Goodspeed To Host Gala Honoring Sue Frost And Her Commitment To New Musicals

Goodspeed Musicals is excited to announce that Sue Frost will be the latest recipient of The Goodspeed Award for Outstanding Contribution to Musical Theatre.

Ms. Frost's contributions to musical theater and her dedication to fostering new works will be celebrated on June 9, 2018 when Broadway luminaries and arts sustainers gather for a grand event in support of Goodspeed's continued commitment to developing new musicals. Michael Gennaro, Goodspeed's Executive Director shared, "All of us at Goodspeed are so pleased to honor Sue Frost. Sue had a large impact during her many years at Goodspeed and her legacy lives on with our New Works programs. She is highly respected across the country and on Broadway as the champion of new musicals. We're looking forward to celebrating with Sue at our annual Gala."

A much-anticipated annual event saluting the best in musical theatre, Goodspeed's Gala has become the place to be each summer. This unforgettable evening will include cocktails, dinner and special entertainment at The Riverhouse at Goodspeed Station, 55 Bridge Street, Haddam, Connecticut.

All proceeds from Goodspeed's 18th Annual Gala will be used to support Goodspeed's New Works initiatives. Developing new musicals and building the future of the art form are at the core of what makes Goodspeed the "Home of the American Musical".

Previous honorees include Julie Andrews, Martin Charnin, Kristin Chenoweth, Ira Gershwin, Sheldon Harnick, Jerry Herman, William Ivey Long, Thomas Meehan, Michael P. Price, Chita Rivera, Gerald Schoenfeld, Stephen Schwartz, Susan Stroman, Charles Strouse, Tommy Tune, Tony Walton, and Paul Williams.

ABOUT Sue Frost

Sue Frost is a founding member of Junkyard Dog Productions (with Randy Adams and Kenny and Marleen Alhadeff) which is dedicated to developing and producing new musicals. Broadway: Come From Away at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, 2010 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award-winning Best Musical Memphis, First Date. National tour and West End production of Memphis. In development: Chasing The Song and Fly High. Since its inception in 2006 Junkyard Dog Productions has also produced Vanities, Make Me A Song (Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk noms.) and Party Come Here. Junkyard Dog Productions also served as Executive Producer of Doctor Zhivago on Broadway in 2015. Prior to founding Junkyard, Sue was Associate Producer at Goodspeed Musicals for 20 years, where she produced more than 50 new musicals at both the Goodspeed Opera House and The Norma Terris Theatre. She is proud to have established, in conjunction with the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, an annual residency for composers, lyricists and librettists at Goodspeed as well as the pilot program for Goodspeed's Musical Theatre Institute. Prior to Goodspeed she worked as a company manager on several Broadway shows and tours including A Chorus Line, Dancin' and The Rink. In addition to chairing two New American Works panels for the late Opera-Music Theatre Program of the National Endowment for the Arts, Sue has served as a panelist and/or site evaluator for the NEA, the Philadelphia Theatre Institute, the Connecticut Commission for the Arts and Tourism, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the TCG/Pew National Theatre Artist Residency Program. She lectures regularly at Yale University and is a member of adjunct faculty at Columbia University. A graduate of Smith College, Sue is past president of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, and is currently a member of the Broadway League's Board of Governors, Executive, Tony Administration and Intra-Industry Committees as well as co-chair of the Audience Engagement Committee.

ABOUT Goodspeed Musicals NEW WORKS PROGRAMS

Goodspeed has a long history of producing new works and our approach to new musical development is tried and true. Our Second Stage, The Terris Theatre, has been dedicated to developing innovative musical theatre projects and supporting established and emerging artists since its founding in 1984. In that time 89 new musicals have been produced on its stage; over 30 of these past productions were world premieres and six went on to Broadway.

Before a new musical makes its debut on The Terris stage or at other theatres around the country, it goes through many rounds of development, including residencies, revisions, workshops and readings. Goodspeed is proud to be creating a new works pipeline that offers opportunities at all stages of the development process, from inspiration to production, and are now making connections between programs to support projects at multiple stages.

The longest-running of these programs is the NYU New Writers Residency, which is offered each year in collaboration with the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at the Tisch School of the Arts.

The Festival of New Musicals originated out of our dedication to the advancement of the art form and our commitment to train future arts leaders and young people embarking on a performing arts career. Since its inception in 2006 the Festival has grown to encompass a full weekend of activities celebrating new musicals and is so popular that ticket packages for the program sell out weeks in advance.

Our newest development program, The Johnny Mercer Foundation (JMF) Writers Colony is quickly becoming central to the new works pipeline at Goodspeed. Over the past five winters Goodspeed has welcomed 180 composers, lyricists and librettists working on almost 100 different musical theatre projects for this renowned program. Goodspeed always seek to identify engaging new musicals by talented artist who we feel have something new and interesting to bring to the art form, and whose stories need to be told. At past festivals, new musical presentations have included Nobody Loves You (which went on to run at Second Stage in 2013), The Theory of Relativity (which had a full production run at The Terris in 2015), and Come From Away (which received multiple Tony nominations, including Best Musical).

Through all of these new musical development programs, Goodspeed strives to be an unparalleled resource for the development, education and preservation of the American musical in the 21st century. Our goal is to continually provide writers with creative synergy, dedicated resources, collaboration and connection with fellow artists, and guidance from professionals to nourish and champion their work.

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