Carla Clark | For The Republic Donna Browne poses for a photograph during a dress rehearsal at Mill Race Center, Columbus, Ind. Monday, April 10, 2023.
The Lasting Impressions performance troupe and Mill Race Center are once again partnering to present their annual Veterans Day show.
Titled “A Veterans Day Parade,” Lasting Impressions director Donna Browne said this show, the 11th show the troupe has produced, has the potential to be their best show yet.
“Because it is different and I mean, the cast has worked so hard,” Browne said. “Their attendance at rehearsal has been wonderful, their memorization has been wonderful and they’ve had a lot to memorize. I’ll be disappointed if it’s not a really, really good show.”
The show begins at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. Desserts will also be served. Registration costs $5 for Mill Race Center members and $10 for non-members. Veterans are admitted free.
To register, contact the Mill Race Center business office at 812-376-9241.
This year’s production will transform Mill Race Center’s stage into parade floats honoring veterans, Browne said. As in previous years, the production will start with the national anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance.
The production will be divided into three “floats,” titled “Deployment,” “Service to Our Nation” and “Homecoming.” Each of these floats and their titles reflect what veterans have experienced, Browne said.
“So they’re being deployed, then of course they serve their country, and then hopefully they get to come home,” Browne said.
Four songs relating to these themes will be sung during each section. For example, during the “Deployment” float, a trio of women will perform “Johnny Get Your Gun and Be a Soldier,” and three couples will perform “Cruel War.”
“Then we end again with a very serious, almost religious section called ‘The Final Honor,’ and this is where we talk about those missing in action or the POWs and we have songs that relate to that,” Browne said. “One of the songs is ‘Tenting on the Old Campground’ and the other song is ‘Tell My Father.’”
American Legion Post 24 Veterans Honor Guard will then close out the program with the 13 Folds of the American Flag, with the Lasting Impressions cast performing “Folded Flag,” and the bugle call with “Taps.” The cast of 12, which includes stage performers and a pianist, will also be joined by the Mill Race Center Drum Circle.
“… I mean, what is a parade without drummers?,” Browne said. “So they’ll be drumming.”
The six branches of the Armed Forces, in addition to MIAs and POWs, will be recognized with their respective flags during the performance. These flags and the American flag will be brought in by five to six local veterans who will be joining the troupe on their on-the-road shows as well.
When producing a Veterans Day show, Browne said she has to give it a lot of thought to create a show that still recognizes veterans while not doing the same thing every year. However, some aspects that never change, including singing the national anthem and the branch of service songs.
“And we ask the veterans to stand and be recognized when we sing their branch of service song and sing along with us, so we always have that in there,” Browne said. “It’s a high point for us and for them where they can really be recognized.”
