[Capdist-announce] PRESS RELEASE: Ancram Opera House Announces 2022 Summer Season

[Gail Burns]

March 28, 2022

CONTACT: Gail M. Burns

www.ancramoperahouse.org

gburns35 at gmail.com; 413-458-4246

PRESS PHOTOS: https://www.flickr.com/photos/195256245@N02/

ANCRAM OPERA HOUSE ANNOUNCES 2022 SUMMER SEASON

ANCRAM, NY [March 28, 2022] - Co-Directors Jeff Mousseau and Paul Ricciardi
are proud to announce the 2022 summer season at the Ancram Opera House in
Ancram, NY.

“We are looking forward to resuming productions throughout the summer at
our gem of a theater in the historic hamlet of Ancram, while also enjoying
some special al fresco evenings of storytelling and music in this beautiful
region we call home,” said Paul Ricciardi.

“An eclectic season will lift up voices from the community, and provide
moments for connection during these extremely challenging times,” Jeff
Mousseau added.

We are opening our season this year with our beloved storytelling series, REAL
PEOPLE REAL STORIES on Saturday, June 25 at 8 pm at the Hilltop Barn in
Roeliff Jansen Park in Hillsdale. Everyone has a story to tell. With each
edition of Real People, local residents share their stories with the
community. Tickets $25.



Amontillado, a short story by Hugh Sheehy will be read from the Hilltop
Barn on July 23 at 8 pm as part of our CRYSTAL RADIO SESSIONS: UPSTATE, the
local outpost of the New York City reading series devoted to transmitting
compelling literary expression through the ether. Tickets $25.



This confessional tale, inspired by Edgar Allen Poe, reminds us that there
is no purer feeling than a wish for revenge. A Hudson Valley resident, Sheehy
is the author of two collections of short stories: Design Flaw which will
be out in November, and The Invisibles, which won the 2012 Flannery
O'Connor Award.



Our SUMMER PLAY LAB (SPL) returns for a third year with public
work-in-progress showings, free community workshops, and audience
discussions.



Initiated during the pandemic as a virtual program, SPL goes in-person this
year  with onsite residencies for teams of artists making bold new work.
This year's program is unique in that previously supported artists have
been invited to participate in a second residency so that they can continue
to  develop their projects.



May 27-29: Tidtaya Sinutoke, Isabella Dawis, and Nana Dakin will showcase
new material from their piece, SUNWATCHER, featured in last summer's SPL. A
Noh-inspired musical, SUNWATCHER is the story of astronomer Hisako Koyama
(1916-1997), intertwined with the ancient Japanese myth of the sun goddess
Amaterasu.



July 8-10: Celeste Lecesne returns to expand on their solo performance,
POOF!, initially seen as part of last summer's Plein Air Plays. Fairies
have always enjoyed a close association with the natural world. But with so
much of it under threat from climate change, the fairies are beginning to
speak their mind and cast a few spells.
On Saturday, July 30 at 8 pm Married folk-rock duo The Bengsons bring
intimate, musical storytelling to the Circa 1799 Barn in Ancramdale for AN
EVENING WITH THE BENGSONS.

Abigail and Shaun Bengson are composers and performers based in NYC and
Vermont who have performed across the country and around the world. Their
video for The Keep Going Song has been viewed over 4 million times, and
three of their singles have been featured on So You Think You Can Dance
(FOX). They have received the Jonathan Larson and Richard Rogers awards and
nominations for the Drama Desk, Drama League, and Lucille Lortel awards.
AN EVENING WITH THE BENGSONS will present a collection of their songs in
this entertaining concert-style, theatrical memoir. Tickets are $35.

Our summer theatrical offering, INVASION! by Jonas Hassen Khemiri, translated
by Rachel Willson-Broyles, is a satirical comedy centered on a name:
Abulkasem. What is introduced as an amorphous word of many meanings spirals
into a range of potential identities: Abulkasem is an uncle visiting from
Lebanon, a renowned theater director, an asylum-seeking apple picker, the
world’s most dangerous terrorist. In a whirlwind of interconnected
vignettes, INVASION! confronts prejudices about identity, race, and
language.

“We first encountered this play a few years ago and have been looking for
the right moment to produce it,” Mousseau explained. “The play examines
implicit bias with biting humor, and couldn't be more timely. It furthers
our commitment to bringing diverse voices and points of view to the AOH
stage. Genre-wise, it's the first social satire that we've ever presented
and we're excited about that.”

 INVASION! will storm the AOH stage August 5-21.



For tickets and more information visit www.ancramoperahouse.org.

2022 SEASON AT-A-GLANCE

Real People Real Stories

Sat, June 25 at 8p

at Hilltop Barn / Roeliff Jansen Park, 9140 NY State Route 22, Hillsdale
12529

Tickets: $25



Summer Play Lab Showings

at AOH, 1330 County Route 7, Ancram 12502



Sunwatcher created by Tidtaya Sinutoke, Isabella Dawis & Nana Dakin

Fri, May 27 at 8p; Sat, May 28 at 8p; Sun, May 29 at 3p



Poof!, created by Celeste Lecesne

Fri, July 8 at 8p; Sat, July 9 at 8p; Sun, July 10 at 3p

Tickets: $20



Crystal Radio Sessions Upstate

Amontillado

a short story by Hugh Sheehy

Sat, July 23 at 8p

at Hilltop Barn / Roeliff Jansen Park, 9140 NY State Route 22, Hillsdale
12529

Tickets: $25



An Evening with The Bengsons

Saturday, July 30 at 8p

at Circa 1799 Barn, 105 Simons Road, Ancramdale 12503

Tickets: $35



Invasion!

by Jonas Hassen Khemiri

Translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles

Fri, Aug 5; Sat, Aug 6; Sun, Aug 7

Thu, Aug 11; Fri, Aug 12; Sat, Aug 13; Sun, Aug 14

Thu, Aug 18; Fri, Aug 19; Sat, Aug 20; Sun, Aug 21

Thursday, Fridays, Saturdays at 8p

Sundays at 3p

at AOH, 1330 County Route 7, Ancram 12502

Tickets: $35

BIOS

Jeff Mousseau is co-director of the Ancram Opera House and an award-winning
director (2018 Berkshire Theatre Critics Award, HOMEBODY). With AOH, he has
directed An Iliad, which he is re-staging at Shakespeare & Co. in June; The
Snow Queen; Aunt Leaf, subsequently presented in Aguascalientes,
Mexico; Homebody;
We’re Gonna Die; and In Praise of Elephants. His directing credits include
a residency at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. His work
has been seen at HERE in NYC; Olana, where he conceived and directed a
site-specific new work; Hudson Opera House; and Stageworks/Hudson. As
Artistic Director of the Elliot Norton and IRNE award-winning Coyote
Theater in Boston, he directed many productions over the course of his
ten-year tenure. Guest artist/lecturer: Brandeis University, Emerson
College, The University at Albany, Siena College.

Paul Ricciardi is co-director of the Ancram Opera House and teaches the
theater’s acting and voice classes. He is an Associate Professor on the
theatre faculty at the City University of New York/Kingsborough
CC. Previously he taught at Siena College, The University at Albany, and
Rhode Island College. He is Immediate Past Co-Chair for Region I of the
Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, and a two-time recipient
of the Kennedy Center National Teaching Artist Award. He received his MFA
in Acting from Trinity Repertory Company, and studied with renowned vocal
coach Kristin Linklater, receiving his Linklater Teacher Designation in
2012. Paul is also a director and voice/speech/dialect coach.  Paul has
designed dialects for countless college theatre productions, as well as for
professional theatres including Stageworks/Hudson, WAM, America-in-Play,
and others.  Memberships:  AEA, VASTA.

Hugh Sheehy is the author of two collections of short stories, Design
Flaw (Acre
Books, out in November 2022) and The Invisibles (University of Georgia
Press, Winner of the 2012 Flannery O'Connor Award). His stories have
appeared in many literary magazines, including Fence, The Kenyon Review,
Crazyhorse, and West Branch. He lives in the Hudson Valley and is an
Associate Professor of Creative Writing and Literature at Ramapo College of
New Jersey.

The Bengsons, Abigail and Shaun Bengson are a married composing and
performing duo based in NYC and VT who have performed across the country
and around the world. Their video for The Keep Going Song has been viewed
over 4 million times. Three of their singles have been featured on “So You
Think You Can Dance” (FOX). Their theater work includes The Keep Going Song
(Actor’s Theatre of Louisville), My Joy is Heavy (Arena Stage), Hundred Days
(La Jolla Playhouse, New York Theatre Workshop, US Tour), The Lucky Ones
(Ars Nova), Where the Mountain Meets the Sea (ATL’s Humana Festival), Anything
That Gives Off Light (Edinburgh Theatre Festival), You’ll Still Call Me By
Name (New York Live Arts, Jacob's Pillow), and Iphigenia in Aulis (Classic
Stage Company). They have received the Jonathan Larson and Richard Rogers
Awards and nominations for the Drama Desk, Drama League, and Lucille Lortel
Awards. www.bengsons.com

Jonas Hassen Khemiri is the author of five novels, six plays, and a
collection of plays, essays, and short stories. Among his many honors are
the August Prize, the highest literary award for Swedish literature; the
Enquist Literary Prize; the Borås Tidning Award for Best Literary Debut
Novel; and an Obie Award. His novels have been translated into more than
thirty languages, and his six plays have been performed by more than one
hundred companies around the world. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden.
www.khemiri.se/en/

2022 SPONSORS

The 2022 season at the Ancram Opera House is made possible by the New York
State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor
and the New York State Legislature.

ABOUT THE ANCRAM OPERA HOUSE

The Ancram Opera House in southern Columbia County, NY,  is an intimate
showcase for fresh, contemporary work by visionary theater and musical
artists where audiences can connect with performers in immersive, immediate
ways.

The Opera House was erected in 1927 as Ancram Grange #955, a chapter of the
National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, to address the social,
educational and economic concerns of the region’s farmers.  In 1972, the
building was repurposed and renamed the Ancram Opera House as an arts venue
focusing on light operatic fare.

Today, Ancram Opera House rededicates itself to aspects of its origins,
producing and presenting inventive contemporary theatrical performances to
be shared by a rural community.

For more information visit www.ancramoperahouse.org.

###


-- 
Gail M. Burns
57 Linden Street
Williamstown, MA 01267-2511
413-458-4246 home
413-346-3193 cell
gburns35 at gmail.com <gailmburns at roadrunner.com>
Reviews at BerkshireOnStage.com
<http://www.GailSez.org>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://capdisttheater.org/pipermail/capdist-announce/attachments/20220328/cc15d70a/attachment.html>