Robert Sidney; Additional direction by Joshua Logan; Military Formations by Chester O'Brien.

In May 1941, 7 months before the U.S. joined the fighting in World War II, former Sergeant Irving Berlin was on a tour that took him to his old Army base, Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York.

[3] Gen. George Marshall approved a Broadway production of a wartime musical for the Army, allowing Berlin to make the arrangements and hold rehearsals at Camp Upton, much as he had done during World War I. Sgt.

'[4] So Berlin devised a song for the Black soldiers, based on "Puttin' on the Ritz", calling it "What the Well-Dressed Man in Harlem Will Wear" (various U.S. Army uniforms).

[4] The opening night cast consisted of 300 actors, including Berlin, Burl Ives, and Stone (the director).

Brooks Atkinson, writing in The New York Times a month later, said, "No wonder This Is the Army leaves the audience in a glow of enjoyment and loyalty.

The first national tour of the revue went to Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia before continuing to Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Detroit, Chicago,[9] and Los Angeles, ending in San Francisco on February 13, 1943.

In the "What the Well-dressed Man in Harlem Will Wear” number, James Cross danced with Billy Yates.

A note in the Glasgow programme, written by European Theater of Operations commanding general Lt. Gen. Jacob L Devers, said: "following their tour of Great Britain...(the cast of 150 American soldiers)… will be sent to Africa to play before Allied soldiers, then will join America's fighting forces".

The last performance took place on the island of Maui, Hawaii, on October 22, 1945, with Irving Berlin once again singing his "Oh!

The Army Emergency Relief Fund collected millions of dollars, but the total amount was never accounted for, nor released to the public.