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It’s festival time! The-cast-of-A-HOUSE-WITHOUT-WINDOWS-2022-Goodspeed-Festival-of-New-Musicals.jpg
The cast of A HOUSE WITHOUT WINDOWS, 2022 Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals.
Photo by Diane Sobolewski

It’s festival time!

Goodspeed unveils new musicals March 17-19

Come in from the cold and check out what’s hot at the 17th Annual Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals. The much-anticipated three-day festival of brand-new works will light up the Goodspeed campus in East Haddam, CT with a weekend filled with insider events, seminars, cabarets and staged readings.

Works ‘in the works’

     The festival kicks off March 17 at The Goodspeed with a staged reading of “Double Helix.” This exciting new tuner features book, music and lyrics by Madeline Myers.                        March 18 will be highlighted by a staged reading of “The Great Emu War,” a humorous new musical based on true events, which has a book by Cal Silberstein and music and lyrics by Paul Hodge.

     The final day of the festival features “Little Miss Perfect,” a new musical inspired by the viral single song of the same name with book, music and lyrics by Joriah Kwamé.  Additional Festival events –including seminars, symposium and exclusive cabarets – will round out this exciting weekend. 

     “Every year we are amazed by the breadth and depth of the talented writers who join us on the Goodspeed campus to share their work with our audiences – and this year is no exception. We are so proud to highlight each of these writers and to foster their collaboration with directors, music directors and students,” said Donna Lynn Hilton, Goodspeed’s artistic director in a press release about the event. “The Festival is a key part of Goodspeed’s new works development program and we invite all musical theatre fans to join us,” she added.

Admission and extras

     Single tickets are $25 for each staged reading, $15 each for students. Goodspeed’s $100 Festival Package includes admission to all three staged readings, three festival seminar sessions, the Festival Symposium, a season preview of the 2023 Terris Theatre offerings and the Meet the Writers Q&A.  Package add-ons include March 18 evening pre-show dinner at the Gelston House ($40), and March 17 and 18 cabarets – informal gatherings showcasing new songs by new and established artists ($15 each). Single show tickets and Festival packages are available through the Goodspeed Box Office 860-873-8668. Single Show tickets can also be purchased online at www.goodspeed.org.  All tickets are on sale now. Lodging and dining information for festival attendees as well as up-to-date information on the weekend’s events can be found at www.goodspeed.org

     For COVID-19 safety, festival attendees are strongly encouraged to wear masks at all events. Any updates to this policy will be posted at www.goodspeed.org/safety.

About the Goodspeed Festival

     The Festival of New Musicals is produced by Goodspeed Musicals’ Max Showalter Center for Education in Musical Theatre. The program offers new and established artists the rare opportunity to thoroughly work on their projects with the help of Goodspeed’s renowned resources and artistic environment. At the same time, the festival affords junior and senior students from prominent conservatory programs real-world experience in new musical development and performing new musicals.

                Goodspeed Musicals has achieved international acclaim and is the first theatre in the nation to receive two Tony Awards for outstanding achievement in musical theatre. The theater is dedicated to the celebration, development and advancement of musical theatre. For more information visit www.goodspeed.org

The new musicals

 Here are the three musicals-in-progress that will be unveiled at the festival:

“Double Helix”

March 17, 7:30 p.m.

Book, music, and lyrics by Madeline Myers

     In the mid-20th century, the race to find the structure of DNA grips the scientific community. One brilliant young researcher, Rosalind Franklin, will stop at nothing to uncover one of life’s great mysteries. But will she sacrifice what makes her human to discover what makes us human?

“The Great Emu War”

March 18, 7:30 p.m.

Book by Cal Silberstein; music, lyrics by Paul Hodge

     Remember that one time that the Australian government sent their army with machine guns to wage war on emus in Western Australia? Neither do most people…but when Edith, the headstrong warbler, and her flock begin to feed on the wheat of local farmers – the humans take up arms against Australia’s favorite feathered friends. Think of it as Cats, but with emus…and less dancing…and a plot.

“Little Miss Perfect”

March 19, 1 p.m.

Book, music and lyrics by Joriah Kwamé

     Inspired by the viral single of the same name, Little Miss Perfect tells the story of Noelle, a bi-racial teen navigating her senior year of high school after her mom and stepdad invite a study abroad student to be her roommate. But when a classmate becomes the victim of systemic racism at her school, Noelle must decide whether she will be true to herself and an ally to her peers, or if she will settle for simply being “Little Miss Perfect.” Little Miss Perfect is a commission of Goodspeed Musicals’ GoodWorks program.