This from Playbill.com: “Ace,” which shared a world premiere at Playhouse in the Park in autumn 2006, gets an industry reading tonight in NYC. Producer Tom Smedes is hoping to round-up investors for a Broadway opening before the end of the current season.

The reading is populated by Playhouse cast, including Noah Galvin (the adorable kid at the center of the show) and Gabrielle Boyadjian as his feisty sidekick. Many CCM alum populate the adult cast; only fitting since Richard Oberacker, who conceived the musical and co-writes with Robert Taylor, is a CCM grad as well as an Anderson Township native.

The cast is led by Broadway’s Mary Poppins, CCM grad Ashley Brown and Will Chase. Other CCM grads in the reading are Betsy Wolfe and Gabrielle Stravelli, who was also in the world preem co-produced by St. Louis Rep and Playhouse.

Oberacker and Taylor have been polishing and editing since the debut, but the basics are the same. According to production notes (and if you missed its local run): "Set in the American heartland in 1952, Ace is the epic story of one young boy's search to come to terms with his past, find his place in the present, and unlock his future."

"When ten-year-old Danny Lucas receives a toy plane as an unexpected gift from his foster parents, a parallel world of dreamtime adventures begins to unfold. With an ace fighter pilot as his guide, Danny is transported back in time; flying into the gathering storm over Europe and the aerial dogfights of WWI, and soaring with the daring Tiger squadrons of WWII in the skies above Southeast Asia. A tale of triumph, transcendence, humor and heart, through the prism of a child's eyes, Ace magically explores the heroic lives and unforeseen legacies of the men and women of our greatest generations."

Eric Schaeffer (Arlington's Signature Theatre, Broadway's Putting It Together, London's The Witches of Eastwick) is now attached to the project. Cincinnati native and CCM grad David Kreppel returns as music director.

Smedes fell in love with “Ace” at the January 2007 production at San Diego's Old Globe. “Ace” first found life at   the 2005 National Alliance for Musical Theatre's Festival of New Musicals in New York. Smedes has been wooing producing partners ever since.

Original plans for out-of-town performances have been scrapped for a long preview in NY should the money come together, and an opening in time for Tony Award consideration.   

Playbill’s bio of Smedes calls him a theatrical producer and general manager, recent and current productions include the London productions of Side by Side by Sondheim and Musical of Musicals (the Musical!); Dog Sees God: Confession of a Teenage Blockhead; The Waiting Room by Tony and Emmy-nominated playwright Samm-Art Williams; The Women of Lockerbie with The New Group; 21 Dog Years: Doing Time @ Amazon.com, written and starring Mike Daisey prior to its international tour of London, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and Sydney; and People Are Wrong at The Vineyard Theatre. He is one of the producers of the record-breaking worldwide musical revue Naked Boys Singing!, now playing at the New World Stages in New York City.