GOODSPEED FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS RETURNS IN TRIUMPH

A “Sweet 16” is being celebrated with joy at Goodspeed’s Festival of New Musicals in East Haddam, even if it had been delayed by the pandemic that is COVID. From Friday, March 18 to Sunday March 20, this much beloved weekend dedicated to new musicals and the theater arts will once again trumpet this fine tradition. The trio of days will feature three staged readings performed by students from the Hartt School. Friday’s offering at 7:30 p.m. will begin with the literary mystery “A House Without Windows” with book by Anna Ziegler and music and lyrics by Anna Jacobs,. As a child prodigy author, Barbara Newhall Follett wrote a revealing novel about a young girl who abandons her family to find her way in nature. What causes Barbara a dozen years later at the age of twenty five to walk out of her home and literally vanish? Is reality mimicking fantasy? A cabarets with composer Timothy Huang will follow at the Gelston House next door at 10:00 p.m. On Saturday at 7:30 p.m., after a full day of symposiums on Racial Equity in the Theatre, and a Symposium, the second staged reading will be “ HoT” with music by Lynne Shankel and words by Sara Cooper. A cast of women will examine the fate of Helen of Troy from her feminity and unparalleled beauty to her dismissal as a paragon of her sex. Watch how Helen rises to the challenge to assert and recapture her powers. A Saturday night cabaret will follow at 10:00 p.m. with the music of Joriah Kwame. On Sunday at 1 p.m., adventure to the Wild Wild West to enter the world created by Abby Payne for book, music and lyrics with “ The Gunfighter Meets His Match.” When a young ranch hand decides to examine and possibly debunk the myths surrounding a legendary gunfighter, the man in question is forced to return to his mysterious roots to defend his honor. All three musicals have been composed by women. Single tickets for each are $25 or $15 for students, Special packages are available: the GOLD for $155 includes all three readings, three seminars, a Symposium that is free and needs no ticket at 3:30 p.m., and dinner Saturday night at either the Gelston House or La Vita and either the Friday or Saturday cabaret and a concluding Meet the Writers Q and A on Sunday afternoon ; the SILVER package for $100 includes three readings, a Symposium, three seminars and a Meet the Writers Q and A at 3:30 p.m.. Call the box office at 860-873-8668 or go online at www.goodspeed.org to purchase tickets. Since 2002 the Festival of New Musicals has been produced by the Max Showalter Center for Education in Musical Theatre. All who attend must show proof of vaccination and wear a mask at all events. According to Goodspeed’s Artistic Director Donna Lynn Hilton, “ The Festival of New Musicals is the cornerstone of Goodspeed’s new works development program.” With Managing Director David B. Byrd, they “ invite all who enjoy musical theatre to join us for a weekend that will enlighten, entertain and educate all who attend.” For lovers of musical theatre, what better way to watch a trio of new productions gain their theatrical legs and strut down a path into show business history.