Ancram Opera House Presents POOF! This Week

Ancram Opera House concludes its 2022 Summer Play Lab Series July 8-10 with "POOF!" an all-natural solo performance by Celeste Lecesne, directed by Kevin Hourigan, with music by Truth Future Bachman and costumes by Michael Krass. Tickets are $20 available at ancramoperahouse.org

Fairies have always enjoyed a close association with the natural world. But with so much of the natural world under threat from Climate Change, the fairies are not pleased, and they are beginning to show up in surprising ways. In addition to making everything more fabulous just by simply being, fairies have come to pass along some information, songs and a few spells that will be needed in the days to come. Join them at The Ancram Opera House. Performances Friday and Saturday, July 8 & 9 at 8 pm and Sunday, July 10 at 3 pm.

Lecesne performed an earlier version of "POOF!" at AOH last summer as one of the Plein Air Plays. "I enjoyed doing it so much last year, but I wanted to make it a little bit longer and bring Kevin Hourigan on board to direct," they explained. "Truth Bachman, has composed some wonderful music which is all performed a cappella."

An actor on stage, screen, and TV Lecesne appeared in the original NY production of Caryl Churchill's "Cloud 9", the 30th anniversary production of Mark Crowley's "The Boys in the Band" and in "Extraordinary Measures" written and directed by V (formerly Eve Ensler). Lecesne is perhaps best known for their award-winning solo shows including "The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey" for which the NYTimes ranked them "among the most talented solo performers of his (or any) generation."

They are also active in LGBTQ+ rights and issues. Lecesne wrote the short film Trevor which won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short and he is co-founder of The Trevor Project, the only nationwide Lifeline for LGBTQ+ youth. They are also the co-founder of The Future Perfect, a national arts initiative dedicated to serving LGBTQ+ youth and amplifying their voices.

The Summer Play Lab residency provides theater artists of all practices a space to develop innovative new performances and connect with the community in meaningful ways.

"The support AOH provides to artists like me, giving us time and space during the delicate time when we're finding our way towards a finished product, is wonderful," Lecesne said, "AOH co-directors Paul Ricciardi and Jeffrey Mousseau have built a community of people who really support the work and come out and buy tickets." As part of this Summer Play Lab Residency, Lecesne gave a free Storytelling Workshop at AOH a few weeks ago that was very well attended.

To post a comment, you must register and login.