Local version of off-Broadway play shows how female telephone operators helped America during WWI
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IDAHO FALLS – Caryn Marlowe chokes up as she thinks about her students’ efforts in preparing for their upcoming theatrical performance.
She’s the musical director for Idaho Falls High School’s production of “The Hello Girls.” It premieres at Taylorview Middle School Wednesday night and tells the true story of numerous women who served overseas as telephone operators during World War I. Despite the critical role they played in relaying communication between officers, their story was largely forgotten for decades.
“The way the music helps portray the story — it brings me to tears every single day. The kids are doing such an incredible job,” Marlowe tells EastIdahoNews.com.
The play revolves around five lead characters, one of which is based on Anne Marie Campbell, an Idaho woman who was among the female telephone operator unit. She passed away in 1988 at age 96, but she recalled in a 1984 interview where she was when she answered the call.
It was a hot August afternoon in 1917. The 25-year-old Emmett native was chief operator at the local telephone company. The U.S. had joined World War I four months earlier and she was working the switchboard for two men on a bad connection.
“The lines were very noisy and I had to repeat the conversations with both parties,” Campbell told the Idaho Statesman. “They completed their business and I hung up and went back to other chores.”
Minutes later, she got a personal call from one of the men she’d just spoken with.
“Madam, if you are the lady who just assisted with the call to New York, I’d like to hire you for the U.S. Army. I’m a recruiter for General (John) Pershing and your voice is so crisp and clear — would you be willing to go to France as an operator for the Army? Your country needs you,” the man said.
Campbell accepted the call and became one of hundreds of women who worked overseas as a telephone operator for “The Hello Girls.” Most of them were bilingual and were required to buy their own uniforms. Their role in keeping the phone lines open for the U.S. Army was critical to the allies’ victory.
Despite their service, the women were denied veteran status and benefits after the war. It would be another 60 years before Congress changed that.
In November 1977, Congress approved “a package of bills,” according to the Statesman, which gave full veterans rights to the female telephone operators unit.
Two years later, in September 1979, Atkinson (Campbell’s married name) — one of 18 “Hello Girls” who was still alive — finally received her honorable discharge papers from the U.S. Army.
“I’d do it all over,” Atkinson told the Statesman.
While Campbell is not a character in the original play, Marlowe says an extra named Anne Marie was added in the high school musical as a nod to her.
One of the lead characters, Helen Hill — another telephone operator during the war — sings about being from Idaho, even though she was from Connecticut in real life.
There are several other Idaho references in the high school production that Megan Smith, the play’s director, hopes audiences will enjoy.
A performance nearly a year in the making
“Hello Girls” is adapted from an off-Broadway show in 2018, which is based on Elizabeth Cobbs’ 2017 book of the same name.
Idaho Falls High School is likely the first school in the Gem State to adapt the play, according to Smith. It’s been in the works since June 2024.
Every year, she and her team plan a show that fits the abilities of the theater students. Smith says there are numerous “powerhouse girls” in the class this year, which prompted them to do a show that would showcase the female talent.
“This was one of the shows I stumbled across in research and the music and the story just captivated me,” says Smith.
Marlowe expresses a similar sentiment, calling it “the perfect show for our girls.”
Highlighting the students’ dedication, Marlowe says the five leads in the high school production reached out to the actors in the original play for advice. One of the actors in the off-Broadway show sent back a video reply expressing excitement for their local production and wished the cast good luck.
Marlowe and Smith are impressed with the students’ dedication to quality. They invite the community to attend.
“Seeing them bring this to life in such a powerful and incredible way has been amazing to watch. I’m so proud of them,” Smith says.
“The Hello Girls” runs through Saturday at Taylorview Middle School. It starts at 7 p.m. each night. Tickets are available here.
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