Ace
by Richard Oberacker, Robert Taylor

Highlights

Female

Male

120 mins 1960s Ensemble Cast Unit Set/Multiple Settings

Synopsis

In 1964, upon learning of his mother’s sudden passing, 21-year-old Danny Lucas returns to his childhood home in St Louis.

Sorting through the clutter and disorder left behind, he comes face to face with a grandmother and a family history he never knew existed, and is left to try to piece together a story spanning three generations and two world wars, from a narrative that may or may not be real.

A story about the sacrifices parents can make to protect and defend their children, Ace explores how history is made and memorialized, and how truth is defined from one generation to the next.

Press Reviews

"A packed arsenal of delightful tunes topped by the robust 'In These Skies,' the pilot’s paean to the wild blue."
— Variety

"Oberacker and Taylor's score is moving and exhilarating, and the recurring song 'In These Skies,' drives home the main theme of the show – how to choose your own destiny and make it fly – beautifully."
— TheatreMania

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Danny Lucas is male identifying and 21 years old. He bears family resemblance to his father, Ace, and grandfather, John-Robert, and his mother, Elizabeth.	female	—	is male identifying and 21 years old. He bears family resemblance to his father, Ace, and grandfather, John-Robert, and his mother, Elizabeth.
Ruth Anderson is female identifying and 65 years old. She is still strikingly beautiful and maintains a graceful but powerful sense of aristocracy.	female	—	is female identifying and 65 years old. She is still strikingly beautiful and maintains a graceful but powerful sense of aristocracy.
Elizabeth Lucas is female identifying and presents throughout the play between late teens to early 40s. This arc of age is defined almost entirely by her personal energy, her physicality and voice.	female	40s	is female identifying and presents throughout the play between late teens to early 40s. This arc of age is defined almost entirely by her personal energy, her physicality and voice.
Ace (Charles "Ace" Anderson) is male identifying and presents in his early 20s. He is fit and athletic in a classic late 1930s aesthetic, and has a timelessly handsome appearance.	male	20s	(Charles "Ace" Anderson) is male identifying and presents in his early 20s. He is fit and athletic in a classic late 1930s aesthetic, and has a timelessly handsome appearance.
John-Robert Anderson is male identifying and presents in his early 20s. He is lean and lithe which belies his meager and humble uprbringing.	male	20s	is male identifying and presents in his early 20s. He is lean and lithe which belies his meager and humble uprbringing.
Young Ruth is female identifying and presents between late teens and early 40s. This arc of age is defined almost entirely by her personal energy, her physicality and voice.	female	40s	is female identifying and presents between late teens and early 40s. This arc of age is defined almost entirely by her personal energy, her physicality and voice.
General Chennault/Col. Whitlow . These two roles are intended to be played in double by the same actor, but they can certainly be split in two. Chennault is based on the real-life General, a male identifying Texan who presents in his 40s. He is a big personality, full of sqagger and humor, but with the military acumen to have earned it. Col. Whitlow is equally confident, a military man through and through, but with the gentility and manner of extraordinary wealth, privilege and the decorum of the era.	male	40s	. These two roles are intended to be played in double by the same actor, but they can certainly be split in two. Chennault is based on the real-life General, a male identifying Texan who presents in his 40s. He is a big personality, full of sqagger and humor, but with the military acumen to have earned it. Col. Whitlow is equally confident, a military man through and through, but with the gentility and manner of extraordinary wealth, privilege and the decorum of the era.
Soldiers and	—	—	and
Pilots are male identifying and present between the ages of late teens to early 20s.	male	20s	are male identifying and present between the ages of late teens to early 20s.
Ensemble Women present between the ages of late teens to mid-30s.	—	mid-30s	present between the ages of late teens to mid-30s.