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  • L

    Lane RiggsFeb 16, 2017 at 4:00 PM

    I am sorry that the article came across as condescending. As a reporter, I work to keep my opinion out of the piece. And as someone who didn’t know anything about the subject, I definitely had no right to put my opinion in this piece. Therefore, I didn’t.
    Thank you for your comment!

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  • S

    SarahFeb 16, 2017 at 8:31 AM

    Wow, how absolutely condescending. I agree it is important to keep art on military bases. It isn’t just the theater programs, which have been managed by a single non-appropriated funded employee and facility for a long time here at Fort Lee. Funding reductions are also impacting Army Bands. To play devil’s advocate, the Army’s purpose it to train and fight in America’s conflicts and with severely reduced and inflexible funding to do so under sequestration, of course the programs that don’t have a direct impact on that mission will be the first to go. I’m very thankful for the community around Fort Lee, those who contribute and volunteer, to keep these programs thriving. Here, the Theater program is doing well though I think we’d always love a packed audience. I take issue with the tone of the article, however. The actors are soldier and civilian volunteers and all considered amateurs when compared to actors on Broadway, however the productions are far from amateurish. If Broadway is the barometer used for civilian theater across the country, I’m sure they’d be considered amateurish as well. The talent among the artistic, costume, lighting and other volunteer personnel at Fort Lee is amazing – and representative of their decades of experience in the theater. The issue is not one of education – it is one of funding. We need people to convince their lawmakers that “morale and welfare” programs DO directly impact soldiers’ ability to fight America’s wars. When you do that, you won’t have to worry about the future of the program.

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Soldiers’ theater not as well known, with little funds