Drag in uniform? Believe it. In this episode of The Persistence, host Angélica Cordero uncovers the hidden world where World War II soldiers swapped rifles for wigs and turned the battlefield into a stage. From Irving Berlin’s hit This Is the Army to all-soldier revues that broke barriers of race, gender, and sexuality, these performances reveal how the military used theater to boost morale and how queer expression thrived in the unlikeliest of places.
It’s a story of radical joy in the middle of chaos: sequins in the trenches, satire in the spotlight, and survival through spectacle. This isn’t your typical war story. It’s a provocative, witty look at how performance reshaped resilience, challenged norms, and gave soldiers a reason to laugh when the world was burning.
This episode was written by and produced by Angélica Cordero, with a little help from ChatGPT.
Our theme song is Don’t Kid Yourself Baby by Fold, used with their blessings. Podcast artwork for The Persistence features Mexican-American activist Jovita Idar and was created by Tamra Collins of Sunroot Studio.
Resources For Fellow Wascally Wabbits
Audio Clips
The Army-Navy Screen Magazine 31 1944 (Archive.org)
I Paid My Income Tax Today (Archive.org)
Victor/Victoria Official Trailer
War Dept. Film Bulletin 155: Special Services In Action, 1944 (Archive.org)
Books
Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War Two by Allan Bérubé
Sounds of War: Music in the United States during WWII by Annegret Fauser
Links
Early Career & Tin Pan Alley (1888 to 1915) (New York, NY:The Irving Berlin Music Company)
GIs as Dolls: Uncovering the Hidden Histories of Drag Entertainment During Wartime (New Orleans, LA: The National WWII Museum, 2021)
Irving Berlin and Tin Pan Alley At War (College Park, MD: Modern Songs of War And Conflict, Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library, University of Maryland)
Irving Berlin: This Is the Army (Washington, D.C.: Prologue Magazine, National Archives, 1996)
Segregation and Musicals during World War II (Arlington, Va: Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook, PBS)
Staging War. Theatre 1914-1918 - (Berlin: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, 2014)
Theatre at the Front (Berlin: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, 2015)
The War in Popular Music: Irving Berlin (Jersey City, NJ: Ellis Island Part of Statue of Liberty National Monument, National Park Service, 2023)
'White Christmas’: From Pop Tune to Picture (New York, NY: The New York Times, 1953)
Click below to read more about the what White Christmas has to do with the 1942 Musicians strike:
Support
If you haven’t please yet, subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends.
Follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and share your thoughts with Angélica by emailing wearethepersistence@gmail.com.
Don’t forget to sign up for host Angélica Cordero’s newsletter, Obsessively Curious!! It includes short insights that connect unlikely histories, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show.
Or support her caffeine habit and buy her a coffee.
Thanks for listening to The Persistence! This post is public so feel free to share it.
