Ancram Opera House Opens 2019 Season With STAGED DIVES

Stew and Heidi Rodewald, creators of the Tony, Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning rock musical Passing Strange, will open the Ancram Opera House 2019 summer season with the world premiere of their new musical Staged Dives in two performances on June 28 and 29 at 8:30pm. Tickets are $35 and available at ancramoperahouse.org.

Staged Dives revisits the songs Stew and Heidi wrote for Passing Strange, interlaced with never-before-heard stories about the wild and unlikely road that took the pair from the dive bars of LA to the bright lights of Broadway. Probing questions of life, art and authenticity, Staged Dives is fresh, exuberant and bitingly funny.

When it debuted on Broadway, Passing Strange rewrote the book on rock musicals: part dazzling rock show, part satire, part travelogue/autobiography, and all full-throttle energy. "It's high time Hamilton-lovers and anyone else who cares about weird, smart, highly personal art rediscover Passing Strange,"wrote the Washington Post culture critic Alyssa Rosenberg in 2016.

Why a world premiere at the Ancram Opera House? "Artists go where they feel comfortable. And artists like to go to unique places," said Stew (born Mark Stewart in 1961). "To play Manhattan is a wonderful thing, but it's a big city and for us it's about intimate spaces, unique spaces. The Ancram Opera House seats 90 people. I'd rather play for 90 people than 900. It feels different. You can't buy that." Staged Dives will move later this summer to Joe's Pub at The Public.

The Ancram Opera House, located in southern Columbia County, is an award-winning intimate rural performance hall showcasing contemporary theatre and alternative cabaret by visionary theater and musical artists. For tickets and information visit www.ancramoperahouse.org.