YOU DON’T KNOW THE LONELY ONE
October 20 - 22 & October 26 - 29
Thu-Sat at 7pm; Sun at 2pm
LIVE at Ancram Opera House
1330 County Route 7, Ancram, 12502
Written by David Cale and Dael Orlandersmith
Lyrics by David Cale and Matthew Dean Marsh
Music by David Cale and Matthew Dean Marsh
Musical underscoring composed by Matthew Dean Marsh
Performed by David Cale, Matthew Dean Marsh and Dael Orlandersmith
Directed by Robert Falls
SAVE THE DATE: Special Opening Night Performance and Party,
A CELEBRATION IN TWO ACTS, October 21. Click here for more information!
Acclaimed artists David Cale, Dael Orlandersmith, Matthew Dean Marsh and director Robert Falls return to AOH to share a first look at their poignant new work, You Don’t Know the Lonely One, a story and song cycle that draws influence from paintings and albums to create a collaborative portrait of aloneness in an ever-shifting world. You Don't Know the Lonely One uses monologues, poems, stories and songs to explore what it means to be alone.
Performance Dates:
Friday, October 20th at 7pm (Preview)
Saturday, October 21st at 5:30pm (Opening Night Performance and Party, A Celebration in Two Acts: Click here for tickets)
Sunday, October 22 at 2pm
Thursday, October 26 at 7pm (Masks Required*)
Friday, October 27 at 7pm
Saturday October 28 at 7pm
Sunday, October 29 at 2pm (Closing)
*Thursday, October 26th’s performance will be a mask-required event. This decision stems from a commitment to providing an accessible experience for all community members. Requiring masks make it possible for immunocompromised individuals to fully engage in the theatrical experience, allowing everyone to share in the performance. Your cooperation in wearing masks during this event is greatly appreciated.
Generously supported by…
Claudia Perles & Gerry Fultz
About the Artists
DAVID CALE is the writer and performer of ten solo works, most recently his solo musical memoir We’re Only Alive for A Short Amount of Time, for which he wrote the book, lyrics, co-composed the music with Matthew Dean Marsh, and starred. The show premiered at The Goodman Theatre, Chicago, under the direction of Robert Falls, opened in NYC at The Public Theater and was the recipient of a NY Times Critic’s Pick, a 2020 Obie Award, 2020 Outer Critics Circle Award, 2020 Lucille Lortel Award Nomination, 2020 Drama Desk Award Nomination, and David and Matthew received the 2019 Jeff Award for New Musical. David’s solo play Harry Clarke, starring Billy Crudup, premiered at the Vineyard Theatre and transferred to the Minetta Lane Theatre in a production produced and recorded by Audible, receiving a NY Times Critic’s Pick and a 2018 Lucille Lortel Award. Earlier works for which he was both writer and performer include The History of Kisses, Palomino, A Likely Story, Lillian (Obie Award), Deep in a Dream of You (Bessie Award). He composed the songs for 600 Highwaymen’s Employee of the Year (Bessie Award nomination) and for his collaboration with Dael Orlandersmith, The Blue Album. He has written many songs with Matthew, some of which they performed at Ancram Opera House in 2018 under the title Songs for Charming Strangers. As an actor, he has appeared in numerous feature films, TV shows and plays, most recently off-Broadway at The New Group in Thomas Bradshaw’s adaptation of the Chekhov, The Seagull/Woodstock, NY opposite Nat Wolff. David's latest solo play, Sandra, starring Marjan Neshat, with music by Matthew Dean Marsh, premiered at The Vineyard Theatre, NYC.
ROBERT FALLS most recently directed his own adaptation of The Cherry Orchard, and Rebecca Gilman’s Swing State at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre where he just stepped down as Artistic Director after 35 years of acclaimed leadership. He also directed The Sound Inside by Adam Rapp for the Live series—productions live-streamed from the Goodman’s Owen Theatre to audiences at home in real time. He recently directed David Cale and Matthew Dean Marsh’s We’re Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time which won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Outstanding Musical and was subsequently seen at the Public Theatre in NYC. Most recent Goodman credits include The Winters Tale, Pamplona and An Enemy of the People. Other notable productions include Beth Henley’s The Jacksonian, and with co-writer/director Seth Bockley, the stage adaptation of Roberto Bolaño’s epic novel 2666. His many Broadway productions include Death of a Salesman, Long Day’s Journey into Night, Talk Radio, Shining City, The Rose Tattoo, Night of the Iguana, and the Pulitzer Prize winning The Young Man from Atlanta. His Broadway musical Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida continues to be performed around the world. His Goodman production of The Iceman Cometh with Nathan Lane and the late Brian Dennehy was recently presented at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. As Artistic Director of Goodman Theatre from 1986 to 2022, notable productions include The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Measure for Measure, King Lear Desire Under the Elms, Galileo, The Misanthrope, Pal Joey, and Arthur Miller’s final play, Finishing the Picture. His many honors for his work include a Tony Award (Death of a Salesman), a Drama Desk Award (Long Day’s Journey into Night), an OBIE Award (suburbia), a Helen Hayes Award (King Lear), and multiple Joseph Jefferson Awards. He has been recognized with the O’Neill Medallion (Eugene O’Neill Society), and the Sava Morozov Diamond Award ((Moscow Art Theatre) for his contributions to Stanislavsky performance and study, He was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2015.
MATTHEW DEAN MARSH is a composer, performer, and writer based in New York City.
Marsh’s collaboration with David Cale, We’re Only Alive for A Short Amount of Time, made its debut at The Goodman and Public Theaters, winning Chicago's Jeff Award for Best New Musical. He also worked as an associate musical director on Broadway’s Beetlejuice while it was in development. He has collaborated with and/or accompanied artists such as Todd Almond, Sandra Bernhard, Ato Blankson-Wood, Salty Brine, David Cale, Billy Crudup, Kate Douglas, Ana Gasteyer, Ryan Haddad, Joseph Keckler, Jo Lampert, Nio Levon, Carol Lipnik, Barrie Lobo McLain, Taylor Mac, Erin Markey, Grace McLean, Michael Musto, Denis O’Hare, Ronald Peet, Rachel Pegram, Sherie Rene Scott, Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez, Shaina Taub, Chloe Temtchine, Kuhoo Verma, and Sylver Wallace.
Marsh has traveled the world as a vocalist, composer, and musician. His compositions have sounded at Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center, Radio City Music Hall, Lincoln Center, The Public Theater, MassMOCA, The Goodman Theater in Chicago, and the White House in Washington DC. His film score for Linda Mill’s short documentary Better to Live premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Matthew has been lucky to perform at Ancram Opera House since its inception. He was a member of their Summer Play Lab in 2021 with Emergence Collective, where they conceived Perennials.
DAEL ORLANDERSMITH’s plays include Stoop Stories, Black n’ Blue Boys/Broken Men, Horsedreams, Bones, The Blue Album, Yellowman, The Gimmick, Monster, and Forever. Ms. Orlandersmith was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Drama Desk Award nominee for Yellowman and the winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for The Gimmick. Dael is the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts grant, The Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights, a Guggenheim, along with several other awards and honors. Her play, Forever, was commissioned and performed at the Mark Taper Forum/Kirk Douglas Theatre Fall of 2014, followed by performances at the Long Wharf Theatre Winter 2014/15, New York Theatre Workshop Spring 2015, and ran at Portland Center Stage Winter 2016. Her play Until the Flood was done at St. Louis Repertory fall of 2016. She is currently working on two commissions for Artists Repertory Theatre In Portland and Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. Until the Flood was done at Rattlestick Theatre in 2018 and Milwaukee rep in 2019. It was done at Portland center stage / ACT Seattle/ the Arcola Theatre in London/ The Galway Arts festival at the Druid Theatre and at the Traverse at Edinburgh Festival…the play was performed in Berlin at the Schaubuhne Theatre in April of 2022 and at the Spoleto festival In Charleston SC in June 2022. Ms. Orlandersmith is working on a Commission for Rattlestick Theatre called Watching the Watcher, and had two plays opening at Milwaukee repertory Theatre in 2022 – New Age directed by Jade King Carroll and Antonio’s Song/ I Was Dreaming of a Son directed by Mark Clements, which will open at the Goodman Theatre Spring 2023. Ms. Orlandersmith’s new play Spiritus/Virgil’s Dance commissioned by Merrimack theater in Massachusetts will be done at CATF Theatre in West Virginia summer 2023 and Rattlestick and Merrimack Theaters 2024.