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THE MAXBroadway-Bound Premiere
ACE
Book and Lyrics by Robert Taylor and Richard Oberacker
Music by Richard Oberacker
Directed by Eric Schaeffer

Set in 1950s heartland America, Ace is the epic story of one boy's attempt to find his place in the present, and unlock his future. When 10-year-old Danny Lucas receives a toy plane as an unexpected gift, he is launched on an adventure of discovery to reconstruct the pieces of his shattered past. Through a series of mysterious revelations, Danny is transported back in time - flying into the gathering storm over Europe during aerial dogfights of WWI and soaring with the daring Tiger squadrons of WWII in the skies above Southeast Asia. A tale of triumph, transcendence, humor, and heart as seen through the prism of a child's eyes, Ace magically explores the heroic lives and unforeseen legacies of the men and women of our greatest generations.
August 27 - September 28, 2008

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presented in association with Tom Smedes and Nancy Nagel Gibbs

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THE CAST

Matthew Scott (Ace) BROADWAY: A Catered Affair, Jersey Boys, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Actor's Fund). REGIONAL: Old Globe: A Catered Affair; Paper Mill Playhouse: Ragtime (Houdini), My Fair Lady, Carousel; Alliance Theater: tick, tick… BOOM! (Jonathan); The Muny: West Side Story (Tony) Side by Side by Sondheim; Pittsburgh CLO: 1776 (Courier); PMT: Bat Boy (Bat Boy); York Theater: Greenwillow. TV: All My Children. WORKSHOPS: Catch Me if You Can, The Flamingo Kid. EDUCATION: BFA, Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama.

 

 

Florence Lacey (Mrs. Crandall) SIGNATURE: Saving Aimee, Nevermore, The Rhythm Club, The Gospel According to Fishman, Follies, One Red Flower. BROADWAY: Evita, The Grand Tour, Hello, Dolly!, Les Misérables, An Evening with Jerry Herman. OFF-BROADWAY: Sweet Feet, Elizabeth and Essex, Styne After Styne, Under the Bridge. REGIONAL: Kennedy Center: Sunday in the Park with George; Goodspeed: Pal Joey; Connecticut Rep: A Little Night Music, Wings. AWARDS: Theater World, MAC, Drama Logue, Critics Outer Circle.

 

 

Dalton Harrod (Danny Lucas) NEW YORK: Please Don't Eat the Daisies (Reading). REGIONAL: Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma & Lyric Academy: Beauty & the Beast, Oklahoma, Suessical, The Music Man, Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver, Into the Woods; Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre: Our Town. EDUCATION: 6th Grade, Manhattan School for Children, NYC.

 

Duke Lafoon (Edward) NEW YORK: Westchester Broadway: A Wonderful Life, Are We There Yet?; MTC Theatre 3: Monica the Musical; Transport Group: The Audience; Queens Theatre in the Park: I Love My Wife. REGIONAL: The Old Globe, Rep Theatre of St. Louis, Cincinnati Theatre in the Park: ACE; Barksdale Theatre: Doubt; Company of Fools: Sideman; Theatre Virginia: A Wonderful Life (Best Actor Award). TV/FILM: TNT's Ironclads; CBS's mini-series, Sally Hemings.

 

Jill Paice (Elizabeth) BROADWAY: Curtains (Niki Harris, original cast recording), The Woman in White (Laura Fairlie). WEST END: Gone with the Wind (Scarlett O'Hara), The Woman in White (Laura Fairlie, original cast recording), Night of 1000 Voices (Royal Albert Hall). NATIONAL TOUR: Mamma Mia in Las Vegas (Sophie), Les Misérables. REGIONAL: Ahmanson Theater: Curtains (Niki Harris). OTHER CREDITS: York Theater: The Gig (Lucy, original cast recording), Weird Romance (Delphi/Susan); Great Lakes Theater Festival: Gypsy. EDUCATION: Baldwin-Wallace College.

 

Angelina Kelly(Emily) OFF-BROADWAY: Daryl Roth's D-Lounge: Generations; Marjorie Deane Theater: Princess Fiona Escapes from the Shoe. REGIONAL: Freeman Amphitheater: Einstein's Breakfast; iTheatrics: Captain Louie, Jr. OTHER CREDITS: Random Farms Children's Theater: Alice in Wonderland (Alice), Mary Poppins (Mary), The Sound of Music (Mother Abbess), and others. WORKSHOP: The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T (Glen Rove, Dir.). FILM: The Oval (Ali Bellizia, dir.); Seeds of Peace (Human Relations Media).

 

Jim Stanek (John Robert) BROADWAY: Lestat, Little Women, The Rivals, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Indiscretions. OFF-BROADWAY: Frankenstein; Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris; Slut; I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change; Saturday Night; Captain's Courageous. REGIONAL: North Shore: The Producers; Kennedy Center: Carnival; McCarter: My Fair Lady; Williamstown: The Threepenny Opera; AMT of San Jose: 3hree Musketeers, Damn Yankees; La Jolla: Thoroughly Modern Millie. FILM: The Firefly and the Bride; Bella; Murder, He Squeaked; Reveille; Borough of Kings. TV: NBC: Adversaries (pilot), Guiding Light, Law and Order. RECORDINGS: Frankenstein, Lestat (unreleased); 3hree Musketeers, ...Forum. EDUCATION: BFA, Carnegie Mellon University.

 

Emily Skinner (Louise) SIGNATURE: The Witches of Eastwick. BROADWAY: Side Show (Tony® nomination, Drama League Award), Jekyll & Hyde, James Joyce's The Dead, The Full Monty, Dinner at Eight (Outer Critics Circle nomination), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Actor's Fund), Dreamgirls (Actor's Fund). NATIONAL TOUR: Disney's On the Record. OFF-BROADWAY: City Center's Encores: No Strings, Pardon My English, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Broadway Bash; leading roles at the WPA Theater, Playwright's Horizons, Manhattan Theater Club, York Theater, The Paramount Theater at Madison Square Garden. REGIONAL: The Kennedy Center, McCarter, Long Wharf, The Old Globe, Ford's Theater, St. Louis MUNY, TheaterVirgina. IN CONCERT: Broadway By The Year (director and performer), New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, Pittsburgh Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Jerusalem Symphony, Merkin Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Symphony Space. RECORDINGS: countless cast albums and audio books, Duets, Unsuspecting Hearts, Skinner/Ripley Raw at Town Hall (all with Alice Ripley),Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, The Stephen Sondheim Album, Wall to Wall Sondheim, Believe: The Songs of The Sherman Brothers, The Stephen Schwartz Album, animated feature Anastasia, and her self-titled solo CD (fynsworthalley.com).

 

Christiane Noll (Ruth) SIGNATURE: The Witches of Eastwick. BROADWAY/TOURS: Urinetown, Mambo Kings, …Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, Jekyll & Hyde, Grease, Miss Saigon, City of Angels. OFF-BROADWAY: A Fine and Private Place, Little By Little, Call the Children Home; City Center Encores!: The New Moon. INTERN'L: South Pacific (Australia/Thailand). REGIONAL: Little Shop of Horrors, Pirates of Penzance, Mack & Mabel, The Baker's Wife, Lizzie Borden, Kept, Into the Woods, Carousel, The Student Prince. LOCAL: Washington National Opera: Trilogy - The Merry Widow w/ Placido Domingo; numerous appearances with The National Symphony Orchestra. FILM: The King & I (Singing Anna, Animated Feature). OTHER: Symphony Soloist with Marvin Hamlisch, Eric Kunzel, Don Pippin, Peter Nero and Skitch Henderson. RECORDINGS: The New Moon, Jekyll & Hyde, The King & I, Little by Little, several Broadway compilations, Christiane Noll - A Broadway Love Story, Live at the West Bank Café, The Ira Gershwin Album and My Personal Property.

 

Richard Barth (Ensemble) OFF-BROADWAY: Irish Repertory Theatre: Beowulf (Beowulf, World Premiere Adaptation). NATIONAL TOUR: Miss Saigon. REGIONAL: The Old Globe, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis: ACE (Lt. Sanders, World Premiere); The Ogunquit Playhouse: The Full Monty (Malcolm, with Sally Struthers and Hunter Foster); Goodspeed: Call Me Madam; Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre: Pippin (Pippin), Bus Stop (Bo Decker), The Foreigner (Ellard), The Drawer Boy (Miles); Westchester Broadway Theatre: Bye, Bye, Birdie! (Hugo Peabody). TV/FILM: Stella, The Blank Space. TRAINING: Hartt School Theatre Division.

 

William Beech (Ensemble Boy) SIGNATURE: The Happy Time. LOCAL: The Children's Theatre: Alice in Wonderland, Jolly Roger and the Pirate Queen, Twelve Dancing Princesses, Redwall; KMT Musical Theatre: Oklahoma! SCHOOL: Aladdin, Cinderella, The Pirates of Penzance. TRAINING: Pat Close, Alexandra Lajoux, Karen Biggs-Leeds.

 

Brooke Bloomquist(Ensemble) LOCAL: Kennedy Center: The Changeling. TV/FILM: Jerry and the Governor (Commercial), Hooked on Phonics (Industrial Film), others. EDUCATION: 6th grade, Annapolis Area Christian School. TRAINING: Film acting studies with Tom Logan; Linda Townsend Management.

 

George Dvorsky (Col. Whitlow/Chennault) SIGNATURE: The Happy Time, Funny Girl in Concert. BROADWAY: The Scarlet Pimpernel, Passion, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Marilyn: An American Fable, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.OFF BROADWAY: Pete 'n' Keely, Dames at Sea, And the World Goes Round. LINCOLN CENTER: Cinderella, Brigadoon.PBS: Passion, Bernstein's Broadway.REGIONAL: A Wonderful Life, She Loves Me, Anything Goes, Seven Brides, The Full Monty, A Christmas Carol. SOLO ALBUM: In The Still of the Night.

 

Ari Goldbloom-Helzner (Ensemble) LOCAL: Musical Theater Center: HONK!, Peter Pan, Meet Me In St. Louis. Lucy V. Barnsley Elementary School: Romeo and Juliet. EDUCATION: Lucy V. Barnsley Elementary School, Center for the Highly Gifted, 5th grade, Rockville, MD.

 

Tracy Lynn Olivera (Ensemble) SIGNATURE: The Happy Time, Merrily We Roll Along (Helen Hayes Award Nomination); December Divas Cabaret; Ricky, Joe and Michael John Cabaret; Last Garage Hurrah Cabaret; Allegro (Helen Hayes nomination); Follies; Side Show; Sweeney Todd; Company in concert; Mack and Mabel in concert. LOCAL: Kennedy Center: Sunday in the Park with George, Passion, Merrily We Roll Along; Ford's Theatre: Meet John Doe, Shenandoah, A Christmas Carol, Songs from the Tall Grass; Folger: Comedy of Errors; MetroStage: Closer Than Ever, The Last Five Years; Olney: West Side Story, Grease, Carousel (Helen Hayes nomination); Rorschach: company member, Rough Magic, J.B., God of Vengeance. EDUCATION: Catholic University. Faculty, Catholic University.

 

Jason Reiff (Ensemble) NATIONAL TOURS: Les Misérables (Marius u/s), The Who's Tommy (Tommy), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (J. Pierpont Finch). REGIONAL: Man of La Mancha, Sweet Charity, Good News, Fiddler on the Roof, Grease, The Fantastics, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, West Side Story, Lady Be Good, Chess, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Romeo and Juliet, The Winter's Tale, The Revenger's Tragedy. EDUCATION: BFA, The Cincinnati Conservatory of Music; MFA, Shakespeare Theatre Company's Academy for Classical Acting.

 

Danny Rothman (Ensemble) REGIONAL: The Old Globe, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis: ACE; Goodspeed Musicals: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn; Northshore Music Theatre: Les Misérables; The Muny: Evita, Brigadoon; Kansas City Starlight: Annie; Stages St. Louis: State Fair; Merry-Go-Round Playhouse: Les Misérables; Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera: Casper; Shadowland Theatre: My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra; Stonnington Opera House: Dracula; The Rich Forum: Two Cities. EDUCATION: Carnegie Mellon University, BFA, Musical Theater.

 

Elizabeth Share (Ensemble) NATIONAL TOURS: Mamma Mia! (First National and Las Vegas Companies). OFF-BROADWAY: Mamaleh. REGIONAL: Theater Under The Stars: Scrooge; Gateway Playhouse: Titanic; Pittsburgh Playhouse: Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; Hollywood Theater: Jerry Springer The Opera (concert version);Theaterworks USA: Goldrush. FILM/TV: The Fire Next Time, My Gradiva, As The World Turns. EDUCATION: The Boston Conservatory, BFA, musical theater.

 

Gabrielle Stravelli (Ensemble) EUROPEAN TOUR: HAIR.REGIONAL: Weston Playhouse, New Dramatists Guild: The Listener; Old Globe, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis: ACE; Human Race Theatre Co.: A Little Night Music; YORK Theatre Co.: Green Gables; Director's Co.: Once Upon A Time In New Jersey. CONCERTS/CABARET: Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, Hammerstein Ballroom, Carnegie Hall, Birdland Jazz Club, Cincinnati Pops. AWARDS: 2008 Backstage/Bistro Ira Eaker Special Achievement Award for "Performer on the Rise."

 

 


 

THE CREATIVE TEAM

Richard Oberacker (Composer, Co-lyricist, Co-librettist) is currently the conductor for Cirque Du Soleil's KA in Las Vegas. He also served as original conductor and orchestrator for Cirque's Dralion. As a composer and co-author, his musicals include The Gospel According to Fishman (Signature Theatre), Journey to the West (New York Musical Theater Festival), Don't Make Me Pull This Show Over: Dispatches from the Frontlines of Parenting (Cincinnati Fringe Festival, Ensemble Theater of Cincinnati April of 2009), Dracula - The Game of Love (Cincinnati College -Conservatory of Music), A Little Theater (Aurelia Theater) and In That Valley (National Alliance for Musical Theater Festival). Upcoming is a new commission for Signature Theatre: The Sandman.

Robert Taylor (Co-lyricist, Co-librettist) began writing poetry and lyrics around the same time he picked up the violin at the age of eight. His love of music, languages, literature, and birds, has led him to a lifetime of study and travel. A graduate of Holland's Royal Conservatory, Union College, the University of Bonn, and Princeton, he has taught foreign languages and ornithology in New York, English and music in China, served as Music Critic for the Albany Times Union, founded and directed several non-profits, worked as a freelance musician and writer in Manhattan, and a translator in Europe and Asia. As lyricist and co-author, his other musicals include Journey to the West (New York Musical Theater Festival), Don't Make Me Pull This Show Over: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Parenting (2008 Cincinnati Fringe Festival, Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati April of 2009), and The Sandman (a new commission for Signature Theatre).

 

Eric Schaeffer (Artistic Director) SIGNATURE: Co-founder and artistic director; Kiss of the Spider Woman, Glory Days, The Witches of Eastwick, Saving Aimee, Into the Woods, My Fair Lady, Nevermore, The Highest Yellow, One Red Flower, Allegro, Twentieth Century, 110 in the Shade, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Gospel According to Fishman, Grand Hotel, The Rhythm Club, Over & Over, The Fix, Working, The Rink, Cabaret, First Lady Suite, Wings, Poor Superman, Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love, and Sondheim musicals Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George (Arena Stage coproduction), Passion, Into the Woods, Company, Assassins, Sweeney Todd, Follies, Pacific Overtures. BROADWAY: Glory Days, Putting It Together. NATIONAL TOURS: big, Barbie™ Live in Fairytopia™. OFF-BROADWAY: Sweet Adeline (City Center Encores!, Great American Musicals in Concert), Under the Bridge. LONDON: Royal Drury Lane & Prince of Wales Theatres: The Witches of Eastwick. LOCAL: Ford's Theatre: Meet John Doe; Kennedy Center: Mame (starring Christine Baranski), Sondheim Celebration (artistic director), Passion, Sunday in the Park with George. NEW YORK: Avery Fisher Hall: Sondheim Concert. REGIONAL: Mark Taper Forum: Putting It Together (w/ Carol Burnett); Chicago: Elmer Gantry; Los Angeles: Disney's Snow White. TRAINING: BFA, Kutztown University; extended studies, Crewe and Alsager College of Visual Arts, Crewe, England. AWARDS: 2002 Washingtonian of the Year, five Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Direction, six Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Musical, 23 Helen Hayes nominations for Outstanding Director; 2007 Arts Founder Award. UPCOMING: Goodman Theatre: Million Dollar Quartet.

 

Karma Camp (Choreographer) SIGNATURE: The Happy Time, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Merrily We Roll Along, The Witches of Eastwick (Helen Hayes nomination), Into the Woods, My Fair Lady, Assassins, Urinetown (2006 Helen Hayes Award), Nijinsky's Last Dance (Helen Hayes nomination), Follies, 110 in the Shade, Cabaret (Helen Hayes nomination), and others. BROADWAY: Avery Fisher Hall: Broadway Showstoppers w/ New York Philharmonic, The Graduate w/ Kathleen Turner. OFF-BROADWAY: Never the Sinner. NATIONAL TOUR: Ring of Fire, big. REGIONAL: Kennedy Center: Phantom Tollbooth, Merrily We Roll Along (Sondheim Celebration); Arena Stage: Shakespeare in Hollywood (Helen Hayes nomination), Agamemnon; Round House: A Murder, A Mystery & A Marriage. Additional Theatres: Shakespeare Theatre, Actors' Theatre of Louisville, McCarter Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, Prince Music Theatre, Tennessee Rep. Opera: Goya w/ Placido Domingo; Washington Opera: Vanessa; Wolf Trap Opera Co.: Kurt Weill's Street Scene. TV: The Sounds of WWII (PBS), All My Children (ABC), over 22 international commercials. ADDITIONAL CREDITS: Disney Entertainment: Snow White, Twice Charmed; 1992 Inaugural Gala for Al Gore (director/choreographer), Remember the Children w/ Kathie Lee Gifford, NSO Pops with Marvin Hamlisch. UPCOMING: ABC's Disney Christmas Special. Ms. Camp is a Signature Theatre Artistic Associate.

 

David Kreppel (Music Director) SIGNATURE: The Gospel According to Fishman (orchestrations). BROADWAY/NATIONAL TOURS: A Chorus Line, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Mamma Mia, Saturday Night Fever, Tarzan, Showboat. OFF-BROADWAY: Gutenberg! The Musical, Off the Record. REGIONAL: The Old Globe, St. Louis Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse: Ace (Acclaim Award); TheatreWorks: Emma (arrangements); Radio City Christmas (LA); Weston Playhouse: South Pacific. OTHER: Journey to the West (music supervision, NY Music Theatre Festival), Dracula (orchestrations), The Kids for Kids Project (co-producer, composer, music director). EDUCATION: University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Graduate.

 

Greg Anthony (Arrangements & Orchestrations). BROADWAY: The Little Mermaid (Associate Music Director), A Chorus Line (Keyboards). NATIONAL TOUR: The Lion King (Associate Music Director). REGIONAL: St. Louis Rep/Cincinnati Playhouse: ACE (Orchestrations); Yale Rep: Brundibar (Music Director). OTHER: Arrangements and orchestrations for the Cincinnati Pops, Indianapolis Symphony Pops, New York City Gay Men’s Chorus. UPCOMING: Abe The Musical (orchestrations).

 

Walt Spangler (Scenic Design) SIGNATURE: The Witches of Eastwick, Saving Aimee, The Highest Yellow. LOCAL: Shakespeare Theatre: Coriolanus, Timon of Athens, Ghosts, The Winter's Tale, Hamlet, The Tempest, Duchess of Malfi; The Kennedy Center: Mame. BROADWAY: Hollywood Arms. OFF-BROADWAY: The Public/NYSF, The Atlantic Theater Company, Manhattan Theater Club, Playwrights Horizons. REGIONAL: The Goodman Theater, The Alley Theater, Seattle Rep, Yale Rep, Long Wharf, Hartford Stage, The Ahmanson, Actors Theater of Louisville, American Conservatory Theatre and others. TOURS: Fame, Smokey Joe's Cafe. EDUCATION: Yale School of Drama.

 

Robert Perdziola (Costume Design) SIGNATURE: Merrily We Roll Along, Into the Woods (sets/costumes), Follies. LOCAL: Shakespeare Theatre: Lady Windermere's Fan (Helen Hayes Award), Cyrano, The Rivals, Duchess of Malfi, Don Carlos (Helen Hayes Award), The Country Wife (Helen Hayes Award), King John, A Woman of No Importance. NEW YORK: Metropolitan Opera: Il Pirata; American Ballet Theatre: Le Spectre de la Rose (sets/costumes), Pillar of Fire (sets/costumes). REGIONAL: Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Ballet, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Skylight Opera Theatre, Glimmerglass Opera. INTERNATIONAL: Opera Monte Carlo: Cosi Fan Tutte (sets/costumes); Niedersachsische Staatsoper Hannover: Faust (sets/costumes); Garsington Opera, Oxford, UK: Cosi Fan Tutte (sets/costumes), Le Nozze di Figaro (sets/costumes). Irene Sharaff Young Master Award 2000.

 

Ken Billington (Lighting Design) BROADWAY: 82 productions including Sunday in the Park with George, Chicago, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, Footloose, Candide (1997), Annie (1997) Hello Dolly! (1995), Moon Over Buffalo, Fiddler on the Roof (1990,1981,1976), Meet Me in St. Louis, My Fair Lady (1981), Sweeney Todd, Working, On the Twentieth Century, Side By Side By Sondheim. TOURS: High School Musical, High School Musical 2, White Christmas, Doctor Dolittle, Some Like it Hot, Porgy and Bess, Riverdance (lighting supervisor). OFF-BROADWAY: 60 productions including: Fame, London Suite, Annie Warbucks, Snoopy!. OTHER CREDITS: Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular, Stars on Ice, Disneyland's Fantasmic!, Jubilee! (Las Vegas), Shamu Rocks! (Seaworld Orlando, San Diego). AWARDS: Tony, NY Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Los Angeles Drama Critics, Lumen (Architectural Lighting), Ace (Television Lighting).

 

Jason Kantrowitz (Lighting Design) BROADWAY: Dame Edna-The Royal Tour, Tru, Starmites, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular. OFF-BROADWAY: The Syringa Tree, Mud Donahue & Son, Girl's Room, Ministry of Progress. NATIONAL TOURS: The Phantom of the Opera (Associate Designer), Annie, Hats! the Musical, Stars On Ice. INTERNATIONAL: The Producers, Sweet Charity, Fiddler on the Roof, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Syringa Tree. LAS VEGAS: Jubilee! DISNEY ATTRACTIONS: Fantasmic!, Playhouse Disney Live Onstage, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Festival of the Lion King, Finding Nemo the Musical, Toy Story the Musical. BUSCH ENTERTAINMENT: Emerald Beat, Kinetix, Shamu Rocks, Journey to Atlantis.

 

Simon Matthews (Sound Design) BROADWAY: Production Sound Engineer: Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein; The Pirate Queen; Lestat; Brooklyn - The Musical; Taboo; Into the Woods (Revival); Follies (Revival); Tale of the Allergist's Wife; Dance of Death; Rainmaker; You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown; 1776 (Revival). OFF-BROADWAY/ NATIONAL TOUR: Sound Designer: Altar Boyz (Lucille Lortel nomination).

 

Michael Clark (Projection Design) SIGNATURE: The Word Begins, Saving Aimee, Allegro, One Red Flower, Hedwig and the Angry Inch. BROADWAY: Jersey Boys, Ring of Fire, 700 Sundays, Dracula The Musical, The Elephant Man. OFF-BROADWAY: Drama Dept: Music from a Sparkling Planet. LOCAL: The Shakespeare Theatre: The Persians; Kennedy Center SondheimCelebration: Company, Sunday in the Park with George, Merrily We Roll Along;Washington Opera: Manon Lescaut. REGIONAL: La Jolla Playhouse: The Wiz, Jersey Boys, 700 Sundays, Dracula The Musical; ACT: Dinner with Friends; PhiladelphiaTheater Co.: The Last Five Years; Gettysburg: For the Glory. TOURS: Blast 2 Mix (AsiaTour), Spider-Man Live, Aeros.

 

 


 

THE SET

The set for ACE, designed by Walt Spangler, features two fully moveable walls and a diamond shaped center piece that too can move and transform, setting many different locations.

 


 

THE COSTUMES

Designed by Robert Perdziola, the costumes for ACE span over 50 years of fashion history.

 


 

THE MUSIC

Enjoy a preview of the soaring music from ACE by Richard Oberacker and Robert Taylor.

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HISTORICAL INFORMATION

THE CREATION OF THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE

Maj. John R. Allison

In ACE, through the eyes of both John Robert and Ace, we catch a glimpse into the history of the United States Air Force. This special branch of our armed forces started in 1907 as a small aeronautical division of the US Army. Since the close of the Civil War, the US Signal Corps had been acquiring air balloons, dirigibles and airships, and running test flights. In 1908, the first casualty was experienced when Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge was killed in a plane crash on a flight with Orville Wright. After further testing improved the safety of the plane, the Army accepted the model as the first Army airplane, named "Airplane No. 1," and on May 26, 1909 two Lieutenants became the first Army pilots.

After a few years of fiscal help from Congress, the Army air division began to grow. In 1913, the 1st Aero Squadron was created as the first military unit of the US Army devoted entirely to aviation and air combat. When World War I broke out in 1914, this Squadron represented the entire air strength of the US military. Comprising 12 officers, 54 men, and six aircrafts, it was a tiny force compared to the air fleets of European powers. By December of 1916, plans began calling for a considerable larger air unit. Twenty-four squadrons were being formed for various Army organizations, but the 1st Aero Squadron remained the only fully organized and equipped section until the US entered World War I.

The Army's air service made a respectable showing during WWI, despite representing less than 10 percent of the total air strength of the Allies. However, the problems that were caused by the Air Service units being dispersed among several Army organizations soon made necessary the creation of higher power organizations. In 1920, the Army Reorganization Act made the Air Service a combatant army of the Army. Air units were placed under the command of area commanders and were used primarily in support of ground forces. The Air Service was renamed the Air Corps in 1926, but its status as part of the Army remained unchanged. It was not until 1945 and the beginning of US involvement in World War II that the Air Corps would see significant change.

With President Franklin D. Roosevelt's command of the country during WWII came a leader who acknowledged the rising importance of a powerful air force. The German air force had rapidly conquered its enemies in the first years of the war and the US Air Corps found itself in a time of strengthening. During the years of US participation in the war, the US Army Air Corps grew from 26,500 soldiers and 2,200 aircrafts to 2,253,000 soldiers and 63,715 aircrafts. The time of this great expansion brought new organizational leaders and new, independent structures for this air force within the Army. In 1941, the Army Chief of Staff established the Army Air Forces to control the Air Corps and the Air Force Combat Command. In another reorganization, 1942 saw the US Army divided into three separate commands-Army Ground Forces, Services of Supply, and Army Air Forces. The air unit, which was tiny compared to its European counterparts, had now become a major military power.

Following success in WWII, demobilization immediately reduced the numbers of air units, but left untouched the organization of the new United States Air Force (USAF). This new group began restructuring during the peace time following the war and divided into the Air Transport Command, Strategic Air Command, Air Defense Command, and Tactical Air Command. Now composed of strategic, tactical, defense and airlift units, the Department of the Air Force that we see today was formally created when the National Security Act of 1947 recognized the independence of this new organization.

IMPORTANT FIGURES DURING WORLD WAR I

Col. Frank Lahm

Edward "Eddie" Vernon Rickenbacker

Raoul Gervais Lufbery

Col. Frank Lahm, the first man to be rated a pilot in the US military service, flew with Orville Wright in the first cross country flight.

Edward "Eddie" Vernon Rickenbacker was the American "Ace of Aces" in World War I. Born in Columbus, Ohio, 1890, He gained fame as a race car driver before joining the service. As the United States prepared to send its first troops overseas, Capt. Rickenbacker was offered the position of chauffeur to General Pershing. He enlisted in the US. Army, and after arriving in France, he was transferred to the US. Air Service and sent to Tours to learn to fly. He was then made Engineering Officer at the US flying school at Issoudun because of his unusual knowledge of gasoline engines. When the first group of newly-trained US. pilots prepared to leave for the Front, Capt. Rickenbacker requested to go with them. His request was approved by Maj. Carl Spaatz, and Capt. Rickenbacker was assigned to the 94th Aero Squadron. Almost immediately, he demonstrated his exceptional combat ability and by the end of the war, he was the United States' leading ace with 26 confirmed victories. On November 6, 1930, President Herbert Hoover awarded the coveted Medal of Honor to Capt. Rickenbacker for his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty" in attacking seven enemy airplanes on Sept. 25, 1918, shooting down two.Capt. Rickenbacker died July 23, 1973.

The second-ranking American ace of World War I was Capt. William C. Lambert of Ironton, Ohio, who was officially credited with 21 1/2 air-to-air victories, only 4 1/2 victories less than the 26 of America's top ace, Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker. Capt. Lambert joined the Royal Flying Corps in Canada in 1916 and arrived in Britain in December 1917. He was assigned to No. 24 Squadron of the Royal Air Force in France flying SE-5a fighters. (The RFC became the RAF on April 1, 1918.) Capt. Lambert did not transfer to the U.S. Air Service after the United States entered the war but remained with the RAF, although he retained his US citizenship. Following WWI, Capt. Lambert joined the US Army Air Corps Reserve and served on active duty with the Army Air Forces during World War II. He retired from the Air Force Reserve in 1954 as a lieutenant colonel.

Raoul Gervais Lufbery, the third highest scoring American ace for World War I, was the first American to reach ace status. He was member of the famed Lafayette Escadrille before transferring to the US Air Service following the nation's entry into the war. He had 17 confirmed victories with the French.

Lt. Frank Luke Jr., nicknamed "The Arizona Balloon Buster," was born in Phoenix, Ariz. He enlisted in the US Army in September 1917, learned to fly and arrived on the Front in France in July 1918 where he was assigned to the 27th Aero Squadron. His exceptional bravery earned for him a reputation for being "wild and reckless" but his fellow pilots soon realized he possessed that certain element that distinguished a great fighter pilot from the others - complete fearlessness. In September 1918, Lt. Luke began a personal campaign against German observation balloons and airplanes. During a seven-day period, September 12-18, two days of which he did not fly, he scored 13 confirmed victories, including an amazing five victories (two balloons and three airplanes) on the last day. At sunset on September 29, 1918, Lt. Luke took off from an advance aerodrome at Verdun to attack balloons in the area of Dun-sur-Meuse. He never returned. At the time of his death, Lt. Luke was the leading ace of the U.S. Air Service with 18 confirmed victories (14 balloons and four airplanes).

IMPORTANT FIGURES DURING WORLD WAR ii

Maj. Richard Bong

The Pacific Theater of Operations produced the two highest scoring aces in American history, Maj. Richard I. Bong and Maj. Thomas B. McGuire Jr. Both men flew P-38 Lightnings in the Southwest Pacific and each received the Medal of Honor in recognition of his courage and accomplishments.

Maj. Thomas B. McGuire scored 38 aerial victories in a P-38, making him America's second highest scoring ace. Among his many decorations was the Medal of Honor awarded for his actions on Dec. 25-26, 1944, when he shot down seven enemy aircraft. On Jan. 7, 1945, he crashed to his death on Los Negros Island in the Philippines while risking an extremely hazardous maneuver at low altitude in an attempt to save the life of a comrade. McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey is named in his honor.

In the air over Hollandia on April 12, 1944, Maj. Richard Bong scored his 26th and 27th victories to break the previous record of 26 set by Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker during World War I. Maj. Bong scored 28 air-to-air victories. When he returned to the Pacific for his second tour, he was assigned as a gunnery instructor. He voluntarily flew numerous combat missions and in "self defense" scored 12 more victories to bring his total to 40, making him the highest scoring ace in American history. He lost his life in the crash of a P-80 jet aircraft in August 1945 at Burbank, Calif. Maj. Richard Bong is the highest-scoring U.S. ace of any war - the "Ace of Aces."

Col. Neel E. Kearby, a Medal of Honor recipient, developed aggressive tactics that exploited the strengths of the P-47 Thunderbolt. With 22 victories, he became the highest-scoring Thunderbolt pilot in the Pacific Theater. Moreover, Col. Kearby's tactics as commander of the first P-47 unit in the Pacific Theater led to considerable success for his 348th Fighter Group.

Before it became a proven weapon, many considered the heavy Thunderbolt unsuitable for use against nimble Japanese aircraft. Since the P-47 could not maneuver with the enemy at low altitude, Col. Kearby would lead his group into hostile territory at high altitude where the Thunderbolt's turbo-supercharged engine gave it an advantage. Upon sighting the enemy below, Col. Kearby and his pilots made high-speed attacks exploiting the P-47s remarkable diving ability. The energy built up in the dive allowed them to quickly climb back up to altitude for another diving pass. Japanese pilots came to fear attacks from the 348th Fighter Group because they came with little warning, and the Thunderbolt's eight .50-cal. machine guns literally blew their lightly built aircraft out of the sky.

In November 1943, with 12 victories to his credit, Col. Kearby was transferred to the headquarters of the 5th Air Force Fighter Command. Despite his assignment to administrative duties, Col. Kearby still wanted to be in combat. He flew missions whenever he could, and his victory tally continued to rise.

A mission near Wewak on March 5, 1944, was Col. Kearby's last. While attacking a Japanese formation, a Ki-43 "Oscar" fighter pilot momentarily gained position on him. Hit by heavy machine gun fire, his Thunderbolt named Fiery Ginger IV crashed, and Col. Kearby was killed.

Brig. Gen. Claire Chennault

Brig. Gen. Claire Chennault led the famed Flying Tigers and the US 14th Air Force against the Japanese in China and Burma during World War II. He was a charismatic airpower theorist and a controversial leader who at times disagreed with official doctrine and his superiors.

Chennault learned to fly in the Army after World War I, and became the US. Army Air Corps' chief of pursuit training in the 1930s. He believed strongly in the value of fighter aircraft, and his theory of "defensive pursuit" argued that fighters could destroy attacking bombers.

He joined a small group of American civilians training Chinese airmen in their battle against Japan. Chennault later helped persuade President Franklin Roosevelt to send American aircraft and volunteer pilots to assist China a few months before the United States was at war.

General Chennault's "1st American Volunteer Group" (AVG) - better known as the Flying Tigers - began training in the summer of 1941, and they fought the Japanese for six months after Pearl Harbor. As the US Army Air Forces absorbed the AVG in 1942, Chennault rejoined the Army. He became a major general and commanded the AVG's successor, the 14th Air Force, until almost the end of the war.

In China, the Flying Tigers were inducted into the USAAF's 23rd Fighter Group on July 4, 1942, at which time Brig. Gen. Claire Chennault's force had an effective strength of about 35 P-40s and seven B-25 medium bombers. Designated originally as the China Air Task Force, less than a year later, in March 1943, General Chennault's unit gained independent status as the 14th Air Force. Small in size, even by Pacific standards, the 14th Air Force fought against heavy odds defending the Chinese and supporting the Chinese ground army

Claire Chennault died in 1958 with the honorary grade of lieutenant general. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

All photos courtesy of US Air Force

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