Coming to Nowra this Thursday, the production will be a stirring experience for audiences.

The show features songs that defined a generation such as Along the Watchtower, Paint It Black, Run Through the Jungle, Respect, People Get Ready, Killing Me Softly With His Song and Bridge Over Troubled Water.

Bringing the show to life are singers and actors Wes Carr, Kimberley Hodgson, Tom Oliver, Matt Pearce, Vanessa Krummenacher and Will Ewing.

Australian Idol winner from 2008, Carr says the songs from the show are just some which inspired him to pursue music as a career.

“I listened to everything from Jackson to the Doors, but music like John Lennon’s meant something,” he says.

“Songs like those dug deep into the psyche of what was going on then.

“To be able to perform them pulls at your heartstrings.”

Carr says when he read the script it hit home how 18-year-old children would have felt being told they had to fight in the war.

“They had no idea what it was all about,” he says.

“It was the first televised war and it changed the world.

“A lot of the soldiers were boys of 19 who hadn’t done anything yet and just wanted to live their lives, but a lot of them died or went to jail because of the war.”

Rolling Thunder Vietnam is about conscription, combat, protests and coming home.

“Bryce [Hallett] wrote it through the personal stories of the soldiers, he did a lot of research and it involves letters from the war and is based on true events, I think that makes it more authentic,” says Carr.

“My character Andy comes from the north shore of Sydney, he was shocked to go to war.

“My friend in the show, Johnny, is a gung-ho kind of guy who wants to fight but they both went through hell and that really resonated with me.”

Carr says the concert takes audiences on a journey of exploration in the same way the Vietnam War generation came out of their shells, finding their “true identity” and searched for a sense of freedom.

“If you look at how conservative the ’50s were then 10 years later everyone was at Woodstock it was a complete turnaround. It was rebellion because of the drastic change the war made. It was an incredible time.

“Out of adversity came such freedom.”

Carr says he did a little acting when he was in school and he took on this show because he loves a challenge.

“I have been reminiscing and asking myself ‘what is the best thing I’ve gone through?’ I think Idol was the first time I took a stand for myself.

“I was growing a lot and finding my feet and then afterwards to just move away from it all and gained independence as an artist to do my own album, which fuelled another part of me challenging myself again.

“I’m challenging myself again with this show.”

Be among the first to see the exciting theatrical concert Rolling Thunder Vietnam in its Australian premiere season at the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre.