Ken Ludwig’s

Dear Jack, Dear Louise

by Ken Ludwig

producing artistic director’s notes by Emilia Sargent

Welcome to Dear Jack, Dear Louise, and thank you for joining us for the final production of Tampa Repertory Theatre’s 2025 – 2026 season.

This season, we invited you to explore Connection, Conflict, and Compassion through stories that made us laugh, challenged our assumptions, and reminded us of our shared humanity. From the redemptive hope of A Christmas Carol: A Live Radio Play, to the explosive hilarity of God of Carnage, to tonight’s remarkable true story, each production has explored the relationships that define us and the choices that shape us.

Dear Jack, Dear Louise is, at its heart, a love story. But it is also a story about hope in uncertain times, about service and sacrifice, and about the extraordinary courage found in ordinary lives.

Inspired by the real courtship of playwright Ken Ludwig’s parents, the play offers an intimate window into the Jewish-American experience during World War II while honoring the more than 550,000 American Jewish men and women who served our country during the war. It also reminds us of the countless military members, veterans, and families whose service and sacrifice continue to shape our nation today. Here in Tampa, home to a vibrant military community, that legacy feels especially meaningful.

As our nation marks its 250th anniversary, I find myself reflecting less on monumental events than on the individual stories that become our shared history. Nations are built not only through declarations and victories, but through everyday acts of courage, compassion, perseverance, and love. Dear Jack, Dear Louise reminds us that history is ultimately carried forward through human connection.

At TampaRep, we believe live theatre creates an experience – one that the audience completes. For the next ninety minutes, we gather together to share this story in a way that can only happen in a theatre: fully present, breathing the same air, laughing together, and perhaps shedding a few tears. To me, that always feels like a bit of magic.

As we conclude this season, thank you for believing in the power of live theatre to connect us, challenge us, and remind us what it means to be human. Your presence makes this experience possible.

I invite you to lean in, laugh wholeheartedly, and allow yourself to fall in love with Jack and Louise’s extraordinary journey.

Emilia Sargent
Producing Artistic Director/CEO

July 2026