The activism-driven theatre collective Waterwell will throw its first Fleet Week Follies celebration May 26 at the National Sawdust in Brooklyn. The event, inspired by the World War II–era Stage Door Canteen, is geared for military members and their family.
The festivities will begin at 1 PM with a series of workshops, family performances, and activities for kids through 4 PM. A happy hour, featuring a handful of celebrity volunteers (including King Lear’s Pedro Pascal, Tony Award winner Ruthie Ann Miles, and current Frankie & Johnny star Michael Shannon).
Tony nominees Celia Keenan-Bolger (To Kill a Mockingbird) and Andrew Rannells (The Boys in the Band) will host a series of performances, featuring Tony nominees Brandon Victor Dixon (Hamilton), Will Swenson (Hair), and Sherie Rene Scott (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown), Betsy Wolfe (Waitress), Mike Birbiglia (The New One), Sarah Steele (The Humans), Darlesia Cearcy (Once on This Island), Sandra W. Lee (Blueprint Specials), the American Military Spouses Choir, and members of Freestyle Love Supreme.
Tickets are free for members of the military community; registration and more information is available here. A limited number of day-of tickets will also be available to civilians via a standby line.
"Waterwell is proud to animate a small part of the legacy of the Stage Door Canteen—a truly remarkable effort by many members of the Broadway community in the 1940s to create a space where art and performance could strengthen the sense of connection between the military and civilians in their time,” said Waterwell Artistic Director Lee Sunday Evans. “We hope to build on that spirit and create a meaningful, fun annual event where art can continue to be a source of inspiration and community-building between these too-often separate sectors of our society."
