In 1968, Missouri State University was chosen by the USO for a third time to tour overseas.  The Theatre Department first planned to perform Li’l Abner for the tour, which had been performed at the school during the summer of 1964.  However, they eventually decided on the musical comedy Wonderful Town instead. During the eight-and-a-half-week overseas trip, from September until November of 1968, the troupe gave forty-nine performances for over 19,600 soldiers. They performed in the Pacific Command, which included the Philippines, Korea, Taiwan, Okinawa (which was, at that time, under U.S. administration), and Japan. 

Auditions for the tour were again open to all students at the university.  Cast members were selected for their singing, dancing, and acting abilities, on their health, and on their personalities.  According to Dr. Coger’s final report on the tour, “a conscious effort was made to select a variety of types of girls – blondes, brunettes, red-heads, brownettes, so that every G.I. in the audience could see someone who looked like his girl back home.”

MSU first performed Wonderful Town for Tent Theatre that same year, but for the overseas tour, they had to cut the time down to an hour and a half and the cast from thirty-one down to thirteen. Scenery had to be made to fit into footlockers for traveling, and costumes had to be simplified due to weight limits that would also include the set and the troupe’s luggage.

The troupe also performed an hour-long variety show called “The Laugh-In,” which was similar to the television show of the same name. It included jokes, skits, dances, and songs, such as “Gimmick” from Gypsy and “Every Barracks Ought to Have a Maid” (“Everybody Ought to Have a Maid”) from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Mike Lampe and James Cermak served as emcees.  While overseas, the troupe performed Wonderful Town a total of thirty times and “The Laugh-In” nineteen times.  They also made an effort to hold a sing-along with the servicemen after performances whenever possible.

Both the musical and the variety show were performed at MSU's Craig Hall prior to the trip, on September 11-14, in order to raise money for sightseeing. Tickets were $1 for students and $1.50 for general admission. The troupe also performed both shows at Fort Leonard Wood on September 15 for wounded soldiers back from Vietnam.

During the tour, the troupe also had additional opportunities to perform outside of the USO clubs and military bases.  They had the opportunity to sing during services at two different churches while overseas and were invited to visit the Duc-Song Women’s College in Seoul, South Korea.  In Sapporo, Japan, they were invited to perform at the Sapporo Koran Women’s College and Girls’ High School and were treated like “a cross between the 'Beatles' and a distinguished group of VIPs” by the students.  While in Japan, the troupe also attended plays and concerts and visited the shrine at Hiroshima.

At one performance in the Philippines, the show had to be held outdoors due to the lack of an appropriate indoor space. The wind was so strong that the troupe had to enlist the help of audience volunteers to hold up the scenery during the performance. Afterwards, the audience of 650 soldiers "'rose as one body’ and applauded the cast of ‘Wonderful Town.’”

The next year, four of the Wonderful Town cast members, as well as one cast member from the 1965 tour of South Pacific, were chosen to perform in another USO-sponsored tour.  The musical variety show they performed was entitled “Happy Hour ’69.”  The hour-long show was performed at military bases in Alaska and the Pacific for nineteen weeks beginning June 28, 1969.  Cast members included Paula Thompson, Jeanne Palmer, Margaret Palmer, and Ron Seney from the Wonderful Town tour; Steve Emanuel from the South Pacific tour; Donna Matthews, a pianist from Springfield, Missouri; and Gene Jones from Louisiana. 

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