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Friends of Staff Sgt. Chuck Bailey wouldn’t be surprised to hear him singing show tunes in the car after work as he makes his way to the theater on Kleber Kaserne.
However, they might be surprised when Sergeant Bailey plays art legend Pablo Picasso in KMC Onstage’s upcoming performance of comedian Steve Martin’s play, “Picasso at the Lapin Agile.”
Sergeant Bailey, 27, studied theater back home in Las Vegas, but in 2004 joined the Army instead. He now cares for fellow Soldiers at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Last year, he attended a few productions and decided to try out for Kaiserslautern’s community theater, one of U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern’s most successful morale activities.
“I didn’t pursue acting as a career. I got into the medical field,” Sergeant Bailey said during break in rehearsal. “But I’ve always had a passion for theater. It’s something I’ve always loved.”
In the show, he portrays a 24-year-old version of Picasso, who meets genius Albert Einstein in a Paris bar – the Lapin Agile, which is a real place that Picasso painted in 1905.
“He’s an eccentric person who frequently gets distracted when he has a vision of a painting he wants to do or something that captures his attention,” Sergeant Bailey said of his character. “He’s into women, like many 24-year-old single men. He’s full of himself and likes to tell his story.”
Director Liz Nye calls the show “magical realism” – unreal elements blended into an actual setting. That’s clear when a certain hip-swinging 1950s rock and roll icon from Memphis travels back in time to chat with Einstein and Picasso.
He’s just one of several characters who come to the bar, adding to the punch lines. The audience will recognize the style of humor, Mrs. Nye said.“You’ll definitely feel Steve Martin in the room,” Mrs. Nye said. “He has a very definitive comedic flair and that comes across in the play.”
When rehearsals began a few weeks ago, Army Spc. Bonnie Hunt tagged along with a friend. One performer had to quit at the last minute, so Specialist Hunt auditioned and landed a part.
Specialist Hunt, 21, a Soldier with the Miesau-based 8th Medical Logistics Company, has found that acting is not as easy as it appears, she said.
“I really underestimated actors and everything they do,” she said. “I was struggling, but I feel that I’m progressing.”
The show is being entered into the “Tournament of Plays,” a theatrical competition sponsored by Installation Management Command-Europe.
KMC Onstage welcomes people of varying experience, said Mrs. Nye, 26, a volunteer whose husband, Army Spc. John Nye, serves with the 39th Transportation Battalion. In addition to actors, the theater looks for technical people to help with sets, lighting, costumes and props.
Auditions for “Doubt, A Parable,” John Patrick Stanley’s award winning drama, begin Tuesday. The play will run in late March and early April. Also, auditions from Mel Brooks’ “The Producers” will be held at the end of March.
“It’s great, especially for single Soldiers and spouses of deployed Soldiers. They come here and have a kind of a family,” Mrs. Nye said. “It’s very tight-knit. That’s an important thing to have in a military community, a place where you feel support.”
