Actress Joan Freed brings her father's World War II stories to the Lakewood Center for the Arts on Nov. 8. The one-woman show, which mixes wartime letters with 1940s hit songs, sold out the Lake Oswego venue last year.
"My Father's War Stories: Tales and Tunes from the Greatest Generation" chronicles the experiences of Freed's father, who served as a first lieutenant in the Army's Signal Battalion. He was stationed in North Africa, Italy and Japan, the West Linn Tidings reported.
Freed, an award-winning musical theater actress known for one-woman performances across the country, said in a press release that she and her husband first compiled the stories into a book. She then built a stage show pairing her father's accounts with period music.
She described the result in the release: her father's letter home complaining about army food is followed by the song "Ma, I Miss Your Apple Pie." When the war in Europe ended and his battalion expected to be sent home, they were ordered instead to Japan. "His story about this is followed by the poignant 'As Time Goes By,'" Freed said.
The Lakewood Center Associates, which hosts the event, is billing it as a special Veterans Week performance. The show premiered at Lakewood and is returning by popular demand, according to the venue's event page. Pianist Tracy Ross accompanies Freed on the Lakewood Theatre mainstage.
Freed has appeared in more than a dozen Lakewood productions and volunteers with the Associates, the event listing notes.
The evening opens with a wine and dessert reception at 6:45 p.m. The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $40 for reserved seating, and the event doubles as a fundraiser for the Lakewood Center. Tickets are available at lakewood-center.org or by calling 503-635-3901.
Lakewood Center's upcoming schedule also includes "Irving Berlin's White Christmas," running Nov. 6 through Dec. 20, and the Lakewood In City Lights event on Nov. 14 at the Ironlight Event Center in Lake Oswego.
