'Dogfight' to be Unleashed at the Loeb

“Think about yourself and think about the ideal romantic relationship, the ideal friendships that you have,” director Cole V. Edick ’17 says of “Dogfight.” This production, which will run from Oct. 31 to Nov. 8 at the Loeb Experimental Theater, centers around U.S. Marine Corps officers on the eve of their deployment to Vietnam in 1963, their brother-like bond, and the girls who begin to threaten that close friendship.

“They’re really pumped to be getting out to war—being U.S. marines, being brothers,” producer Julius G. Bright Ross ’17 says. “It’s kind of an ominous foreshadowing of what’s to come.”

In Marine Corps tradition, before the “three Bs”—officers Eddie Birdlace (Derek P. Speedy ’18), Bernstein (Geoffrey G. Binney III ’17), and Boland (Christian Potterton)—ship out, they throw a party called The Dogfight. “The whole premise is they put in 70 bucks each and try to bring the ugliest date to the party,” Ross says. “And the guy who brings the ugliest date wins the whole pot of money.”

While this aspect of the plot may seem superficial, the show does delve into weightier topics including war, brotherhood, and true love. “I heard a different show described as a ‘feel-everything’ musical, and I think ‘Dogfight’ really is that,” music director Isaac L. Alter ’16  says of the production. “There are really fun, high-energy moments; there are some really heart-wrenching moments, and I think the music has all of those [elements].”

“Dogfight” is not your traditional Broadway or even off-Broadway-style-production. The play is as contemporary as it gets, Edick says. He notes, for example, that in “First Date / Last Night”—a duet between leading lady Rose Fenny (Taylor K. Phillips ’15) and Eddie—the two talk about their relationship rather than pour out their feelings through song. “It’s not very singsong-y, and people don’t go out and sing a ballad,” Edick says.

The music has been challenging the cast to reach new heights, according to Alter. “It’s cool when you hear a cast member sing a song—when they finally get the notes—but it’s even cooler when you get it to the point where you’ve created something that’s like knock-your-socks-off good,” Alter says. “Also [viewers] should know that there are no actual dogs fighting in the show. Don’t worry, it’s not what it sounds like.”