Rolling Thunder – 30 July 2025

I was surprised by how many times Rolling Thunder made me cry. From the beginning, it had moments that were structurally unclear with questionable writing. However, the music made such a deep emotional impact within the broader context of the show that I still walked away deeply moved by the heart, the soul, and the message. The thoughtfully inserted questions about trusting the government, the purpose of protest, and the function of war were relevant and meaningful.

Structurally, watching Rolling Thunder felt like watching a documentary film. This energy was heavily supported by the incredible work of lighting (Jake DeGroot), projection (Caite Hevner), sound (Mike Tracey), and costumes (Andrea Lauer). The world of the musical was a little bit of everything. Wilson Chen’s simple scenic design allowed people to hide, be highlighted, and be exposed by the other design elements. The book (Bryce Hallett) is a scattered, generic collection of letters, moments, and memories depicting how war is honored, celebrated, justified, questioned, weaponized, deconstructed, traumatizing, and shameful in different stages of understanding and vantage points. Familiar songs rocked the house and reverberated through the room, spreading simultaneous good vibes and appropriate emotional depth when handling sensitive material.

I write about Rolling Thunder as a young person who grew up hearing many of these songs as part of my every day life. They were in the car, in the kitchen, in my living room – some of them have, regrettably, made it to my pharmacy and grocery store. I never fully thought about some of these songs in the context of the Vietnam War, and I’ve seldom if ever thought about them in relation to each other. I was deeply moved by the curation and orchestrations of the very thoughtful, intentional music choices. Taken as a whole, this was deeply moving and deeply powerful, even with its appropriately interspersed moments of levity.

The beauty of Rolling Thunder is that audience members of every age got something worthwhile out of being there. The audience on the 100+ degree, torrential rain fraught Wednesday evening might have been small, but was exceptionally engaged by the talented cast, brilliantly executed spectacle, and wondrously gifted band. Despite the smaller turnout, the applause and appreciation were thunderous.

I attended this performance on a press pass from DKC/O&M.