Zack Zaromatidis plays band leader Donny Novitski and Jennifer Elizabeth Smith is the band's singer, Julia Trojan, in "Bandstand." The musical tells how a group of veterans and a war widow use music to help them move forward with their lives. in the months after World War II. (Courtesy) 

Jennifer Elizabeth Smith knew when she was cast as Julia Trojan in the national touring company of “Bandstand” that the role would be challenging and emotionally draining.

She plays a young woman whose world is turned upside down when her husband is killed in World War II. She then is recruited to be the singer for a newly formed swing band made up of men who have just returned from fighting in the war.

As part of the band, Julia begins to have romantic feelings for its leader and one of her husband’s war buddies, Donny Novitski.

“It’s complicated,” Smith said of her character’s relationship with Novitski, who is played by Zack Zaromatidis.

A performance of “Bandstand” is set for 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7 at the University of Texas at Tyler’s Cowan Center, 3900 University Blvd. 

The show’s director and choreographer, Andy Blankenbuehler, won a Tony Award for the show’s high-energy choreography. Robert Taylor and Richard Oberacker wrote the story and lyrics, and Oberacker wrote the music, which reflects the swing, bebop and jitterbug genres popular in the 1940s.

Set in 1945, “Bandstand” tells how through making music Julia and the veterans begin to deal with grief, guilt, post-traumatic stress and other issues.

The musical has been endorsed by Got Your Six, an organization that draws attention to creative works that present realistic depictions of the problems that veterans often face after serving in the military. 

“It is so dark and emotional,” Smith said of moments that show the characters struggling to move on with their lives.

“That time (after the war) was so romanticized,” she said. “They (soldiers) came home with emotional scars but no one was talking about that.”

As Julia, Smith expresses the anguish of widows who once thought they would spend the rest of their lives with the men they loved.

In Smith’s opening number, “Who I Was,” she sings: And I’m told to be proud. All the newsreels and magazines practically shout it. But I’m never allowed to admit there is nothing remotely heroic about it. … I resent it because there are days when I just want to be momentarily free and happily who I was.

“It’s really exciting to get to show this side (of the war widow experience),” Smith said. 

Smith said the musical ultimately is uplifting as the characters find new purpose in their lives.   

Smith previously was seen as Portia in the national touring company of the musical “Something Rotten. She has a degree in musical theater from Boston Conservatory.

Tickets to “Bandstand” are $32 to $77 and can be purchased by calling the box office, 903-566-7424, or at cowancenter.org. 

The Cowan Center’s Broadway series continues with “The Color Purple” on Nov. 18 and “Beautiful: The Carol King Musical” on March 26, 2020.