Obligation to history brings actress back to Nevada

Tom Gardner

Saturday, Feb. 17, 2001 | 9:42 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - A sense of obligation to the people who endured the horrors of the Second World War brought Rebecca Judd back to Nevada from an international stage career to discharge her debt in a series of high school performances.

Judd felt a duty to share an era that she calls both sad and wonderful with the current generation by developing "WWII SWAK," a one-woman performance that largely evolved from letters written by people at home and at the front - many of them "Sealed With a Kiss."

"We cannot allow the great sacrifices of the people who lived through World War II to ever be forgotten," she said. "I can't thank them enough, but I dedicate this show to the men and women in World War II."

A little history is woven into the musical drama for a 35-minute show she is presenting to student audiences around the state.

The staging, with its simple set and minimal lighting, is a far cry from the extravagant productions in which she has appeared over the past 14 years.

Judd starred in the role of Madame Giry in "Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway, with the San Francisco company, and, until a few weeks ago, in the national tour. She also has appeared on Broadway in "The Secret Garden" and "Sweeney Todd."

She started thinking about a one-woman show when she began touring with Phantom eight years ago and has spent the past three years seriously developing it.

Judd, who is in her mid-40s, is about half the age of the people who endured the war.

She was first drawn to the period by its music and clothing styles.

"Then I started reading stories about the people and I felt that I really understood what freedom is," she said.

Touring with Phantom took her to cities with libraries where she could study the era. Discoveries included wartime pictures and news broadcasts she uses in the show along with the precious letters to and from men fighting in Europe and the Pacific.

"It was a lot of research, but thrilling research," she said. "The more I learned about it the more I wanted to learn about it. One of the hardest things about writing the show was narrowing the information - a tremendous amount and all of it so important."

Judd initially envisioned a cabaret-type show, possibly for cruise ship audiences, but Reno Gazette-Journal columnist Rollan Melton suggested that she revise it to target high school students instead.

"I still want to share it with the older generation, but it seems like the younger generation needs to know what's been done on our behalf," she said.

The native of Gardnerville studying accounting at Western Nevada Community College in Carson City and working for the state Welfare Division when she nervously tried out for her first role and landed a small part in a Proscenium Players production of "Mame."

"I really liked theater better than I liked accounting," she said.

She transferred to the University of Nevada, Reno, where she majored in theater and minored in music. After graduate school, she set out for New York City in 1987. It took her just four days to find work.

Judd credits the UNR theater program for much of her success as an actress. She enjoyed being a lighting technician and said that in a school with a larger theater department, she probably would not have progressed much beyond that.

"When I talk to students now, I really encourage them to go to a smaller school because of the opportunity to get on stage sooner," she said.

David Seibert, chairman of UNR's Theater Department, said Judd is a prized alumna.

"She has done a magnificent job with her considerable talent," he said, and she has shared her lore as an artist in residence.

"She's always been able to offer enormous insight to our students about professional life in the theater in New York and on the road and what it takes to get there," he said.

It was at UNR that she discovered a rich alto voice that had potential far beyond its immediate use in the church choir.

"It's really a gift, I believe, that God gave me for a purpose and I need to use the gift that he gave me," she said.

Her years at UNR also gave her experiences she now finds invaluable.

"On tours, we would split up the responsibilities so all would learn how to do things," she said. "That has been a lifesaver with this show.

"I used to call this 'The Little Show' to differentiate from Phantom. Actually, The Little Show is huge because I am everything - raising the money, writing the script, buying the materials, hiring the people to build the set. Every aspect of the show has been done by me. I tell you, it has made me appreciate producers."

SWAK uses a set that depicts a room while serving as a screen for the slides. It can be folded up and moved from campus to campus. Lighting varies with each school.

She portrays three characters beginning with a high school student at the beginning of the war. "Rosie the Riveter" embodies the lifestyle changes at home. A housewife with a young son copes with holding down the home front.

Songs from the era, along with "Rosie," include "Love Letters," "I'll Be Seeing You," and "We'll Meet Again." She closes with "God Bless America."

State Sen. Lawrence Jacobsen, R-Minden, who has watched Judd grow up in the Carson Valley he represents, was a 17-year-old at Pearl Harbor when the attack came that plunged the United States into the war. He said the show brought back vivid memories that he feels too many of today's teens know little about.

"I just thought it was great," he said after a recent performance. "I speak at a lot of schools and I ask the question on numerous occasions, 'What happened on Dec. 7?' and it just astounds me how many kids don't have any idea. We teach Greek and Roman history and don't teach our own."

Seibert compared "WWII SWAK" to the recent efforts of Tom Brokaw and Tom Hanks, "who are celebrating that generation and the sacrifices they have made.

"It is a labor of love," he said.

The performances will continue until the schools take their summer break in June. After a vacation hiatus, Judd and her husband will return to their home outside New York.

"I'll be going back to pursue my career and he'll be going back to renovate the house," she said.

The vision of a cabaret show endures, possibly with a small cast and a live orchestra. The slides and many of the historic tidbits would be replaced with more music for an audience that likely will be more familiar with the wartime era.

"The step that I would want to take after I finish with the school would be to take it to Carnegie Hall and wear the unique gowns from the period and sing the songs and just talk to people about it. More of a concert version than an educational show.

"That is probably the nearest dream I see."