| Goodspeed Opera House | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Address: | 6 Main Street | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| City: | East Haddam, Connecticut | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country: | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owner: | Goodspeed Musicals | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type: | Regional theatre | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened: | October 24, 1877 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reopened: | June 8, 1963 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website: |
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Goodspeed Musicals is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theater and the creation of new works, located in East Haddam, Connecticut. The landmark Goodspeed Opera House is a distinctive feature of the view from the Connecticut River and is the birthplace of some of the world's most famous musicals, including Annie, Man of La Mancha, and Shenandoah. Goodspeed Musicals also includes a smaller theater in Chester CT as well as several writing and performing seminars. Goodspeed Musicals is considered one of the foremost regional theaters in the United States to date producing 250 musicals, over 70 world premieres, and sending 21 productions to Broadway. Goodspeed Musicals is the first regional theatre in America to earn two special Tony Awards, one in 1980 for outstanding contributions to the American musical and a second in 1995 for distinguished achievement for a regional theatre.[1]
The Opera House was originally built by a local merchant and banker, William Henry Goodspeed. Construction began in 1876 and finished in 1877. Despite the name, it was not in fact an opera house, but rather a venue for presenting plays. Its first play, Charles II, opened on October 24, 1877. After William Goodspeed's death in 1882, the opera house fell into disrepair, facing a series of less glamorous uses—from a militia base during World War I to a general store and a Department of Transportation storage facility.
The building is unique for a theater. The theater itself is actually located on the top two floors of the building, making for interesting and sometimes difficult scenery and show load-ins. Scenery is loaded-in from the dock area up a vacant elevator shaft that is now outfitted with a winch system to haul the scenery up to the stage level. Much care has to be taken in order to get the scenery up the shaft without scratching or ruining the scenery. One story told around Goodspeed is that while loading in the scenery for Annie's original pre-Broadway run, a strong gust of wind took a large piece of scenery out of the hands of the loaders and blew it into the Connecticut River.
Goodspeed Musicals was formed in 1959 by a group of concerned citizens after the state of Connecticut had condemned the building. The state agreed to sell the building to the group for one dollar, provided they acquire enough funding to restore and maintain it. The restoration project took nearly four years, and the Goodspeed Opera House was rededicated on June 8, 1963. The first performance in the new opera house was Oh, Lady! Lady! Under the direction of Michael P. Price from 1968 to 2014, and Michael Gennaro since 2014, Goodspeed Musicals has sent 19 productions to Broadway.[2] Goodspeed productions have won more than a dozen Tony Awards, while Goodspeed Musicals itself has won two special Tonys, one for outstanding contributions to American Musicals and the other for outstanding achievement by a regional theatre.
Goodspeed Musicals also pursues its mission through the Max Showalter Center for Education in Musical Theatre, which offers internships and new writers' residency programs. Their Arts Education Collaboration provides art-education programs for underserved Connecticut youth. Goodspeed's annual Festival of New Musicals features students from the Hartt School and the Boston Conservatory performing staged readings of new musicals, seminars, a symposium and cabaret performances. Each winter, Goodspeed also hosts the Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Grove, a retreat for theater writers. Critic fellows from the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT travel to the Goodspeed each summer to practice reviewing full productions.[3]
Goodspeed Musicals is also home to the Scherer Library of Musical Theatre, which houses the largest musical theatre research facility in the United States. They have also built state-of-the-art production facilities including scenery shops, costume shops and a large costume storage facility. Goodspeed Costume Rentals houses the premier costume collection on the East Coast. More than 250,000 items are available to rent for professional and amateur productions, featuring costumes from Tony-winning Broadway designers such as William Ivey Long, Gregg Barnes, Catherine Zuber, Willa Kim, Florence Klotz, Linda Cho, Anthony Powell, and more. [4]
Tours of many of the Goodspeed facilities can be scheduled in advance for a small fee. Tickets to the opera house or theatre productions should be ordered in advance as most performances in the relatively small theater sell-out quickly.[5]
In 1984, Goodspeed Musicals added a second performance venue—the Norma Terris Theatre—in nearby Chester, Connecticut, occasionally referred to as the Goodspeed-At-Chester. While the main stage presents a mixture of revivals and new musicals as part of its 3 production season, The Norma Terris presents exclusively new musicals each season. Several original musicals debuted there or at the opera house before going on to Broadway and winning Tony Awards.