Goodspeed Announces 3 New Musicals Set for Norma Terris Theatre

Announced last night at Goodspeed's 6th Annual Festival of New Artists: the two time Tony Award-winning theatre plans to produce three engaging new musicals at The Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, Conn. First up will be Cutman: A Boxing Musical, the thrilling story of a young Jewish boxer's struggle between his ambition and his religion which will run May 12 - June 5, 2011. Next, The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown tells the highly-charged story of a high school valedictorian struggling with life-changing decisions about sex, love, college and the impact the paths she chooses will have on the rest of her life. This bright new musical will run August 4 - 28, 2011. A third new musical that is sure to excite Connecticut audiences will be announced soon and will run November 3 - 27.

Season tickets are available now through the Goodspeed Opera House Box Office. Individual tickets will go on sale February 20, 2011. For more information call the Box Office at 860.873.8668 or visit www.goodspeed.org.

Cutman is the dramatic story of a young Jewish boxer who dreams of being the Welter-Weight Champion of the World. Trained by his father in the basement of their synagogue, he turns pro and takes the boxing world by storm. But when his shot at a title fight is scheduled on the eve of Yom Kippur, he must choose between fighting and defying his faith and family. A new musical with an exciting contemporary score, Cutman is sure to pack a knockout punch! Cutman will be sponsored by Essex Savings Bank.

Cutman features a book and direction by Jared Michael Coseglia who was the assistant director on Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks starring Polly Bergen and Mark Hamill on Broadway. Coseglia also served as a resident director at the NYU Department of Dramatic Writing from 2000-2005 where he developed new work with emerging playwrights and screenwriters. The Cutman story is by Coseglia and Cory Grant who recently starred as Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys on Broadway. Music and lyrics are by Drew Brody who also composed music for Lightning Field (winner, Outstanding Play at the 2005 Fringe Festival) as well as the music and lyrics for a new musical Derma, with book written with Mr. Grant and Coseglia.

About The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown:
It is dawn. Samantha Brown, a high school valedictorian, is supposed to leave for college today but daydreams about driving into the unknown. She sits in her car with her bags packed, but she can't turn the key in the ignition. She is filled with doubts. As the defining moments of her senior year flash through her mind, Samantha must come to terms with her parents' expectations, her first love, and a lost friendship before she can turn the key and make the first decision of her adult life. With a compelling and contemporary score, Samantha Brown is a fresh new musical that you must see.

The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown is by the award-winning team of Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk, who made their Off-Broadway debut with their adaptation of Henry & Mudge at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in 2006. Since then, the production has had four national tours with TheatreWorksUSA. Their work has been developed by Primary Stages, Manhattan Theatre Club, the La Jolla Playhouse, the Perry-Mansfield New Works Festival, the ASCAP/Disney Workshop, The York Theatre, the Penn State New Musical Festival and Goodspeed Musicals' 2008 Festival of New Artists (Tales From the Bad Years), among others. The team received a 2006 Jonathan Larson Award and a 2004-2005 Dramatist Guild Fellowship. They are members of the BMI Musical Theatre Advanced workshop, ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild.

Cutman and The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown will be produced for Goodspeed Musicals by Michael P. Price.

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. Season Tickets ($117) are available now through the Goodspeed Opera House Box Office. Individual tickets ($42) will go on sale February 20, 2011. 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 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 only 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 Musicals gratefully acknowledges the support of Essex Meadows, our Corporate Partner Comcast and Official Audio Sponsor Sennheiser Electronic Corporation. Goodspeed Musicals is supported in part by the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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