SYNOPSIS: A bivouac area somewhere just behind the front lines in France, August, 1944; a ship at sea; Sicily; Italy; Normandy; Ie Shima, April, 18, 1945.

The play celebrates the inner-struggle of beloved war correspondent Ernie Pyle, his shy love of people, his tenderness, and his salty Indiana-farmer humor. Tormented by the horrors of war, Ernie served bravely out of an unspoken, unrecognized patriotism. He did not glorify war but rather the simple heroism of the American GI who fought and who was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. His was a journalistic, unadorned, rugged writing style which captured the strength and courage of the soldiers he so loved and admired.

At a time when we are losing WWII veterans at a rate of nearly 1,500 per day, this production celebrates their sacrifice and our freedoms.

TICKETS

FREE Veterans

$5 Veterans' Families

$8 Adult/Child (Non-Veterans' families)

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

6:30 PM - Box Office Opens (Concessions line open in the Ballroom)

7:00 PM - Theatre Doors Open

7:30 PM - Show begins (NO INTERMISSION)

9:00 PM - Show ends

SUPPORT & SPONSORSHIPS

A portion of this show is supported in part by a grant received by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts would also like to thank Tightlines For Troops, its board and volunteers, for their support in putting this event together, and all the activities surrounding the weekend honoring our veterans.

TICKET POLICY

All ticket sales are final. No refunds.

MEDIA RELEASE

If you, or any member of your group, are photographed or filmed while on the Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts (City of Manistee) property by an authorized/staff photographer, the photo and/or video belongs to the photographer, and you release to the RRCA, its agents, and employees all rights to exhibit and market this work in print and electronic form publicly or privately, including social media websites.

ABOUT RICK PLUMMER

Rick Plummer has directed over 150 productions and played as many roles in a thirty-five year career as a professional actor, director, and theater educator. Dr. Plummer managed the Theater and Performing Arts program at West Shore Community College. Before assuming that position, he created and managed an award-winning touring theater in Missouri, and directed acting programs at both the University of Alabama, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, and The University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Rick’s acting and directing credits include film, stock, tour, TV, outdoor drama, dinner theater, Shakespeare festival, and university and community theater. Onstage, he has been seen in Journey to the Day (in a production starring both Justine and Jason Bateman), as Caesar in Julius Caesar, Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, and Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady. Most recently audiences have seen Rick in How I Learned to Drive, Escanaba in Da Moonlight, Dracula, Othello, and Much Ado About Nothing. He is seen as the chief villain in the film, Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Treasure and as Jim Wellington in the soon-to-be-released God Bless the Broken Road. Rick served two years in Vietnam in 1968-1970, and now lives in Ludington, Michigan along with his wife, professional actress Christine, his 39 year-old son Stephen and his wife Ellen, their 26 year-old son Elliot and his wife Hannah, 23 year-old daughter Emma Grace, 21 year-old son Kaedin, as well as four cats and a dog.

ABOUT ERNIE PYLE

Ernest Taylor Pyle (August 3, 1900 – April 18, 1945) was a Pulitzer Prize–winning American journalist. As a roving correspondent for the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain, he earned wide acclaim for his accounts of ordinary people in rural America, and later, of ordinary American soldiers during World War II. His syndicated column ran in more than 300 newspapers nationwide.

From 1935 through 1941 he traveled throughout the United States, writing about rural towns and their inhabitants. After the U.S. entered World War II, he lent the same distinctive, folksy style to his wartime reports, first from the home front, and later from the European and Pacific theatres. He was killed by enemy fire on Iejima during the Battle of Okinawa, the very last pitched battle of World War Two.

At the time of his death he was among the best-known American war correspondents. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for his spare, poignant accounts of "dogface" infantry soldiers from a first-person perspective. "No man in this war has so well told the story of the American fighting man as American fighting men wanted it told", wrote Harry Truman. "He deserves the gratitude of all his countrymen."

ABOUT TIGHTLINES FOR TROOPS

Our mission is to unite organizations, businesses, sponsors and communities to help provide a free fishing tournament open to all Michigan Veterans from all eras, wartime and peacetime. By bringing our Heroes together, we endeavor to build and foster new relationships, share their experiences and enjoy fishing in the great outdoors of Michigan.

Our all-volunteer, not-for-profit efforts will improve the quality of life for many Veterans, reinforce patriotism, educate and bring awareness that we must continue to support and honor those who have defended our country and our freedoms.