Review Of “SAM AND NAM” A Musical by Lynn Haldeman.

By: Bruce Eggleston

Lynn Haldeman has created an era-spanning musical that examines the broad points of discussion that dominated the national conversation from roughly 1963 to 1974, focusing on the trials and tribulations of the Civil Rights Movement and Viet Nam War. It is a labor of love, obviously for Mr. Haldeman, to tackle this overwrought period of our struggles with nationhood through the civil strife during that period. It is admirable that he undertook this topic that is still polarizing, and plagued with the half-truths that still rule the day in the fog of political posturing we are currently experiencing. I will not debate the merits of those arguments, or lack thereof, in this essay, but I would be glad to in another context. I do share the certain knowledge presented by Mr. Haldeman in this work, that the Viet Nam War was a horrible mistake that nearly ended our Republic.

There is very little in American theater that address the issues surrounding our country's involvement in the Viet Nam War. The closest model for this musical is the musical Hair that premiered on Broadway in 1968, right in the most intense time of that war. The song "Three Five Zero Zero," reflects the military commanders' obsession for counting the dead enemies as a way gain support for their dirty little war. Other anti-war themes emerge in Hair, but the action is broad representation of the "Hippie" culture of 1967 in all of its ragged glory. The song segues into "What a Piece of Work Is Man," from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The war was a small, but fixed plot point in the production. Mr. Haldeman focuses almost exclusively on the issues around the war and the toll it took on our Republic. There is nothing else from the Sixties cultural revolution outside the issues central to the war and free speech. Mr. Haldeman does not write rock music, so there are few intersections of the two scores. Sam and Nam is straight from the vocal and orchestration traditions of the century-old American musical theater, with no diversions, nor apologies. This score could have been composed and danced to in 1915. This is not a criticism of the score, but a nod to the skill with which it was created in an idiom that flapped the Flappers of the Roaring Twenties. He paraphrases the 1927 movie song "My Mammy," from The Jazz Singer: "We equate you with our Mammy, She lives down in Alabamy." So the musical tradition and proclivities of my grandparents thrive with this score.

The most surprising and moving thing about this musical is the shear musicality of the 13 songs that comprise the musical. This music really sings! What is most satisfying and amazing about this production is that it is accomplished in a very legit musical drama style more in the vein of the brilliant works of Gilbert and Sullivan, and, Rodgers and Hammerstein.

The libretti of this musical begins with " The Ballad of Sam and Nam" voiced by an Everyman, questioning in turn President Johnson, Presidential Candidate Nixon, a Star-spangled Congressman, Supreme Court Justices, Most Rev'rend Clergyman, and the Brainwashed Public. The question is simple and the most crucial of the times (of all times): "Why don't you end this cruel war?" Certainly the question is most deserving of an answer, but this has never been answered to the satisfaction of a rational or compassionate being. The answer Everyman does receive is "The war means jobs for you and me, and must go on perpetually." So, wars have continued without much of a break since the Viet Nam War. The singer(s) offer this exposition in a call-and-response format between the Everyman and the characters cited. The music is a lively solo piano driving the dialog. Operatic scores from the great composers, including Messieurs Sullivan, influence the music and Hammerstein cited above.

The Second Scene, "We Love You, Uncle Sam," Parts #1 and #2, is a dance number that begins with a paean to our Uncle Sam: "We love you, we love you Uncle Sam; You can brag, you can boast, 'cause you're the greatest, like you're the most!" It includes a tip to Al Jolson’s "Jazz Singer," "I Love My Mammy," in the finest tradition of musical satire. The music in from that era, replete with mixed chorus, and an orchestral arrangement elevates the satire to high art. Part #2 of this dance number trots along in this classic musical comedy arrangement for the dance routine, think long-legged Rockets strutting around the stage in Uncle Sam bathing suits and red-white-and-blue top hats with golden canes. Then it segues into Scene Three "We love you, we love you Uncle Sam (Part Two). The Citizens sing "My Country 'Tis of Thee," which resolves into the kicker, "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Your country exploits me, keeps me in poverty, oppressing thing!"

Here we are knee deep in the theme: that all is not what it seems in the land of the free and home of the brave. These singers imprecate country for being the fraud that he has become. "Justice and liberty for all" has become so much rhetoric.

In Scene 4, The Black Box, we find our Everyman imprisoned in a black box. This is a very sinister tune with very dissonant music from an electric bass and piano. The protagonist is in the black box and his jailers are telling him he must toe the line, or they will "put him where the sun don't shine." Think in terms of Federal troopers dragging protesters off the streets in Portland and taking them to the black box without writ of habeas corpus. Unfortunately the means of government suppression of free speech have not changed since time immemorial.

Scene 5, In Revolutionary Times, recounts the actions of the Founders of our Republic in exploits treasonous to the Crown, such as the Boston Tea Party, the ride of Paul Revere, and, the battles of Lexington and Concord. The narrative portrays what it meant to be a Patriot. Since the Sixties the wannabe patriots have clouded the meaning of Patriotism, and continue to do so to this day, to the point that it is virtually meaningless.

In Scene 6 we hear from a Benjamin Franklin Barbershop Quartet, including George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson, who lecture the audience on the ways of a virtuous life. The score stands with the Barbershop Quartet that delights throughout Meredith Wilson's "The Music Man." They urge the listener to adhere to this, "Young men if you'd climb to the top of the tree, Honesty is the best policy." This is both inspirational to hear, and at the same time painful, in light of the lies that have dominated the political diatribe since the Sixties. Today lying and dishonesty is what makes a President, and this is acceptable to a majority of voters. In spite of that, Mr. Hamilton goes on to state his ethics as such,
"Success will come to those who cultivate integrity.
Permit me to share a sentiment, an ideological condiment.
Although I served in government,
I'd rather be right than President."
It makes one yearn for many such a persons to be in positions of power in the government. The tune from "America The Beautiful" is quoted to hammer home the "honesty is the best policy" imprecation. The Scene ends with a reprise of the advice about "early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." This provides another dance opportunity for steps that would have been the rage in 1776. The singing is entirely convincing to evoke this more ethical and cultured period of our history. The influence of Rodgers & Hammerstein's set pieces are guiding this scene, as well as the overall flow of this musical. The deliveries are straightforward without a hint of irony. One must bring one's own sense of irony to this production. To perform it otherwise would diminish the presentation to a farce. This production stalks much bigger game than a mere farce. It asks the viewer to posit the big questions about our government and our place in the world of nations.

This brings us to a major motif in this work. When it comes to the U.S. political scene, very little has changed since the Sixties. The Revolution was intended to create a nation where people could thrive in freedom. Modern American politics have denigrated all that the Revolutionaries fought and died for. There were struggles for the founders' principles in the Sixties including the Civil Rights Act and the voting Rights Act that delivered the promised freedom to the people of color in our nation. There was a struggle over the war powers of the government. There was a struggle to grant social and economic equality to women. There was a struggle to stop the pollution of our planet, our homes. We find ourselves today in the struggle to fully realize the outcome of these rights that seemed self-evident to the founders of our Republic. "All men are created equal."

This musical dives straight into the swirling center of this struggle. Mr. Haldeman fearlessly engages these big questions of democracy, civil rights and abuse of the war powers of our nation. He does it in a very direct way with very little nodding and winking to the viewer. It is carried out with an unembroidered innocence that is found in plays like the immortal Everyman. The viewer must confront these purposeful questions as the scenes unfold.

Scene 7 is a lilting love song to our Uncle Sam sung by the pure soprano voice of Mrs. Liberty, Sam's wife. Mrs. Liberty is worshipful and blindly enraptured of Sam. The score is excellent with a lush orchestral arrangement. The vocal is sincere and beautifully sung. It is meant to embody the blind faith that the "love it or leave it" crowd bestowed on our leaders.

Holy Military Industrial Complex, Batman! Scene 8 introduces the listener to "Bat Song," wherein the Super Hero character BatSam lays out situation for his side-kick, Robin, as the republic is seemingly crumbling:
Robin pay attention, listen closely
While I undertake your indoctrination.
Their aggression ever does increase,
We must fight them so that wars may cease!
They are seeking domination
Of the total population;
Keeping them in subjugation,
Crushing self-determination;
Filling us with indignation
For this gross abomination!
It is our policy to defend liberty.
Never peace at any price.
Better dead than red!
Do you comprehend what I said?
This would be staged as seven different TV situation comedies. Robin expresses shock and surprise at these sentiments, but BatSam presses the point.
Dreamer! Wake up! Don't you see the light?
It's a tough world in which might makes right!
We endorse negotiation
To avoid a confrontation,
Stemming from a provocation,
Forcing our retaliation,
Leading to annihilation,
Causing the obliteration,
Ending in extermination
Of our entire civilization!
Which brings us to the central point of the production. Those in power who have rejected the rule of democracy for the tenet that "might makes right," thereby threatening our liberties and our democracy. BatSam can no longer protect a political system that has abandoned the core principles of democracy. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? At the end of the scene BatSam and Robin decide to leave the U. S. for Canada, or Sweden, and give up on what seems to be a lost cause here in the States.

Scene 9, Puce, Chartreuse and Gold, seems out of place, or the reference to the colors is too obscure to have any relevance to the context of the musical. It is a religious sort of hymn not unlike "Onward Christian Soldiers," but the lyric doesn't contribute to the ideas driving the musical in the least. This could be edited a bit to better place it in the context of the musical.

Scene 10 returns to the questions about the country's involvement in the war. It is a call and response between Concerned Citizens and some un-named person in power. This is staged as part of a "play within a play." The Citizens want a straightforward answer about how the nation became involved in this war, and how soon can the war be resolved. These are reasonable and vital questions to ask of a politician who was involved in getting the country into a war for no apparent reason, and has no plan to end the war. Lives depend upon the answers. The politician covers up the reasons with the response that the answers will not be disclosed because of concerns for security. Secret documents hold the answers, but cannot be disclosed to those who stand to lose the most in the conflict. The despotism of "National Security" raises its ugly head. "Security reasons" means that the security of re-election is at stake for the official who utters such lies. This politician first takes offence to the questioning of his veracity, then proceeds to lie to the Concerned Citizens. In the Viet Nam War, the lie that got us into the war is known as the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. This was a fabricated attack on a navy vessel that served as a "valid reason" to expand the Viet Nam War. We have President Johnson to thank for that. He signed off on it. Other such lies are ensconced in key words like, "Weapons of mass destruction [in Iraq];" "Harboring 9/11 terrorists [in Afghanistan];" "Concerns over the 600 U.S. medical students on the island [of Grenada] and fears of a repeat of the Iran hostage crisis." The list goes on. Secret documents one and all. All lies to hoodwink the Citizens of the United States to support its imperialistic wars without end. We, the taxpayers of this country, will be paying down the debt for these illegal wars for many generations to come. The benefactors are the oligarchs in the Military-Industrial Complex who have become fabulously wealthy and powerful at our expense. We paid for that, too.

Scene 11, Duty, Honor and Country, wraps up the jingoism and false patriotism that have driven the bogus narrative about the omnipotent power of our national security state. Inmates suffering in Compulsory Chapel Service sing this song. Liberty is subjugated to the trappings of religion. There is no room in this society for objective thinkers, and those who would dare to exercise free speech, unless one is a party to the ruling class.
[Inmates] Duty, honor and country;
We live in a land that's free.
Duty, honor and country;
Join in, we'll sing to this new trinity.
2It's your duty to honor your country;
No matter what it may do.
Duty, honor and country;
This works for me and it will work,
it will work for you!

Mr. Haldeman quotes Mark Twain's "Unspoken War Prayer" to sum up this tale of Uncle Sam's war-mongering. The Prayer is appropriate for this production on many levels. It gets to the horror of the irreconcilable dichotomy predicated by a peaceful "God-fearing" people waging unspeakable acts of war against the "others" that are not "our people." This was the most difficult piece that Twain had written. He did not have it published until after he was deceased. But he did have it published. The current manifestation of those contradictory ideals was seen this June when Trump had peaceful protesters gassed and shot so he could walk across the street and hold an upside down Bible, while standing in front of a church.

The Prayer calls out the hypocrisy that we embrace when the state perpetrates acts of war for the economic benefit of the military industrial complex. This has always been cloaked in the mantle of religious purpose. E.G. if you don't support God and Country, then you are not doing your duty to honor the country, right or wrong.

The inclusion of the War Prayer is an act of bravery by Mr. Haldeman. It is a gauntlet thrown at the feet of those who believe that the Citizens of this, or any other country, should not exercise free speech, should not say something when they see something, should not question authority, regardless of the enormity of the lies coming from government and church.

If these questions cannot be asked, then we do not live in a free society where real free speech is allowed and appreciated. We If we do not honor free speech and exercise it, then we do not condone and support a democratic republic. Without free speech there is a complete loss of liberty, and only tyranny remains.

The musical ends with a reprise of "We Love You Uncle Sam." The conclusion is that Citizens will always revert to loving the ideal of this country, and ignore the actions of their representatives, be they good or evil. False and empty patriotism will always rule the day.

In the end, Mr. Haldeman has created a monumental and brave musical that explores the roles of truth and hypocrisy in the American body politic at war.

This opus works as musical with a very skilled libretto and a thoroughly musical production. It is also a scathing commentary on the lies we are told to get us to support wars. This is no mean feat. The beauty of this production is that the music and the lyrics work together to successfully carry the weight of the heartbreaking themes. The topics laid out here are part of our culture, and we see these tragic lies from our government every day.

It is the human tragedy that these issues never go away; they are just embellished with a shiny new set of lies to keep the powerful in power. Mr. Haldeman is to be commended for putting these issues into a form that can be appreciated by a society that still seeks the truth, and thrives with the vitality of free speech.