World War II Homefront Set To Music
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre Presents The Daly News
December 14, 2008 marked the final curtain on the successful run of The Daly News, a musical based on the lives of a military family in Milwaukee. The musical memoir from local playwrght and actorJonathan Gillard Daly focuses on the newsletters of his grandfather and the experiences of his family during this period of world history.
Martin and and his wife "Schatzie" Daly had five children: four sons and a daughter. All of their boys decided to enlist and their daughter chose to marry a military man. The onset of World War II separated the family, sending them to locations across the globe.
In an effort to keep everyone in touch, Martin composed a weekly newsletter titled The Daly News. This was a combination of letters he received from each of his children and news from the homefront. Martin kept up his newsletter for three years. The war is examined from different points of view including those of the concerend parents, a war bride missing her husband while managing the home, and the soliders on the front lines.
Interestingly enough all of the roles are portrayed by the three male actors: Jon Daly, Jack Forbes Wilson, and Jeff Schaetzke. They transition between characters by adding or removing an accessory such as a sweater or a hat. The change over to the Daly wives proved hard to keep track of, mainly because they had such brief roles.
Daly plays both himself as well as his grandfather Martin. In the former, he acts almost as the narrator recounting experiences with his uncles. Wilson portrays the youngest Daly son, moving though his teenage years into becoming a Marine, as well as brother Gene who was stationed in the South Pacific.
The musical score is lively and mirrors various musical styles for the time period. Big band style, jazz, and the like were popular mostly because of their upbeat tempos even though the lyrics reflected the pain that the nation was going through. Jon Daly's score conveyed this as well.
The Daly News takes the events of World War II and places them under the surface of the story to focus more on the family dynamic and the relationship between fathers and sons. While the family is thrust into difficult times, they remain close through the weekly letters. The boys struggle to write with a witty tone to counteract the events going on around them, and their father tries likewise. Like most families, there is an unspoken affection between Martin and his sons. This is something that Jon Daly speaks of when he mentions his relationship with his father at the end of the play.
The Daly News
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