My great-grandfather John Johnston emigrated to Canada in his late teens but, when war was declared between England and Germany, he returned home to Scotland and enlisted in the Gordon Highlanders. He was wounded at the First Battle of Ypres and was left on the battlefield for dead. His brother returned later hoping to retrieve his body and discovered that he was still alive. I loved hearing all of these stories when I was a child and, consequently, World War I has always held a particular fascination for me. Many of my favorite books, movies, and theatre productions deal with the subject and now I can add the musical
The Hello Girls to that list. I had the chance to see it at HCTO last night and it is one of the best shows I've seen this year! After the U.S. enters World War I in 1917, General Pershing (Reese Phillip Purser) is frustrated because the male telephone operators in the Signal Corps do not know French and are much slower than the women who work for Bell Telephone back home. He tasks Captain Joseph Riser (Dallin Bradford) with recruiting a unit of bilingual women to join the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Grace Banker (Megan Heaps), a no-nonsense supervisor at Bell, Suzanne Prevot (Kennedy Bradford), Grace's adventurous best friend, Helen Hill (Emily Paxman), an inexperienced farm girl from Idaho, Bertha Hunt (Shannon Eden), the wife of a soldier already serving overseas, and Louise LeBreton (Makenna Ashby), an underage French woman who has lived in the U.S. for several years, are among those selected for the first group stationed at the AEF headquarters in Chaumont. These operators overcome many hardships and ultimately help turn the tide of the war. What I loved most about this story is how inspiring it is. These women had to fight just to be allowed to join the Army ("We Aren't in the Army"), they had to work harder than their male counterparts to prove themselves to their commanding officer ("Riser's Reprimand"), they had to fight to be allowed to go to the front ("Twenty"), and then they had to fight for over sixty years to receive the benefits they deserved as veterans ("Making History"). The music is incredibly stirring and my favorite songs were the big anthems "Answer the Call," "Hello Girls," "Lives on the Line," and "Making History." The backdrop features wooden panels set with rows of lights to represent the switchboards used by the women (upon which period photos and videos are projected) and the set includes multi-level wooden platforms connected by wooden ramps to represent various locations. The dynamic choreography uses this space very well. I especially loved a sequence when the soldiers at the front reach their hands towards the women at their switchboards during a dramatic battle to show how much of a lifeline they are. It gave me goosebumps. I also loved the authenticity and attention to detail in the uniforms worn by both the soldiers and the women, especially the puttees, the helmets, and the haversacks carrying the gas masks (I am such a nerd for knowing World War I uniforms). Finally, the cast is superb and they do a brilliant job in bring these forgotten historical characters to life. Heaps, one of my favorite local actors, was the standout for me because she brings so much emotion to the role, particularly in her scenes with Bradford as she fights for more opportunities. I always really appreciate it when a theatre company programs something new, especially when it is based on a subject of interest to me, and I loved everything about this production. I highly recommend getting a ticket (go
here) during it run through June 1.
