In 1975, Russell Bice, assistant director of USO shows, recommended MSU’s 1975 Tent Theatre presentation of the rock-opera Godspell to AETA and the USO for an overseas tour in the European Command.  This was an exception to USO policy; by this time, the USO generally only sent variety shows overseas and only selected three to four groups per year.  But MSU was chosen, for a fifth time, to perform overseas in the spring of 1976. 

The troupe departed from Municipal Airport on March 8, 1976, and reached Frankfurt, Germany, on March 10.  The tour lasted a total of eight weeks.  Most of the troupe's performances were held at U.S. Army bases in West Germany, but one week included stops in northern Italy.  The cast worked six days a week, often performing twice in one day.  The trip also included two weeks of sightseeing in Paris, London, and Amsterdam.  The troupe returned home on May 5. 

Before the tour, the theatre troupe, which included at least eight students from the Tent Theatre Godspell cast, performed the show at MSU’s Craig Hall in March 1976.  They also performed their accompanying forty-minute variety show twenty-five times in order to raise money for the trip.  The variety show included Top 40 hits as well as songs from West Side Story and Cabaret.  The troupe performed the show at Battlefield Mall, the New Electric Dinner Theater, and the U.S. Medical Center, as well as other locations in and around Springfield.

(Note: The Theatre and Dance Collection (RG 4/9) of the Special Collections and Archives Department contains no information on the Godspell USO tour.  All information for this exhibit is taken from the Missouri State University school newspaper, The Southwest Standard (now known as The Standard).  Limited related materials, mainly correspondence, are also available in the MSU President’s Files (RG 1/1/1).)

Director:
Dr. Michael McElhaney
Musical Director:
Grady Affolter
Percussion:
Tom Adler

CAST
Milton Blankenship, Moberly
Dan Ettinger, Springfield
Craig Handel, Crestwood
Gracie Harrison,
Kansas City
Jana Henleben, St. Louis
Jack Laufer, Clayton
Katy McGuckin,
Kansas City
Susan Warren, Fairview
Barbara Lea Weaver, Cabool

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