Sixth Annual Goodspeed Festival of New Artists Kicks Off 1/14
By: Gabrielle Sierra Dec. 21, 2010
The Sixth Annual Goodspeed Festival of New Artists, produced by Goodspeed Musicals' Max Showalter Center for Education in Musical Theatre, kicks off its much anticipated three day festival of brand new works on Friday, January 14, at the Goodspeed Opera House with a staged reading of Room 16. On Saturday, January 15, the new-fashioned musical Hello! My Baby debuts. On the final day of the festival, Nobody Loves You will be presented. Several special events will round out this exciting weekend. Tickets are available at the Goodspeed Box Office or by calling 860.873.8668 or online at www.goodspeed.org. Tickets are $15 each for one show, $10 each for students. This year's festival is sponsored in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Noel Coward Foundation, and RisCassi & Davis. P.C.
This year, Goodspeed has expanded its popular Festival Package with a weekend full of special events. The $79 package includes admission to all three staged readings; the New Musical Preview, a short preview of a new musical headed to The Norma Terris Theatre in 2011; the Symposium panel discussion with musical theatre luminaries; "Pick-Three" festival seminar sessions; a Saturday evening pre-show dinner at the Gelston House with an engaging post dinner discussion hosted by a special guest speaker; and a Meet the Writers Reception which will complete the weekend's festivities. Also included in the special Festival Package is admittance to the Friday Night and Saturday Night Cabarets, informal gatherings showcasing new songs by new artists.
For both Festival Package and single ticket holders, Goodspeed Opera House tours will be offered throughout the weekend.
"The Sixth Annual Goodspeed Festival of New Artists, with its expanded programs and wonderful new talents, highlights our commitment to developing new musicals," said Michael P. Price, Executive Director of Goodspeed Musicals. "It's thrilling for us to see the Goodspeed campus bustling in wintertime. Our community comes alive when hundreds of musical theatre fans from around the country join the best and brightest new writers and performers as they work together to create the future of musical theatre," he added.
Productions from the three composing teams included in the Goodspeed Festival of New Artists and the schedule of Special Events for Festival Package ticket holders includes:
Friday, January 14
Room 16
Friday, January 15, 7:30 p.m., Goodspeed Opera House
Book by Andrea Lepcio
Music by Stephen Sislen
Lyrics by Stephen Sislen and Ben H. Winters
Originally Developed by Stephen Sislen and Ben H. Winters
Room 16 tells the story of the unlikely friendship between G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt, and the events leading to the Watergate break-in of June 1972. With a score spanning America popular musical styles from swing and big band to folk and early '70s rock, Room 16 is a fast-paced and darkly comedic look inside American political history.
10:00 p.m., Gelston House
Showcasing new songs by new artists.Saturday, January 15
Break-out Sessions EXPANDED THIS YEAR!
10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 12:15 p.m., Gelston House
Choose from two breakout sessions in each time slot
A continuation of last year's most popular session - with Musical Historian John Pike.
Back on Broadway: Why Annie? Why Now?
Broadway General Manager/Producer Wendy Orshan discusses the upcoming revival from the producer's perspective.
Dreamgirls Composer Henry Krieger discusses his experience with Dreamgirls from its inception to the present day, among other things!
How Do You? Create a New Character...
Broadway vets John Bolton (Curtains) and Kate Wetherhead (Legally Blonde) discuss the challenges of originating roles in new musicals.
Broadway General Manager/Producer Alan Williams gives the inside story about the financial side of new musicals.How Do You? Create the Look...
An accomplished Broadway set designer discusses creating the physical world of a new musical.Musical Theatre Symposium* sponsored by the Noel Coward Foundation
4:00 p.m., Goodspeed Opera House
*This event is free and open to the public.
5:30 p.m., Gelston House
Enjoy a three course meal with fellow festival goers.
Hello! My Baby
Saturday, January 15, 7:30 p.m., Goodspeed Opera House
Book and New Lyrics by Cheri Steinkellner
New Music and Arrangements by Georgia Stitt
From debutante balls to Delancey Street, Hello! My Baby puts a new-fashioned spin on the great American songbook musical, weaving the updated hits of Berlin, Gershwin, Kern, and a score of others into a timely and hilarious tale of first love, class-struggles, street-gangs, gender-swapping, and a whole lot of ukuleles.
Festival Cabaret
10:00 p.m., Gelston House
Featuring Brendan Milburn and Valerie Vigoda of GrooveLily. The composers of Striking 12, the first GrooveLily concert-musical (Off-Broadway 2006, Lucille Lortel Nomination for Outstanding Musical), will perform songs from their hit shows.
Sunday, January 16
Nobody Loves You
Sunday, January 17, 1:00 p.m., Goodspeed Opera House
Music & Lyrics by Gaby Alter
Book & Lyrics by Itamar Moses
A romantic comedy about the search for meaningful relationships in a culture dominated by the quest for popularity. When Jeff, a philosophy grad student, goes on a reality TV dating show to win back his ex, he instead finds a girl who might be the love of his life. But will she fall for him once he is seduced by the adulation of his fans?
3:30 p.m., Gelston House
Gain insight into the inspirations and processes of the writers. Complimentary hors d'oeuvres and cash bar.
Lodging and dining information for Festival attendees as well as up-to-date information on the weekend's events may be found at goodspeed.org.
Created in 2002, Goodspeed's Showalter Center inspires and nurtures musical theatre artists and students by providing a unique and comprehensive range of training and educational programs to serve both the national and local academic communities.
One of the Showalter Center's major endeavors is The New Artists program. It offers new and emerging artists the rare opportunity to thoroughly work on their projects with the help of Goodspeed's renowned resources and artistic environment, while affording senior students from The Hartt School real-world experience in new musical development and performing new musicals. The Hartt School, founded in 1920 and one of three founding institutions of the University of Hartford (Conn.), is an internationally acclaimed conservatory with innovative programs in music, dance and theatre. This year students from Boston Conservatory will also be participating in the New Artists program.
The New Artists program is being held throughout the Goodspeed campus January 4 - 16, 2010. During the first week of the program, three teams of writers and composers will dedicate their time to further writing and composing their musicals in development. In the second week, senior students from The Hartt School and Boston Conservatory will join them for rehearsals and continued development of the material. The New Artists program culminates with Goodspeed's Festival of New Artists which will showcase staged readings of the new musicals developed during the New Artists Program and is open to the public. Goodspeed's New Artist Program is generously sponsored by The Adolph & Ruth Schnurmacher Foundation.
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 works 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 the Musical Theater. Goodspeed gratefully acknowledges the support of the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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