USO Tribute Show returns to the Gaslight-Baker Theatre in November

By Shaela Leggett-Bresett

Lockhart’s Gaslight-Baker Theatre will present a special USO Tribute Show on Saturday, Nov. 12, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and on Sunday, Nov. 13, at 2 p.m. Produced in the style of traditional USO shows over the years, the acts once again will be emceed by renowned Whoopi Goldberg impersonator, Bettina Williams. Active service men and women, Veterans, and Gold Star Families will be honored with free admission.

The USO began in 1941, offering Americans a way to unite in their efforts to support their troops and has continued providing entertainment designed to lift the spirits of soldiers at home and abroad. A non-profit organization, the United Service Organization Inc. works with the Department of Defense but is not a governmental agency. It operates in 160 centers, 14 countries and 27 states. Over the years, entertainers often performed in hazardous situations to remind soldiers, as Bob Hope so famously said, “of what they are fighting for.”

Lively, energetic, funny, and nostalgic, since 2014 the Gaslight-Baker Theatre’s tribute to the USO has featured impersonators of revered entertainers including Whoopi Goldberg, Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, Patsy Cline, Anne Murray, Carly Simon, Louis Armstrong, Dolly Parton, Bette Midler, Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra, Jim Croce, Neil Diamond, Garth Brooks, Eleanor Powell, Glen Campbell, Kenny Rogers, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Stevie Nicks, Gabriel Iglesias, Paul Rodriguez, Selena, Smoky Robinson, Robin Williams, Lucille Ball, and many more. Come and see who will be on stage this year.

Our USO Tribute Show seeks to continue the tradition established more than 80 years ago by the United Service Organization, to lift spirits of active service men and women and their families and the veterans who served before them.