Hudson Warehouse Brings The History Channel On-Stage

For Veterans Day, Hudson Warehouse has interviewed World War II Veterans and now telling their stories for a one-night only, multi-media production. Using the oral accounts of surviving World War II Veterans, along with their journals and news reporting, Hudson Warehouse actors will recount these incredible stories of valor, sacrifice, and victory. Using slides of the war itself, along with photos of the Veterans, we will commemorate World War II on November 10th, Friday evening, at 7:30pm.

Meet 93 Year Old War Veteran and Purple Heart recipient, Luke Gasparre, whose captain left him alone to die in the middle of the German forests. Meet and hear the stories of Ed Toriello, who fought three of the battles of The Battle of the Bulge, the most bloodiest battle against Hitler and Nazi Germany. Hear the stories of Radar Technician, Walter Whitelaw, who spotted Japanese Kamikaze planes in Okinawa and got shot while serving in the Pacific Theater. Hear these stories and more, including those of the most famous war journalist of the 20th Century, Martha Gellhorn, who also happens to be Earnest Hemingway's 3rd Wife.

This is Hudson Warehouse's fourth year producing and performing Veterans Day Commemorations for The Bernie Wohl Center at Goddard Riverside Community Center for their community and veterans. Last year, Hudson Warehouse interviewed eight veterans of The Vietnam War and, with these veterans in the audience, recounted their stories onstage for a very memorable evening.

"Having the opportunity to interview our veterans has been incredibly exciting and humbling," says Susane Lee, the Executive Director of Hudson Warehouse and also the Writer of all the Veterans Day Commemorations. "Finding war veterans to interview is very tricky. Especially last year, for our Vietnam Event, that was a very unpopular war and Veterans were very unwilling to speak about their experiences. It took a while to gain their trust for them to tell me their stories. With World War II, again, it wasn't easy finding veterans. I was lucky to meet the men I did and was impressed with the amount of detail these 94 year old men gave me about something that happened seventy years ago."

"We've been commemorating War Veterans for four years now and each year, our event grows," enthused Producing Artistic Director, Nicholas Martin-Smith. "We are especially excited this year because one of our company members, Tommy Demenkoff, is the very first Director for Arts Education for the New York City Department of Corrections, and he's been able to get our Veterans Day performances into New York City Correctional Facilities. Tommy saw our event last year, with Vietnam Veterans, and he felt our performance would resonate with the prison population, especially incarcerated veterans. So after we perform at The Bernie Wohl Center, we'll be taking this production into prisons. We couldn't be more thrilled with this opportunity."

The best part about this project? "Meeting these veterans is exhilarating. Their experiences are none that we ever hope to experience ourselves, but their take on it is so personal, so vulnerable, and so real that it really makes us understand what is truly important and what is worth fighting for," says Susane Lee. "After a two and a half hour interview, Luke Gasparre asked me, 'Do you want a drink?' I looked at my watch. It was 12:30 in the afternoon! But I thought, when else am I going to have a World War Two Veteran, who got a purple heart in The Battle of the Bulge, make me a drink? So of course I said, "Yes!"

Susane Lee wrote and compiled the interviews, Nicholas Martin-Smith is directing the production and also portraying WW II Veteran, Ferdinand Macaluso, who fought for Italy in the Ethiopian War. When Ferdinand fought for the U.S. in WWII, his past came back to haunt him.

The actors performing in the WWII Veterans Day Commemoration are company members Bruce Barton and Patrina Caruana. Other Hudson Warehouse actors are James Reade Venable, Jamie Flanagan, and Matt LeClair. Production Crew: Grace Terdoslavich.

THE HISTORY CHANNEL ON-STAGE will be performed on November 10th, Friday evening, at 7:30pm. Address: Goddard Riverside Community Center, 647 Columbus Avenue, @ West 91st Street, New York, New York. Public is $10. All Veterans admitted for Free. Tickets can be found on Eventbrite: https://hudsonwarehouseveteransday.eventbrite.com

This production is in partnership with Susan Macaluso and Goddard Riverside Community Center's The Bernie Wohl Center. Hudson Warehouse is The Resident Theater company of The Bernie Wohl Center.