Photo by Jeremy Daniel

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It’s 1945. Men dressed in camouflage — different uniforms for different military branches — approach their front doors with a bag in tow. Family members fling themselves at the tired, skinnier versions of their husbands, brothers and sons, sobbing in gratitude that their loved one made in home when so many didn’t.

Those men may appear strong, but they’re not whole. When they came back after battle, they weren’t the same.

Bandstand, written by Robert Taylor and Richard Oberacker in 2015, spotlights the silent suffering of veterans and their loved ones after World War II.

In 2017, the play ran on Broadway. Choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler won a Tony Award for Best Choreography. Bill Elliott and Greg Anthony Rassen were nominated for their orchestrations. Now, the play is touring the country. For this week only, Bandstand will be at the National Theatre in D.C.

Hidden heartbreak

Private First Class Donny Novitski (Zack Zaromatidis) returned to his home in Cleveland, Ohio, without his best friend, Michael. Lost and suffering, he avoids Michael’s last wish: to check in on his wife, Julia Trojan (Jennifer Elizabeth Smith).

Instead, Novitski distracts himself with music. He writes songs, sings and plays the piano to drown out his blues.

Soon, the melodies become his savior. Novitski hears about an upcoming NBC competition to honor the troops, and the winning band gets to play in an upcoming film. He’s found a new purpose and a way to honor his best friend.

Novitski finds five other veterans who can play: Jimmy Campbell (Rob Clove) on saxophone and clarinet; Davy Zlatic (Benjamin Powell) on bass; Nick Radel (Scott Bell) on trumpet; Wayne Wright (Louis Jannuzzi III) on trombone; and Johnny Simpson (Jonmichael Tarleton) on drums.

They’re the best in Cleveland, but with a catch: They, like Novitski, lost a part of themselves in war. Simpson can’t remember what day of the week Sunday is after flipping in a car three times. Wright schedules every moment of his day and can’t live with a mess, afraid of losing control over his life. Radel yells at young students, unable to garner sympathy and patience after being a prisoner of war. And Zlatic tries to drown his memories with alcohol.

Not long after coming together, these different manifestations of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) start to cause tension within the group. They need a woman’s touch, and find it with Michael’s wife.

Novitski finally gathers the courage to go to Trojan’s door and eventually hears her sing. He invites her to join the band, and she skyrockets the group’s success.

The emotional truth of a return

The chemistry between Novitski and Trojan uplifts the play, which easily could be downtrodden by the subject matter. Trojan’s song, “Love Will Come and Find Me Again,” brings the band to victory in Cleveland and hints at her potential openness to another romantic relationship.

The friendship between the two, however, becomes threatened once Novitski shares the truth about the death of her husband.

The band also finds out that they will have to audition once more for the NBC competition in New York – and pay their own traveling expenses, which amounts to more than $2,000. Playing music, and winning the competition, might not be able to save them from their financial and emotional troubles.

After facing such resistance from a competition that is supposed to support and pay tribute to the troops, the band decides to share what it is really like to go to war.

Reading a poem she wrote, Trojan electrifies the audience, both the literal and figurative one of the competition, with “Welcome Home,” which details the silent sufferings of the brothers, husbands and sons that returned to the United States after war.

Smith, who plays Trojan, brought the house down with her voltaic pipes. Her singing generated goosebumps in the audience throughout the show. Zaromatidis as Novitski also moved himself, and many audience members, to tears with his emotional transparency.

Emotions were the forefront of this production, with impressive choreography, restaged by Marc Heitzman, to show that the ghosts of veterans’ past always remain nearby. And the scene transitions were flawless, with dancers drawing attention away from the moving furniture and sets.

The singing, dancing and instrumental playing (which the actors all did themselves) were impressive. What pushes Bandstand to a must-see musical is its rendition of the trauma veterans experience upon returning from the battlefield.

We must welcome home and care for all soldiers, no matter what they lost. One way to do this is to recognize their suffering. As Bandstand exemplifies, this is the real America.

The musical runs at the National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. until Sunday, March 8. It lasts two hours and 30 minutes with an intermission. Tickets cost between $54 and $114. For more information, visit https://www.thenationaldc.com.