Goodspeed to Premiere New Musical THE CIRCUS IN WINTER, Fall 2014

Today at Goodspeed's 9th annual Festival of New Musicals, the two-time Tony Award-winning theatre announced plans for the production of a new musical, The Circus in Winter. Featuring a Book by Hunter Foster and Beth Turcotte and Music and Lyrics by Ben Clark, The Circus in Winter is inspired by the acclaimed novel of the same name by Cathy Day. The production will run this fall at The Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, Connecticut, Goodspeed's home for new musicals.

Meeting an elephant can change a man's life. The Circus in Winter is a folk/rock musical inspired by the novel by Cathy Day, where legend and lore collide under the big top filled with disheveled hustlers, death-defying acrobats and a dreamer named Wallace Porter searching for redemption and grace.

The Circus in Winter was originally developed at Ball State University by students participating in the Spring 2010 Virginia C. Ball seminar led by Beth Turcotte.

The Norma Terris Theatre is located at 33 North Main Street in Chester which was recently voted "Best Small Town in Connecticut" by Connecticut Magazine. Tickets will be available through the Goodspeed Box Office later this Spring. For more information call the Goodspeed Box Office at 860.873.8668 or visit www.goodspeed.org.

Dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, the first regional theatre to receive two Tony Awards for outstanding achievement, produces three musicals each season at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn., and additional musicals at The Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, Conn., which celebrates 30 years of developing new musicals in 2014. In addition to the two theatres and production facilities, Goodspeed maintains The Scherer Library of Musical Theatre and The Max Showalter Center for Education in Musical Theatre. Goodspeed Musicals gratefully acknowledges the support of the Department of Economic and Community Development with support from the Connecticut Office of the Arts.