Ace (musical)
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Ace is an original musical that debuted at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis on September 6, 2006. It is summarized as, "a high-flying, world premiere musical, filled with humor, heart and a dazzling new score! An unexpected gift and visits from a mysterious Army aviator named Ace send troubled 10-year-old Billy Lucas soaring from 1950s St. Louis on a journey around the world. Billy takes flight in his dreams, embarking on a series of heroic and haunting World War I and World War II adventures and discovering that the secrets of his past may hold the key to unlock the door to his future." [1]
After closing in St. Louis on October 1 to a sold-out crowd, Ace opened in Cincinnati at the Playhouse in the Park on October 17[2], where it continued to run until November 17. It is now playing at the San Diego Old Globe Theatre from January 13, 2007 through February 18 [3], with hopes of moving to Broadway.
[edit] In Depth Synopsis
Ace was written by Robert Taylor and Richard Oberacker, and Oberacker wrote the music for Ace. Ace was directed by Stafford Arima, and Andrew Palermo choreographed Ace. Robert Taylor was inspired by his father training to be a pilot, and his mother having near fatal bout with depression, both of which have relevance to the main character in Ace. Taylor worked with Oberacker on the Lion King in Cincinnati, and they talked about an outline that would eventually become the musical, “Ace.” Ace is set in St. Louis, Missouri in 1952. It is about a young boy named Billy Lucas. The performance opens with the 10-year-old boy standing center stage on the phone with a police officer. He tells the police officer that his mother is hurt and the police officer tells Billy that help is on the way. The next scene is Billy in the hospital with a doctor talking about his mother’s case. He says that Billy’s mother obviously had tried to harm herself. A social worker then appears on stage. She explains that Billy will have to stay in a temporary foster home while his mother is under treatment in the hospital’s mental ward. The first song of the performance, “It’s Better This Way,” is started at this point, and many people start coming on and off stage and saying what a horrible person Billy is. In the end, Billy is placed with Mr. Edward and Louise Milligan. Mrs. Milligan informed Billy Mr. Milligan worked on the St. Louis arch, and then showed Billy his new room. Billy was very hostile towards Mrs. Milligan. After a few days, seeing Billy’s unhappiness with his new home, decides to get Billy a new toy. He goes to a toy store, and after much deliberation, decides to get Billy a new toy plane. He brings it home to Billy and Billy reluctantly accepts his present. He falls asleep with his new plane, and then we see someone open his bedroom door. Billy wakes up and startled asks the man who he his and why he is on his room. The man simply answers, “Just call me Ace.” After convincing Billy, that it is safe, Ace takes Billy to April 1908, in an airfield, where he is introduced to John Roberts and Ruth Whitlow. These two are meeting for the first time and start to fall for each other. Billy is taken out of his dream and back to his room. Billy starts school and is picked on by the other kids for being new. Because of being picked on, he meets Emily, another new kid at the school. Emily becomes his only friend. He decides to tell Emily about the strange dreams that he has been having. He takes her to his room and she tries to figure out why the dreams are occurring. Billy continues to have the strange dreams. In his dreams Ace, takes him through a world, where John Roberts and Ruth fall in love and Ruth become pregnant, just before John Roberts goes off to war. While fighting in the air, John Roberts is shot down by enemy fire. Billy runs to John Roberts to help him and tells that Ruth will know, as Ace had instructed him. This was the end of the first act, which was followed by a twenty-minute intermission. In the beginning of the second act, Billy is much happier with his new surroundings. He again is transported to his dream world with Ace. This time he is introduced to Charlie Robert Anderson, the son of Ruth and John Roberts. Billy discovers that Charlie is Ace. Ace wanted to design planes, and his mother wanted him to join the air force as his father had. He next went on to St. Louis University, where he met a girl. This girl turned out to be Elizabeth Lucas, Billy’s mother. She was in the journalism program at St. Louis University. Ace and Elizabeth start to date and eventually marry. Billy finds that Ace is his dad and wants to leave his dream. He hated his father since he was a child, for leaving him and his mother. Billy throws out the plane in anger at Ace, but Ace brings it back to him, because Ace has something to show him. Ace decides to join the Air Force as his father did, because his mother, Ruth, made him feel guilty about it. After leaving for China, Elizabeth finds out that she is pregnant and wants Ace to come home. However, Ace cannot leave the frontlines. While on a night mission, Ace and his fellow pilots come under enemy fire. His plane is hit and his fuel line is broken and can’t make it back to the base. Ace, with Billy in the back seat, flies straight up into the air, up to the stars, where he’s always wanted to see. Ace tells Billy in the last moments of his life, “You can choose to fly.” Billy is very sad to see his dad die, but now he understands. After his father died, his mother went into a deep depression, not being able to bear his death. Billy goes to Mr. and Mrs. Milligan and tells them that he wants to see his mother right away. He goes with Mrs. Crandall, the social worker, and his foster parents to see his mother, who is now out of the hospital. He explains to her that he knows everything, and that he can, “choose to fly.”
