Ancram Opera House to Present New Musical THE LUCKY FEW This Month

It's New Year's Eve, 1959, an explosive moment in American history. The U.S. has entered the space race; Lenny Bruce appeared on NBC for the first time; Miles Davis began recording Kind of Blue; and somewhere in South Dakota, a woman named Jane is making music nobody has ever heard before.

The Lucky Few, a new musical by songwriters and performers Todd Almond and Kate Douglas, takes off from this premise in a concert version presented by Ancram Opera House on an outdoor stage at the 1799 Barn in Ancramdale on July 22 at 7:30.  General admission tickets are $40; Student tickets are $15 with a valid school ID.

The title of the show refers to the generation born between the Great Depression and World War Two (1929-1945), a generation that slipped between the cracks of history yet had an enormous influence.  The show was a 2019 Semi-Finalist at the O'Neill National Musical Theatre Conference. 

“This season at Ancram Opera House is all about incubating and growing new work, and The Lucky Few is one of the best new musicals we've seen in years,” said Jeffrey Mousseau, Co-Director, Ancram Opera House. “As a theatre piece, it's an electrifying work with a lively American Rockabilly score that captures the country in transition with parallels to radical cultural changes underway today. We feel very lucky, no pun intended, to present a show of this caliber, and artists like Todd and Kate, to our audience.” The Lucky Few was last seen in a developmental concert at Joe's Pub, The Public Theater, NYC, in February 2023.

The creators of The Lucky Few are two of the busiest artists in theater. Todd Almond is an acclaimed actor, a singular songwriter, and a “brash, funny, heart-stirring” playwright (The New York Times). His Broadway performance in Girl from the North Country was called “stunning” by The Washington Post, and “roof-raising, uplifting, and invigorating” by Hollywood Reporter. He has previously collaborated with Sarah Ruhl (Melancholy Play: A Chamber Musical), Jenny Schwartz (Iowa), Laura Benanti (In Constant Search for the Right Kind of Attention), Sherie Rene Scott and Norbert Leo Butz (Twohander), Kelli O'Hara (Live at Carnegie Hall), and Andrew Rannells (Live from Lincoln Center). As a composer and orchestrator, Almond has written and arranged music for Broadway, Off-Broadway, Lincoln Center Theater, and film. Todd can also be seen in the 2021 reboot of Gossip Girl on HBO Max.

Kate Douglas is a writer, composer, and performer who has worked with AOH previously as part of the performance ensemble Emergence Collective, and as a 2021 Summer Play Lab resident. She has been a finalist for the Jonathan Larson Grant, the Princess Grace Award in Playwriting, and the Jane Chambers Excellence in Feminist Playwriting Award. Her recent work includes The Apiary (2023 Second Stage New Voices Series, 2022 O'Neill Playwrights Conference), Against Women & Music! with Grace McLean (The Civilians), and The Ninth Hour with Shayfer James (The Met Cloisters). Performance credits include Punchdrunk's Sleep No More (where she also held the title of Associate Artist), Third Rail's The Grand Paradise, The Ninth Hour, and Kansas City Choir Boy written by Todd Almond and starring Almong Courtney Love (Premiere & Tour). She is currently a Colt Coeur Resident Artist and is on faculty at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts. 

Ancram Opera House is an award-winning theater located in New York's Hudson Valley. Housed in an historic Grange Hall, AOH has since 2016 presented groundbreaking theater and musical performances by nationally recognized theater artists. AOH receives annual support from the New York State Council on the Arts and in 2023 was awarded a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information visit  www.ancramoperahouse.org.