FORT EUSTIS, Va. –
For 8-year-old Janaye Dean, the U.S. Army Soldier Show - her first - captured her imagination and her admiration, so much so she asked its performers for autographs. For her mother, Sgt. Jobina Madison, watching her daughter's eyes twinkle as she met the show's Soldiers made coming out on a stormy night well worth the trip.
"I enjoy how they cover all the music," said Madison, stationed with the Warrior Transition Unit cadre at Fort Eustis.
And cover it the 19 singing and dancing soldiers did - from soulful numbers to a "Footloose"-style hoedown May 15 during two shows at McClellan Fitness Center.
The 2012 Army Soldier Show kicked into high gear last month with shows at the Installation Management Command headquarters at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
The show's theme this year, "Army Strong," came through with numbers like "It's A Hard Knock Life" from "Annie" the musical, where soldiers dressed in T-shirts and shorts mocked scrubbing floors and other duties, to "Over There," World War I's theme song by George M. Cohan about the fight in Europe.
The 90-minute, all-original show had no slow moments as lights flashed and images of Soldiers with their families, protecting the country and participating in other events synced perfectly on a giant screen with their movements and words.
The standing-only room crowd whooped and hollered at their favorite parts, including a change in lyrics to "Sexy and I Know It" by LMFAO to "Army Strong and I Know It."
The emotional toll of deployment, and the history of the Army through song and dance rounded out the show that displays the myriad talents of Soldiers across the armed force.
The musical ensemble will tour until September when it performs a finale back at Fort Sam Houston, according to www.ArmyEntertainment.net. The group will travel to more than 40 Army bases, including ones in Hawaii and Japan, performing more than 60 shows. They not only entertain the crowds, they break down and set up the massive road show that rolls into each town with two 18-wheel tractor trailers.
This "for the Soldier, by the Soldier" experience is nothing new to the Army, according to Sgt. Drake DeLuca, the show's multimedia/LED specialist.
"Soldiers have always entertained soldiers," DeLuca said, officially as far back as 1918 when Sgt. Israel Beilin, or, as he became known, Irving Berlin, directed "Yip Yip Yaphank." The Soldier Show's current form dates back almost 30 years. Soldiers try out for coveted spots for the tour in February at Fort Sam Houston. Many send in videos, or YouTube links, throughout the year to get a chance at the February auditions.
From the Soldier who got pulled from his 8th deployment to Afghanistan, to the Soldier making his second round on the tour at only 23, the Army Soldier Show provides opportunities for its performers they might not otherwise have.
DeLuca pointed to the quartet 4TROOPS, members of which got their start with the Army Entertainment Division.
"We find great talent," DeLuca said.
One of those talented performers is Spc. Julio F. Petersen III, stationed as a reservist at Fort Meade, Md. The show allows him to eventually pursue his dream of performing on Broadway, Petersen said. For now, he's happy to uplift the spirits of his fellow Soldiers across the country, something he finds "humbling."
The tour this year has been dedicated to all Service members, past and present.
"The production serves as a reminder that the strength of our nation is our Army; the strength of our Army is our Soldiers; the strength of our Soldiers is our families; and that is what makes our Army Strong," said an introduction in the show's program by Lt. Gen. Michael Ferriter, commanding General of the Army Installment Management Command.
For more information, and a full schedule, visit
www.armyEntertainment.net.