On a Saturday night in July, after two days of fishing with my brothers, we
attend the Brandon Town Players production of Kilroy Was Here, at the Brandon
Town Hall in Vermont. The program notes inform us that the Town Hall
was built in 1861, in time to be the gathering place where Brandon -- a small
farming village then and not much more than that now -- sent an astounding 116
of its men off to fight for the Union. Vermont, I think, sent more men
per capita to war than any other state, and has been doing so ever since.
Just before the show starts, one of the actresses asks all the present
and former service men and women to stand and be recognized, and a notable
percentage of the audience stands to accept our applause. She then asks
the we all consider donations to the Town Hall restoration fund, which is
trying to raise $120,000 to update the bathrooms in the basement of the Hall,
which she politely describes as "tired."
The night is warm, the stage is small, the players are a mix of the very well
cast (the slim, angular guy playing Kilroy looks just right in his khaki army
clothes) and the we'll-make-do-as-best-we-can-with-those-we-have, including the
60-year old women playing the young USO hostesses and the similarly older men
playing Kilroy's army buddies. The singing is quite good and the staging
makes the most of the small room in which to work. The dialogue is slow.
But there are humorous moments and a good time is had by all, especially
during the patriotic numbers. When a giant American flag is unfurled at
the end of the first act, and again at the end of the show, many in the crowd
respond with a real excitement and passion, some even waiving tiny American
flags they have brought with them. People clap along enthusiastically
with the marches.
The show, like the great old building, like the
entire evening, is corny, old-fashioned, and sincere. Entirely free of
sarcasm, irony, cynicism. I was hot, and uncomfortable in my metal
folding chair. But I loved it. And was happy to slip a few dollars
in the barrel for the building fund before I left.
