Eddie D. Slovik is the only American Soldier shot for desertion since the Civil War. This is his story.

Private Eddie is a rock opera written and conceived by Kevin Neil Bernard.

The following three films are musical excerpts from the opera.

-- Don't Make Me Shoot The Gun --

-- Her Song --

-- Out of Jail --

The Artists

Matt Allen - Trumpet
Kevin Neil Bernard - Guitar
Robert Frost - Keys
Mia Cherise Hall - Vocalist
Dan Levine - Trombone
Barbara Merjan - Drums
Sam Primack - Vocalist
Anibal Rojas - Baritone Sax
Sue Williams - Bass

Studio Engineer - Thom Beemer
Mastering Engineer - Oscar Zambrano
Director of Photography - Mac Brydon
Music, Lyrics, and Orchestration - Kevin Neil Bernard

Recorded at Reservoir Studios, NYC

Mastered at Zampol Productions

Special thanks: Tim and Nancy McFadden, Craig and Wendy Clare, Paige Price, Rachael Stoeltje, Carmel Curtis and Jessica Bogart

Kevin Neil Bernard (composer and librettist) is an actor, creator, teacher and singer/songwriter. He conceived the idea of Private Eddie the rock opera as well as wrote the music, libretto and arrangements. On Broadway he has performed in Groundhog Day, Billy Elliot, Curtains, Oklahoma! and Thoroughly Modern Millie. His Off-Broadway work includes The Hero, R.U.R., Lone Star Love and Sugarsuite. Kevin has performed across the country and globally in many touring productions and regional houses such as Goodspeed, Paper Mill, Olney and Mill Mountain. He is also a veteran of the thriving downtown art/theatre scene, having performed in spaces like Angel Orensanz, La Mama, HERE, Surf Reality and was regularly seen in the early years of the New York International Fringe Festival both as a creator and actor. As a singer/songwriter he performed in many clubs including the historic CBGBs, ACME and the C-Note.

Jessica Boevers Bogart is a theatrical director, teacher of many disciplines, and actor who served as an associate artistic director at Chicago’s Apple Tree Theater. She has played leading roles on Broadway in Les Miserables, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Rent, Oklahoma, Beauty & the Beast, Boeing Boeing, Brief Encounter, In My Life, Dear Evan Hansen, and performed with NYCO in A Little Night Music at Lincoln Center. She has rehearsed and collaborated on creating new works with some of the most brilliant artists of our time including Andy Blankenbuehler, Sam Mendes, Stephen Sondheim, and Tina Landau. Additionally, she has shared the stage with greats like Mark Rylance, Zoe Caldwell, Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane, and Whoopi Goldberg. Jessica has directed Jeff award-winning regional theater productions in Chicago, as well as critically acclaimed plays in Raleigh and New York. She holds a B.F.A. from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music where both she and her husband Matt Bogart have been honored as distinguished alumni. She also holds an M.A. from New York University in Educational Theatre. Jessica is currently an Assistant Professor in the Musical Theatre Department at the University of Michigan. JessicaBoeversBogart.com

Robert Frost is an NYC-based music director, pianist, and educator. Select MD credits include Half the Sky (5th Ave Theatre/Theatre Latte Da); Minor Character (New Saloon/Under the Radar); (An Audio Guide for) Unsung Snails and Heroes (MTC); Miss Blanche Tells It All (NYMF); We Live In Cairo (O’Neill Theater Center); Dory Fantasmagory (NYCCT); Footloose (Arkansas Rep); Guys and Dolls and My Fair Lady (Arkansas Shakespeare Theater). As a pianist and music director, Robert has also worked with Ogunquit Playhouse, Berkshire Theater Group, New Georges, NYU, CAP 21/Molloy College, New Dramatists, and Lincoln Center. As an educator, Robert has worked with Brown University, Hunter College, LIU Post and Connecticut College. Robert serves on the faculty of New Studio on Broadway at NYU Tisch and The O’Neill Theater Center’s National Musical Theatre Institute. www.rfrostmusic.com

Why did I write it?

As a nation we are quick to pull the trigger, quite literally. Capital Punishment seems to be the very essence of our constant embrace of violence as a solution. Eddie Slovik didn’t want to carry a gun, much less shoot other people with it. And, he wasn’t clever enough to pursue conscientious objector status during World War II. Instead, he tried to serve. But when it came to battle, the fury of the moment did not enrage him and drive him forward. It froze him in his tracks, unable to move. He did not rise to the moment. Today, as gun violence continues to explode on the streets of America, I wanted to give voice to those who aren’t enthralled with the power of weapons. I want to spread the idea that sometimes the hero is the guy who didn’t shoot the gun. Our American (Global) mythology is based on the strong man who picks up the gun and kills to protect others. And, we are fortunate for those that have laid down their lives for our country. But, sometimes it’s the guy who didn’t pick up the gun that ends up the hero. Sometimes heroism comes in unlikely places. Before his 12 fellow soldiers shot him, Eddie forgave them and promised to put in a good word for them in Heaven. What if the bravest thing you did was die in infamy?

What is it about?

Private Eddie is the story of a young man who was a petty thief before being drafted at the end of WWII. He had just straightened out his life, married Annie, got a job and a house. Then it was all ripped away from him. He and his wife were two misfits who did their best to get out of the war. She suffered physically from the effects of childhood polio. He was an ex-con. Try as they might, they couldn't get out of the war. He was shipped off to the bloodiest division in the war and placed smack in the middle of death and mayhem. He froze and ultimately lost his unit. Eddie turned himself in to a Canadian regiment and resigned himself to a court-martial. Unfortunately, he was the one soldier the army decided to make an example out of. As he coolly went to his execution, this soldier being shot for cowardice forgave his fellow soldiers and said he’d put in a good word for them when he got to Heaven. Not a tear was shed. Eddie and Annie were two people carried away by something larger than them, fighting to hold onto their little piece of happiness they had found. They fought their own battle and lost. However, his triumph was the final ironic bravery in going to his own death with integrity and strength. Thousands of soldiers were convicted of desertion during WWII. 49 were sentenced to death. One was shot.


Private Eddie is a rock opera and entirely sung through. It depends heavily on imagery to convey the story as well as the locations and specifics of the people singing. Laurie Anderson meets Hedwig meets Noise/Funk. It is currently orchestrated for six musicians: keyboard, guitar, bass, drums, cellist and horn (double trumpet and French horn). There are six singers. Three principals including Eddie, Annie and an Officer who plays multiple roles of authority and a trio of bass/bari, high tenor and alto belter. This trio plays many roles as Eddie's story is told.

Click on the image above to find the Private Eddie Dramaturgy Packet (PDF).