Photo By Rachel Larue | Soldiers from the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) portray Confederate and...... read more read more
JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, Va. - Big Hollywood-type entertainment productions tour multi-purpose, mega-thousand seat arenas across the United States throughout the calendar year. From figure skating ice shows to circuses, acting rosters in these extravaganzas can grow into a multi-page name directory resembling a big-city phone book.
As for its Spirit of America shows, the Army’s community outreach pageant and show, the service branch takes a straight-forward approach to casting its show.
The philosophy is simple: Soldiers portray Soldiers.
Casting the Spirit of America show is done from within the ranks. What audience members get is true, genuine American Soldiers - not recruited actors.
According to Executive Officer for the Commander-in-Chief’s Guard and SOA Coordinator 1st Lt. Tyler O’Connor, the majority of Army acting and stage efforts involve members of the 3rd U.S. Army Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard).
“The majority [of the actors] are from Alpha Company also known as the Commander-in-Chief’s Guard of 4/3,” O’Connor said during the first joint SOA rehearsal, which was held in August. “The number [of actors] going is between 115 to 120. Overall for the entire show, we’re looking at probably upwards of 300 people. That’s much larger than any Cirque du Soleil show.”
The Old Guard Alpha Company’s Pvt. Connor Walzak, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, is a Spirit of America narrator and has been involved as the voice of the Twilight Tattoo on Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall. Walzak told the Pentagram he was “discovered” while preparing for another mission.
“I was actually on my way out to air assault school, and the [Spirit of America] director said they wanted me on film,” he said. “They wanted to hear my voice and hear my speech pattern. I originally tried out for another part, but I got the part as second narrator.”
This will be Walzak’s first-ever Spirit of America. When he takes the TD Garden Arena floor for the first time the morning of Sept. 12, all his narration will be from memory. That does not bother him one bit.
“We’re not reading script; we have it [the show] memorized,” he said. “Once you speak in front of a couple people, you can speak in front of a couple more people.”
SOA portrayal actor and The Old Guard’s Sgt. Gregory Smith is originally from Massachusetts, so after he masters his costume changes during SOA’s first four shows, he has planned some leisure time with family.
Smith is a Soldier portraying Soldiers: He will be costumed as a Vietnam War era Soldier and as the War of 1812’s Maj. George Armistead.
“I have a nice little paragraph for a speaking part,” Smith said. “I start the show as Armistead and change to the Vietnam Soldier and then for the final send-off, back to Armistead. I always make it [the costume changes] in enough time.”
A different type of casting is performed via recruitment into The Continental Color Guard. When 6-foot, 3-inch Portland, Indiana, native Cpl. Ben Walter joined the color guard nearly three years ago, he was one of the shortest members of the 30-man regiment. Starting in Boston and through Albany and Hershey, he and four fellow guard members will be front and center on the SOA stage.
“Reaching out to other people is a big part of what we do here,” Walter said. “We are the best at what we do. We are the nation’s foremost colors team. It’s representing the nation, The Old Guard, the regiment and the Army to the rest of the civilian world.”
| Date Taken: | 09.10.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 09.10.2014 14:12 |
| Story ID: | 141681 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, VA, US |
| Hometown: | PORTLAND, IN, US |
| Hometown: | VIRGINIA BEACH, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 250 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Spirit of America uses unique approach to casting, by Jim Dresbach, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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