‘Tops in Blue’ performers showcase Air Force talent

‘Expeditionary entertainers’ draw crowd of more than 1,200, bring 2 1/2-hour, high-energy performace to McChord Field

Don Kramer/Northwest Guardian

The Air Force’s “expeditionary entertainers” of the “Tops in Blue” world tour, sang and danced Monday for a crowd that filled the seats in Hangar 9 at McChord Field and spilled into bleachers.

The hangar accommodated 1,220 people.

Thirty of the Air Force’s most talented members performed nearly non-stop for 2 1/2 hours, one high-energy number after another that showcased the 2009 theme, “To Dream.”

“Tops in Blue is the best of the best of Air Force talent,” said Trish LaRock-Barrett, special events coordinator at the McChord Field Community Center. “They not only sing and dance and play instruments and put on a fabulous performance, but they also set up the stage and tear it down. They go everywhere — all over the world.”

The nightly staging challenge is daunting — 60,000 pounds of equipment, two stairwells, three grand pianos and a complex array of microphones, speakers, amplifiers and lights. Once the stage was set Monday, the performers retired to clean up, put on tuxedoes and gowns, then file back into the hangar like a sports team.

The evening started with an upbeat medley of dream-related songs, from Dan Hartman’s “I Can Dream about You” to Lonestar’s “Amazed,” accompanied by a soaring guitar solo by Senior Airman Shane Jones from Hickam Air Force Base.

The entertainment cycled through a lengthy portion of the Broadway hit “Dreamgirls” that highlighted the considerable talents of Senior Airman Jennifer Bone from Goodfellow AFB, Texas, and Staff Sgt. Wendell Boone from Andrews AFB, Md. A Hawaii-themed sequence followed, featuring an uncanny rendition of the Brother Iz standard, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” accompanied by ukulele and performed by Master Sgt. Herbert Ancog from Lackland AFB.

The only homegrown troupe member was Senior Airman Anthoney Williams. The Tacoma native, a singer, dancer and horn player, is currently assigned to Misawa Air Base, Japan.

Tops in Blue travels more than 40,000 miles each year before it leaves the continental United States. From there, the Airmen travel overseas, notably to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The tour began in 1953 and has performed with Ed Sullivan, Bob Hope, Alabama and BOYZ II MEN, at Super Bowl halftime shows and NASCAR events.

The way performers are chosen has evolved from physical auditions to now directly submitting audition tapes to Lackland Air Force Base without involvement of local community centers or chains of command. Airmen from all career fields, enlisted and officers, are selected based on skills and talent.

The ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have sized down the troupe in recent years.

“The team itself has a struggle,” LaRock-Barrett said. “They started with 37 and now they have 30 left.”

The numbers of those helping behind the scenes are likewise diminished.

“Each year the volunteers that we so depend on to make this happen are no longer here,” LaRock-Barrett said. “They’re gone on deployments.”

The special events coordinator said volunteers from a variety of local agencies assist each year, but have become more important to free up Airmen who have supported the review in the past. She said the United Services Organization and Officers’ Wives’ and Enlisted Spouses’ clubs have been especially helpful.

LaRock-Barrett said she had personal experience with the good the Tops in Blue review can do for a community. Working at Hurlburt Field during the 9/11 attacks, she said the review came soon afterward and brought inestimable joy and a welcome diversion to the Airmen, civilians and family members who attended the show during that dark time in history.

“It’s so worth coming out,” she said.

Click on the link to view photos from the high-energy performance:

Tops in Blue