Blueprint Specials Revival 2017

The Blueprint Specials star two-time Tony Award nominee Laura Osnes (Cinderella, Bonnie & Clyde) and Tony Award nominee Will Swenson (Hair). Created by a who's who of 20th-century American entertainers, including composer Frank Loesser and choreographer Jose Limon, these original revues were designed as "blueprints" for soldiers to easily put on in the field as a way to boost morale. The Army packaged and distributed them as a complete script, with score and orchestrations, scenic and costume drawings, and instructions for how to put on the show. As such, these extraordinary works can be seen and heard today exactly as their creators intended.

The critically acclaimed theater company Waterwell is excavating and reviving these virtually unknown shows as a collaboration between civilian artists and veterans. Tuneful, subversive and disarmingly witty, the Blueprint Specials offer a fresh and surprising look at the intersection of conflict and culture. Partnering with the Under the Radar Festival at the Public Theater, Waterwell will present the Blueprint Specials at the Museum. This will be the first staging of these musicals since 1945—and the first ever for the American public.