The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Goodspeed readying for Festival of New Musicals in East Haddam
EAST HADDAM — The much-anticipated three-day festival of brand-new works will light up the Goodspeed Musicals campus with a weekend filled with insider events, seminars, cabarets, and staged readings during the 17th annual Festival of New Musicals.
The showcase kicks off March 17 at 6 Main St. with a staged reading of “Double Helix,” with book, music and lyrics by Madeline Myers, according to a press release.
“In the mid-20th century, the race to find the structure of DNA grips the scientific community,” according to the theater. “One brilliant young researcher, Rosalind Franklin, will stop at nothing to uncover one of life’s great mysteries. But will she sacrifice what makes her human to discover what makes us human?”
The following day, a staged reading is planned for “The Great Emu War,” a humorous production based on true events. It is based on a book by Cal Silberstein and music and lyrics by Paul Hodge.
“Remember that one time that the Australian government sent their army with machine guns to wage war on emus in Western Australia? Neither do most people … but when Edith, the headstrong warbler, and her flock begin to feed on the wheat of local farmers — the humans take up arms against Australia’s favorite feathered friends,” the statement said. “Think of it as ‘Cats,’ but with emus ... and less dancing ... and a plot.”
The final day features “Little Miss Perfect,” a new musical inspired by the viral single song of the same name, with book, music and lyrics by Joriah Kwamé.
“Inspired by the viral single of the same name, ‘Little Miss Perfect’ tells the story of Noelle, a biracial teen navigating her senior year of high school after her mom and stepdad invite a study abroad student to be her roommate,” according to the Goodspeed.
“But when a classmate becomes the victim of systemic racism at her school, Noelle must decide whether she will be true to herself and an ally to her peers, or if she will settle for simply being ‘Little Miss Perfect,’ ” the organization said.
Single tickets are $25 for each staged reading, $15 each for students. The festival package will offer patrons a weekend full of special events. The $100 package includes admission to all three staged readings, three festival seminar sessions, the symposium, a season preview of the 2023 Terris Theatre offerings and Meet the Writers Q&A, according to Goodspeed. “Every year we are amazed by the breadth and depth of the talented writers who join us on the Goodspeed campus to share their work with our audiences and this year is no exception,” Artistic Director Donna Lynn Hilton said in a prepared statement.
“We are so proud to highlight each of these writers and to foster their collaboration with directors, music directors and students,” she added.
Preparations begin March 6, when the three teams of writers and composers arrive to dedicate their time to further writing and composing their musicals in development. They are joined by musical theatre students from The Hartt School, Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Montclair State University, who take part in rehearsals and continued development of the material, the theater said.
The program offers new and established artists the rare opportunity to thoroughly work on their projects with the help of Goodspeed’s “renowned resources and artistic environment.” At the same time, the festival affords junior and senior students from prominent conservatory programs real-world experience in new musical development and performing new musicals.
Package add-ons include a Saturday evening preshow dinner at the Gelston House ($40), and Friday evening and Saturday evening cabarets: informal gatherings showcasing new songs by new and established artists ($15 each).
Tickets are available by calling 860-873-8668 or at goodspeed.org.