying it. The exceeded expectations in this regard, as CLUE was a tremendous hit, drawing over 700 audience members on each of its two nights. In addition to the comedic success, CLUE was a triumph of creative staging, as C3C Aidan Corcoran - the co-director and production designer - created a unit set design for the show. Though the play (and the board game) take place in nine different rooms (the Billiards Room, the Hall, the Lounge, et cetera), Aidan wanted every room to be visible for the entire show so as to convey the effect of having the gameboard in front of you at all times. Boddy Manor thus came to life in its totality and in all of its murderous glory!
In the spring, we shifted our attention to two musical projects; our second musical revue, LIFE IN LIVING COLOR, was based around the theme of “colorful moments” in our lives that might inspire us to sing out (were we characters in a musical!) The show featured songs from diverse Broadway musicals such as DEAR EVAN HANSEN, CHICAGO, CHESS, WAITRESS, FUNNY GIRL, MAMMA MIA! and JAGGED LITTLE PILL, as well as songs from Disney films such as THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, ALADDIN, and HERCULES. This production was staged in conjunction with Cadet Entertainment as a dinner theatre. Like last year’s revue, the production was completely cadet directed. This year, the directors strove to create a tighter “narrative” for the revue by making sure that the numbers were sequenced in such a way as to underscore a key theme/feeling/emotion. The directors likewise experimented with color and color schemes in the ballroom so that different songs (and the actors singing those songs) had a specific “hue.”
Our final project was our mainstage musical production, Frank Loesser’s HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING. First staged in 1961, HOW TO SUCCEED was a smash hit that swept the Tonys and won the coveted Pulitzer Prize for drama. An indelicate and uproarious satire of the postwar corporate world, HOW TO SUCCEED pokes fun at the shallowness and cronyism of big business. Our production design was deliberately over-the-top so as to underscore the satirical slant of the show: through the use of bright colors like purples, pinks, greens, and oranges, we created the illusion of a “live action cartoon.”
Notably, HOW TO SUCCEED satirically explores the theme of gender inequality as well and addresses issues such as patriarchy, glass ceilings, and sexual harassment; one of the reasons we opted to produce this show was to support USAFA’s “Let’s Be Clear Campaign” by presenting the absurdity of a workplace culture that objectifies and undermines women. Through some creative staging decisions, our production put forth a positive message about how laughter and music can be powerful tools in the fight for equality, dignity, and respect. The production was also based around the idea of celebrating the character of Rosemary and revealing her to be the true hero of the piece and the source for true reform at World Wide Wickets Inc. through her demonstration of how patience, kindness, hopefulness, and helpfulness can lead to cultural change.
In addition, HOW TO SUCCEED marked a unique step forward in the effort to promote more co-curricular engagement through our productions. Our cadet director – C1C Myriah Heydt – used her work on HOW TO SUCCEED as the basis for a capstone project in her gender studies course. Myriah created a comprehensive video documentary on the “behind the scenes story” of our production. Her project received tremendous acclaim from her instructor and from USAFA’s Director of Culture and Climate.
As always, we are very grateful to several of our recent alumni who returned to watch this year’s show, including Jimmy Cummings (’21), Curi Von Schlag (’22), Taylor Metzger (’23), Ethan Erazo (’23), and Neo Anderson (’23). We are likewise grateful to all Bluebards alumni who continue to take an interest in the organization and who support the Falcon Theatre Foundation. Please continue to follow us on Instagram (@bluebardsusafa) for the most up to date information about our projects and productions.
