A Play in Honor of Veterans Day Opens Tonight in Harlem

Veterans Day is tomorrow, Sunday, November 11th. The world premiere of First Flight’s Forgotten Soldiers From Our Forgotten War opens tonight, November 10 at 7pm at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Harlem, 521 W 126th St, New York, NY 10027. This performance is a benefit with all proceeds to be given to St. Mary’s Church. Performances continue Friday and Saturday, November 16 & 17 at 7pm at Our Savior's Atonement Lutheran Church in New York City's Washington Heights neighborhood, 178 Bennett Avenue, New York, NY 10040. Tickets for all performances are $15 and $10 for seniors and students. Reservations can be made by requesting tickets by email at firstflight2018@gmail.com and tickets are also available from 6:30pm to 7pm at the door on performance dates. Forgotten Soldiers From Our Forgotten War is written and directed by Frank Farrell featuring actors Danny Beaton, Charlie Gillette, Charles Kennedy and Stephen Kime and the stage manager for this production is Claudia Egli.

“We had a rehearsal at St. Mary’s on Thursday night,” says the play’s director Frank Farrell, “and the play came together for the first time right in front of my eyes. St. Mary’s is a beautiful 200-year-old building and a very special place.” The play Forgotten Soldiers From Our Forgotten War features 27 letters sent by Eddie Hines and Jimmy Cumiskey in 1951 and 1952 to an apartment on 180th Street, where newlyweds Frank and Mary Gossett lived. The words spoken in this play are words written by three boyhood friends who all grew up together in Washington Heights. Eddie’s and Jimmy’s letters were sent from Korea where both were fighting our forgotten war, a conflict that continues to this day. The war over there has never been resolved. This production is in honor of Veterans Day, an official United States public holiday, observed annually on November 11, that honors military veterans, that is, persons who served in the United States Armed Forces.