and Margaret Wheeler of the Entertainment XPress put on a lively show for
Soldiers of Charlie Company during a dinner theatre organized by Staff Sgt.
Melody Garcia, the unit's morale support NCO, May 22.
Wayne Cook
Public Affairs Staff
The Entertainment XPress, an off Broadway musical troupe, traveled to Fort Dix to entertain members of
Charlie Company May 22. The troupe normally plays out of the Playwright Tavern and Restaurant just off
Broadway but also travels to share their brand of musical theatre. Monday evening they performed at a dinner
theatre on post for some of the Soldiers in the medical hold-over unit.
The evening started with dinner, prepared and served by event organizer Staff Sgt. Melody Garcia and other
members of the company, and consisted of many mouth-watering dishes such as rice and beans, baked
chicken, fried fish, pasta and zucchini, salad and much more. It was truly a scrumptious delight.
The show, performed by four extremely
talented and traveled performers, was
snappy and alive, full of zest. The
audience was drawn into the program
by the vigor and excitement of the
singers. The musical variety spanned
the spectrum from Burt Bacharach to
Irving Berlin to Elvis Presley to Duke
Ellington and so many more. The
house rocked to Presley’s ‘Hound Dog’
and swooned to ‘Tonight, Tonight’ by
Sondheim and Bernstein. The Soldiers
enjoyed a medley of jazz, rock and roll,
pop, disco, classical chorals and even
some scatting. They were left in
stitches of laughter many times due to
the on-stage antics of the troupe.
The Fort Dix showing of the cabaret was the arranged through a string of circumstances. Hankins has been a
friend of Master Sgt. Vivian Cook, 1st Brigade, 78th Division, since elementary school. Cook had made
mention of Hankins production to Garcia who also happens to be the morale support non-commissioned
officer for Charlie Company and is always on the lookout for ways to entertain the Soldiers in the company.
Garcia arranged a bus to take a group of Soldiers to New York City to see the show and consequently invited
the troupe to perform for the troops on the post.
After the show had come to a close everyone seemed more than satisfied with the evening’s event.
The performers and the troops ended the evening with an admiration for what each other does.
“When you are on the stage you actually don’t discern who is in the audience, you just see the smiles. We
were having a lot of fun because the audience was having a lot of fun. That was a great tonight,” said Hankins.
“It’s in the back of our minds, what these people do each day is amazing. It is something we will never do. We
really appreciate what they do for us and everyone in the country,” said Phillips.
“As a performer I really enjoyed being here. We have never been to a military base. I found the audience to
be very responsive. I have a special feeling for the troops here. They are doing things in the war so that we
can do what we do. I really appreciate that,” said Wheeler.
“This was a great show. It helps take the edge off the stress of every day,” said Whyte-Rodriques.
“I do what I do to give the Soldiers of Charlie Company what they may not otherwise experience. After having
been in the war we have learned not to take anything for granted. I want the troops to be able to enjoy and
experience things they normally would not do,” said Garcia.
Though the audience was smaller than expected the outcome of the evening could not have been any
greater. The Soldiers were grateful for the entertainment and the troupe was even more appreciative of the
Soldiers.
