Laughlin members get their 15 minutes of fame

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Sara Csurilla
  • 47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Andy Warhol once said, "In the future, everyone will have their 15 minutes of fame."

A few Laughlin members got just that when they performed in the annual melodrama put on by the Whitehead Museum in downtown Del Rio recently.

The melodrama was called the "Shame of Tombstone," directed by Mike Parker, a local English teacher. It was presented as an outdoor dinner theater in the museum's garden.

Auditions were open to the public and the show was strictly put on by the Whitehead Museum.

It was not affiliated with the Paul Poag Theater or the Upstagers theatre group, however, almost all the participants are all involved in the group.

The Upstagers is a local award-winning theatre group who have been performing live theatre for Del Rio since 1975.

"I've been acting with the Upstagers for three years, that's why I knew it would be fun to do the show," said Tech. Sgt. Keith Lewis, 47th Medical Group. "It also added to the fun because there were so many Laughlin participants."

Julia Gray, a local first grade teacher and wife of Capt. Justin Gray, 86th Flying Training Squadron, Tech Sgt. Paul Tully, 47th Flying Training Wing chaplain's assistant, Senior Airman Daniel Burns-McKernan, 47th Operations Support Squadron, and his wife Crystal, Senior Airman Blake Lapp, 47th APU and Sergeant Lewis are all base members that participated in the play.

The play was set in 1880's Tombstone, Arizona and had a variety of characters with names that defined their characters. Characters names varied from Amanda Goodsort, who was the damsel in distress to a grimy villain named Judge Mortimer Harshly.

"I really enjoyed playing my character in the play" said Airman Lapp. "I can't wait to do it again."