A soldier's show or blueprint special was a theatrical presentation designed by the United States Army's Special Services Division for the purpose of team building and improving morale for soldiers during World War II.
Often written by Tin Pan Alley songwriters and radio comedy writers, the soldier's shows were pre-packaged musical reviews distributed to local army camps, complete with orchestral arrangements, scripts for skits and jokes, stage directions, costume designs, scenery diagrams "all pre-cooked and provided with directions for serving.
[3] Loesser and Auerbach assisted Captain Ruby Jane Douglas mount an all-Women's Army Corps show entitled P.F.C.
[7] While visiting North Africa, Dwight D. Eisenhower went backstage and praised the performers: "You are entertaining soldiers.
you will be rendering a service, and a great one, to your fellow soldiers and your country"[2] In 2017, director Tom Ridgely adapted works from four soldier's shows into a limited run showing of "Blueprint Specials", performed in New York City at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.