Official: GOOD NEWS, HELLO, DOLLY! & THE MOST HAPPY FELLA to Play Goodspeed in 2013 for 50th Anniversary

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Two time Tony Award-winning Goodspeed Musicals, under the leadership of Executive Director Michael P. Price, has announced its Golden Anniversary season at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn. The 50th season includes three musicals that are sure to please theatregoers: the charming collegiate comedy Good News will run from April 12 – June 22; Jerry Herman's beloved Hello, Dolly! will run from June 28 – September 8; and Frank Loesser's enchanting Broadway hit The Most Happy Fella will run from September 20 – December 1, 2013.

"To the cheers of many, on June 18, 1963 the footlights were once again lit on the Goodspeed Opera House stage. And now, fifty years later, we are in awe that so much has happened in and because of this gem of a building. It truly was an impossible dream that, from this tiny stage, the world of American musical theatre would be changed forever. Our Golden Anniversary celebration will feature three extraordinary musicals which we believe uniquely highlight what Goodspeed does best," said Mr. Price.

Good News, a 1920s tale of collegiate hijinks will be revitalized in the Goodspeed tradition of bringing new life to long-forgotten American musicals. It is followed by Hello, Dolly! which is one of the most popular American musical classics of all time. This marvelous musical makes its debut on the Goodspeed stage in honor of the 50th Anniversary of its out-of-town tryout! Our 2013 finale The Most Happy Fella, a powerful and romantic musical, will mark the triumphant return of one of Goodspeed's most successful productions - - at the Opera House and on Broadway.

Good News has Words and Music by B.G. DeSylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson, and Book by Laurence Schwab, B.G. DeSylva and Frank Mandel. Good News will be directed and choreographed by Vince Pesce who choreographed Goodspeed's Mame and directed and choreographed Something's Afoot. Mr Pesce served as Associate Choreographer of Broadway's Anything Goes, The Pajama Game, Wonderful Town, and Little Shop of Horrors.

Hello, Dolly! features Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart based on the play "The Matchmaker" by Thornton Wilder. Hello, Dolly! will be directed by Marc Bruni who served as Associate Director for Broadway's Nice Work If You Can Get It, Anything Goes, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Legally Blonde, and High Fidelity. Mr. Bruni makes his long-awaited return to Goodspeed Musicals where he previsouly served as Associate Director for They All Laughed in 2001.

The Most Happy Fella features Music, Lyrics and Book by Frank Loesser and is based on Sidney Howard's "They Knew What They Wanted." It will be directed by Rob Ruggiero who is well known to Goodspeed audiences for such hits as Carousel, Show Boat, Camelot, and 1776.

Advance season subscriptions are now on sale through the Box Office (860.873.8668), open seven days a week. Subscription prices range from $81 - $219 at the Goodspeed Opera House for one person, all three shows. Single tickets go on public sale beginning February 17, 2013.

Dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theatre, Goodspeed Musicals produces three musicals each season at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn., and additional productions at The Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, Conn., which was opened in 1984 for the development of new musicals. The first regional theatre to receive two Tony Awards (for outstanding achievement), Goodspeed also maintains The Scherer Library of Musical Theatre and The Max Showalter Center for Education in Musical Theatre. Goodspeed is supported in part by the Department of Economic and Community Development with support from the Connecticut Office of the Arts.