‘Home Front’ revue tells it like it was during World War II years

Joe Delaney

Friday, Jan. 22, 1999 | 10:49 a.m.

First, make sure you have $3 apiece, then call 895-3801 and order your tickets for "Home Front -- 1939-1945," a World War II revue being performed in UNLV's Paul Harris Theatre at 8 p.m. today and Saturday and at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Directed to near perfection by Davey Marlin-Jones, it is a joint presentation by the UNLV Playwriting Program, UNLV's Senior Adult Theatre Program and the Graduate College of the Department of Theatre.

Kimberly Chin did a masterful job in compiling and adapting the oral history and writings that are the basis for the production, as partial fulfillment of the requirement for a Master of Fine Arts degree in playwriting. Remember her name, you'll be hearing from her in the future.

The cast, uniformly excellent, and listed here alphabetically -- Margie Drew, Mel Elizer, Nancy Frederick, Paul Harris, Shirley Laibson, Helen Okonski and Bobby Rodgers -- made the compilation real and one seamless whole rather than a series of vignettes. A special bow is due musical director and pianist Connie Meng, who accompanied the slides in the prologue and the various actors as they sang well-selected songs of that era.

The production follows America through the Depression to the dropping of the atomic bomb. It deals with the Japanese internment, loose lips and conspiracy theories, various reactions on the home front, women missing husbands and sons, and the work force. There is nostalgia (never cloying), humor, reflection and the perspective of the present to give an accurate feeling of what it was like to be free and turning 20, as I did during those seven incredible years.

The Senior Theatre actors portray all the characters, they dance, sing, and include a 7-year-old Japanese-American boy in one segment and President Roosevelt in another. Writings for "Home Front" were by Quentin Allen, Chin, Frederick, Colleen Jaspers, Julie Jensen, Davey Marlin Jones and Ann Wuehler. Further contributions were by Verlie Burt, Florence Frost, Audrey Heim, Mary Hopper, Maria Monzella, Martine Patton, Art Shinn and other cast members.

If you were part of the World War II period, this is for you. But it is also for your children and their children, to give them a feeling for what was happening on the home front during 1939-1945. I can promise you a most enjoyable remembrance and for the others an interesting and pleasant learning experience in an exceptional evening of theatre.

In addition to the first-class theatrical efforts in UNLV's Judy Bayley, we are just as impressed by performances in the Black Box and Paul Harris theatres; shows that are priced well within the most limited budget. You won't spend that three dollars a person better than you can this weekend in UNLV's Paul Harris Theatre. You needn't, but you will want to thank me for being insistent.