Tops in Blue performance touted 'best yet'

  • Published
  • By Jana Hall
  • 14th Force Support Squadron
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  This year's Tops in Blue performance received rave reviews across the board. Nearly 1,300 military and local community members attended the show Monday at the Mississippi University for Women.

"It's always an impressive show, but Monday's performance was exceptional," said Col. Roger Watkins, 14th Flying Training Wing commander.

"I visited with many people afterward who said it was the best they'd ever seen," said Col. Jeff Dunn, 14th FTW vice commander.

Monday's show, entitled "Déjà Blue," featured comical antics, hot Latin sounds, all-American country music, chart-topping hits and great music from favorite movies and Broadway shows professionally performed with dazzling lights, multiple wardrobe changes and precision choreography, for which the show is known worldwide.

The team arrived in Columbus just hours prior to show time Monday after a demanding performance the night before at Maxwell AFB, Ala. The 25-member team of performers and a handful of lighting and sound technicians are entirely responsible for unloading and building their own set before the high-energy show.

Following each show, the team is also responsible to break down the set and load out all of the gear in preparation for the next gig.

"I was personally amazed at the fact that all the performers could sing and dance and were so technically competent in setting up and breaking down the complex set so quickly," said 2nd Lt. Jonathan Murphy, 14th Force Support Squadron, and local project manager for the show, "You could tell everyone who attended the show truly enjoyed it - not just by what they said, but by the amazed looks on their faces."

Even the Tops in Blue team was exceptionally proud of Monday's performance.
"It's the best show we've had this season based on the team's performance and the amazing Columbus crowd," said Tour Director Edward Jones, "Columbus folks are always great when they come out."

Jones, a self-proclaimed "Mississippi boy" who has been with Tops in Blue since 1990, said the team has performed 75 shows so far this season and has about 50 left before the tour ends in March 2009.

From Columbus, the team headed to Barksdale AFB, La., and then on to San Antonio for a Saturday performance. The team will spend the Thanksgiving holiday in Massachusetts performing and will be in Japan performing during the Christmas and New Year's holidays. Tops in Blue has been entertaining Airmen and their families and friends for 55 years.

"It is a true pleasure to be able to bring an event of this caliber to our military and the local community each year," Col. Watkins said, "We couldn't do it without the support of our local corporate partners."

Local sponsors of this year's Tops in Blue were Cable One, the Mississippi University for Women, The Commercial Dispatch and The Little Dooey. No federal endorsement is intended.