At the heart of Paul Lewis’ new musical lie love letters half a century old.

Reading his father’s World War II correspondence to his mother sparked Lewis to write the music, lyrics and book that became “The Recollection of Flight,” which premieres Oct. 18 at Bainbridge Performing Arts.

“When I first opened the letters, I was just fascinated and floored by the raw emotion pouring through the words,” Lewis said. “I sat down that very day to write the ballad ‘My Star,’ about a soldier dreaming of a girl back home.”

Lewis says that while he found the World War II communiques from his father to his mother “ripe with romance,” another message could be read between the lines.

“There was tremendous fear and anxiety,” he said. “Fear of getting blown up. Fear of dying.”

Lewis learned that his father’s letters had been penned on the beach at Anzio.

The January 1944 invasion of Italy – dubbed the Anzio campaign for a town near the beach head – had been planned to distract German troops from other Allied forces, and to make a rapid incursion to Rome, just 30 miles north.

Meeting little resistance at first, the troops soon became trapped.

Like his companions at Anzio, Robert Lewis, with his back to the sea, faced five German divisions on the heights encircling the beach.

“It was one of the most tragic campaigns of the war,” Lewis said. “These guys were stuck there. They were target practice for the Germans.”

Over the next four four months of the war, American casualties exceeded 45,000.

His father had told stories about camp life at Anzio, but it wasn’t until Lewis began his two years of research that he learned just how bitter the campaign had been.

Dodgy drafts

Rather than serving as a historical account of the Anzio campaign, “The Recollection of Flight” traces the lives of fictional soldiers and their Trenton, N.J. families and friends.

“History informs the play,” Lewis said, “but it’s not a history lesson.”

It took Lewis 12 drafts, informal script readings with friends and a run-through last year with Island Theatre actors to arrive at the play audiences will view this weekend.

The production is a staged reading with sets, costumes, lighting and special effects. A four-piece band led by Lewis accompanies the 20 musical numbers that range from period swing to ballads.

Lewis ackowledges that the play may be particularly meaningful to the cast members old enough to remember the war – like Russell Johnson, himself a decorated aviator, who plays Sam Weiss.

But the No. 1 audience member Lewis has in mind is his 84-year-old father.

“He’s going to be blown away,” Lewis said. “It’s bound to be a ‘tear fest.’”

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Paul Lewis’ “The Recollection of Flight,” premieres Oct. 18-20 at the Playhouse.

The work features original music and lyrics performed as a staged reading by a cast of 24. Directed by Stephen Stolee, with vocal direction by Adele Berg-Layton, the production is supported by Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Fund, Toni Hall Cultural Fund, Artist Trust and Island Theatre (PG-13).

Performances are 7:30 p.m. Oct. 18 and 19 and 3 p.m. Oct. 20. Tickets are $15 for adults, $9 for seniors and students. Charge by phone at 842-8569.