An American Soldier THE CAST (in order of vocal appearance) MILITARY JUDGE
Nathan Stark* PVT. DANNY CHEN
Andrew Stenson* JOSEPHINE YOUNG
Kathleen Kim*
TRIAL COUNSEL MAJ. ROSE / SPC. AUSTIN HALDEMANN
Phillip Lopez+ MOTHER CHEN
Mika Shigematsu* DEFENSE LAWYER MAJ. BAKER / PVT. RODERIC CARTER
Matthew Dalen+
PVT. BRYAN JOHNSTON / SGT. LUCAS BROWN
Evan Bravos+
PVT. SONIA GONZALEZ
Andrea Núñez+ PVT. STANTON
Briana Hunter*+ SGT. AARON MARCUM
Wayne Tigges
SYNOPSIS
PVT. RANDALL PINKTON / SPC. JULIAN SWANSON
Act One: A military courtroom with flashbacks to New York City, Fort Benning, and Fort Wainwright
PVT. ROMAN PARKER / SGT. JACKSON BLAKEMORE
Courtroom, 2012: Sgt. Aaron Marcum is being prosecuted on multiple charges in connection to the death of Pvt. Danny Chen. Danny’s ghost watches the military tribunal, wishing that he could turn back time, but no one can hear him.
Andrew Munn*+
Samson McCrady*+
PVT. WASHINGTON / PVT. MANNY DAVIS
Babatunde Akinboboye* SPC. CAMERON RODRIGUEZ
Ángel M. Vargas*+ SPC. TOUSSANT
Brittany Graham* PFC. MIHAIL
Allison Glass* The action takes place in a military courtroom in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, 2012 with flashbacks to Chinatown NYC, Fort Benning, Fort Wainwright, and “The Palace” near Kandahar, Afghanistan.
* Opera Theatre main season debut + Gerdine Young Artist
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Fort Benning, Georgia. Photo © John D. Helms
New York City, 2010: Danny, a high school senior, sits on a Chinatown rooftop with his friend Josephine as they discuss their futures. Josephine is set on college, but Danny dreams of enlisting in the army after graduation. Courtroom: Danny’s mother appears as a witness. Mother Chen is full of sorrow and rage as she faces Sgt. Marcum. She testifies that Danny’s death could not possibly have been a suicide, as the military has claimed. New York City, 2011: Danny and Mother Chen are preparing dinner when he reveals that he has enlisted. Angry and hurt, Mother Chen begs him to reconsider. Danny tells her he’s tired of being treated like a foreigner. He wants to prove that he’s a real American. Fort Benning, Georgia, 2011: Danny trains hard at boot camp. His platoon is full of soldiers from different backgrounds, but they all seem to get along well. Danny’s letters home are cheerful and colorful. Because his parents can’t read English, Josephine translates, often censoring out the more inappropriate sentences. Courtroom: Further testimony reveals that Fort Wainwright, Danny’s next post, was less accepting of soldiers of color. Insults were not only tolerated, but encouraged on “Racial Thursdays.” Nonetheless, Danny finishes basic training and prepares to ship out to Afghanistan.