{"id":10310,"date":"2023-05-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=10310"},"modified":"2023-05-13T06:49:12","modified_gmt":"2023-05-13T06:49:12","slug":"army-spouses-use-theater-to-build-ties-within-the-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=10310","title":{"rendered":"Army spouses use theater to build ties within the community"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Olivia Rivera sings during the production of “Sister Act.”Her performance as Sister Mary Roberts in \u201cSister Act\u201d led to regional recognition at the 62nd annual Army Europe Entertainment Tournament of Plays, also known as the TOPPERs, in Wiesbaden, Germany. Her success highlights how military spouses contribute to the community. May 12 is Military Spouses Day.
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VICENZA, Italy \u2014 When Olivia Rivera arrived at U.S. Army Garrison Italy, the performer was unsure if she could find her community.<\/p>\n

Yet, just two years later \u2013 wearing a nun\u2019s habit with a glowing award in hand \u2013 this military spouse found her niche thanks to a stint at the garrison\u2019s Soldiers’ Theatre.<\/p>\n

Her performance as Sister Mary Roberts in \u201cSister Act\u201d led to regional recognition at the 62nd annual Army Europe Entertainment Tournament of Plays, also known as the TOPPERs, in Wiesbaden, Germany. Her success highlights how military spouses contribute to the community. May 12 is Military Spouses Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found my people and a strong community,\u201d Rivera said. \u201cWe get each other\u2019s theater nuances and jokes. I\u2019m really lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivera spent most of her life under the theater lights. She even joined a circus following her time as a theater major at the University of Arizona. Growing up a military child, Rivera moved frequently yet her innate resiliency did not prepare her for the challenges that military spouses faced during COVID-19.<\/p>\n

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\n Olivia Rivera sings alongside the “Sister Act” cast at the 62nd annual Army Europe Entertainment Tournament of Plays, also known as the TOPPERs, in Wiesbaden, Germany. Rivera won the \u201cOutstanding Supporting Performance of a Female Role in a Musical\u201d at the Toppers. Her success highlights how military spouses contribute to the community. May 12 is Military Spouses Day.
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Amid the pandemic, she moved overseas with her husband, a noncommissioned officer with the 307th Military Intelligence Battalion. COVID-19 and a new duty station brought stress. Rivera began working long hours at the Child & Youth Services, making it difficult for Rivera to connect with people outside of work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew with my long hours, I didn’t want to participate in theater until I was super in love with a production,\u201d Rivera said. \u201cI was also nervous to audition because it seemed like a tight nit group, so I didn’t want to ruffle any feathers.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the first time Soldiers’ Theatre performed \u201cSister Act.\u201d Rivera found a second family among the Vicenza thespians. Long workdays and late-night rehearsals paid off. She won the \u201cOutstanding Supporting Performance of a Female Role in a Musical\u201d at the Toppers this April.<\/p>\n

Rivera, like some military spouses worldwide, found ways to overcome many challenges. That includes a tough one \u2014 isolation. She now teaches circus acrobatics classes at the theater, helping other family members to integrate.<\/p>\n

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\n Olivia Rivera sings alongside the “Sister Act” cast at the 62nd annual Army Europe Entertainment Tournament of Plays, also known as the TOPPERs, in Wiesbaden, Germany. Rivera won the \u201cOutstanding Supporting Performance of a Female Role in a Musical\u201d at the Toppers. Her success highlights how military spouses contribute to the community. May 12 is Military Spouses Day.
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Another military spouse, Jessica Henninger, was recently awarded the Volunteer of the Year for the Vicenza Military Community for her efforts acting at Soldiers’ Theatre and her efforts behind-the-scenes costuming shows like Sister Act. Jerry Brees, the theater\u2019s entertainment director said Henninger\u2019s is positive, friendly, outgoing and welcoming to new participants.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer optimism, energy, and support have helped influence and guide our diverse community of Soldiers, their families, civilians, youth, and Italian nationals in a multitude of ways,\u201d Brees said. \u201cShe has contributed hundreds of hours to Soldiers’ Theatre this year and has substantially enabled the program to prosper and grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivera said Henninger\u2019s workhorse efforts deserve accolades.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was working literal miracles when she has small children at home,\u201d Rivera said of Henninger. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a testament to the resiliency of the military.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Olivia Rivera sings during the production of “Sister Act.”Her performance as Sister Mary Roberts in \u201cSister Act\u201d led to regional recognition at the 62nd annual Army Europe Entertainment Tournament of Plays, also known as the TOPPERs, in Wiesbaden, Germany. Her success highlights how military spouses contribute to the community. May 12 is Military Spouses Day. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10312,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10310"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10316,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10310\/revisions\/10316"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}