12th Annual Festival of New Musicals

JAN 13-15, 2017

STAGED READINGS  |  SCHEDULE  |  FESTIVAL ARCHIVES

Every musical got its start somewhere—for many, it was at Goodspeed. Don't miss your chance to see the next big hit at Goodspeed's Twelfth Annual Festival of New Musicals. Hundreds of musical theatre lovers will gather on the Goodspeed campus for staged readings of brand new works as the brightest new writers and performers collaborate to create the future of America's greatest art form. It's something different...come join us!

STAGED READINGS

PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK

FRIDAY, JAN 13, 7:30 PM 

Book, Music & Lyrics by Daniel Zaitchik
Adapted from the novel by Joan Lindsay

Valentine’s Day, 1900. Victoria, Australia. The girls from the prestigious Appleyard College are released from their studies to take a day trip to Hanging Rock, an ancient geological rock formation. The wilderness is seductive. The girls are enraptured. The mystery begins... Daniel Zaitchik’s Picnic at Hanging Rock is a haunting musical adaptation of one of Australia’s most treasured and evocative novels.

ZM

SATURDAY, JAN 14, 7:30 PM

Music by Mark Hollmann
Book by Greg Kotis
Lyrics by Mark Hollmann & Greg Kotis

Can a sandwich turn people into zombies? ZM follows two teenaged fast-food workers as they struggle to live, and love, during a food-borne catastrophe that might well destroy Humanity. The creators of the Tony Award-winning Urinetown serve up a humorous new musical satire that will make you think twice before rolling up to the drive-thru of your favorite fast food restaurant.

ROW

SUNDAY, JAN 15, 1:00 PM

Book by Daniel Goldstein
Music & Lyrics by Dawn Landes
Based on “A Pearl in the Storm” by Tori Murden McClure

 In June, 1998, Tori Murden left her job as a project manager in Louisville, Kentucky, and embarked on what no woman had ever done: row across the Atlantic. She set out with her homemade vessel, covered over 1,000 miles and rowed over 200,000 strokes. She made videos to track her journey, even when she lost all radio connection with the outside world. But she unknowingly rowed into the heart of Hurricane Danielle. Row tells a heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting story of finding your heart in the middle of the ocean.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

• Exclusive Silver Package Event
• Exclusive Gold Package Event

FRIDAY, JANUARY 13

SEMINAR TICKET DISTRIBUTION | 5:00 - 7:15 p.m. | Porch Bar, The Goodspeed •
All Gold Package holders will be able to pick up their Seminar tickets before Friday's staged reading. Tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis so arrive early to get your top choices!

PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK | 7:30 p.m. | The Goodspeed

FESTIVAL CABARET: MATTHEW LEE ROBINSON | 9:30 p.m. | Gelston House •
Matthew Lee Robinson was a writer in residence at the 2016 Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed. His new musical Atlantis had an exclusive reading in New York City helmed by Tony-winning Newsies choreographer and Goodspeed alumni Christopher Gattelli earlier this year. His musical Happy People was recently workshopped by the Village Theatre in Washington. Robinson’s music has been heard in concert at Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center Broadway’s Future Songbook Series, Ars Nova NYC Uncharted series, Seattle’s New Voices series and with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House.

Saturday, January 14

SEMINAR TICKET DISTRIBUTION | 9:00 - 12:00 p.m. | Gelston House Lobby •

SEMINAR SESSION I | 10:00 a.m. | Gelston House or La Vita  • 

SEMINAR SESSION II | 11:00 a.m. | Gelston House  •

SEMINAR SESSION III | 12:00 p.m. | Gelston House  •

MOVIE SCREENING: GOODSPEED'S STRIKE UP THE BAND | 12:30 - 3:00 p.m. | The Scherer Library
Before her Broadway debut, before her Tony and Emmy Awards, Kristin Chenoweth appeared in Goodspeed’s 1995 production of Strike Up the Band. If you didn’t have the pleasure of witnessing her performance in person, now’s your chance to see Ms. Chenoweth before she was famous.

LIBRARY EXHIBIT: BEFORE THEY WERE FAMOUS | 12:30 - 3:00 p.m. | The Scherer Library
Many Broadway, television, movie and recording stars got their start performing on the Goodspeed stages. This exhibit showcases those now-famous alums such as Idina Menzel, Sutton Foster, Kristin Chenoweth, Ariana Grande, and Patrick Wilson, to name a few.

TOUR OF THE GOODSPEED | 1:30 p.m. | The Goodspeed Lobby
Go behind the scenes of our award-winning theatre on the Goodspeed Opera House tour and learn about its vibrant history.

NEW MUSICAL PREVIEW | 3:30 p.m. | The Goodspeed ••
Attend a preview of selections from exciting new musicals headed to Goodspeed in 2017.

FESTIVAL DINNER | 5:00 p.m. | Gelston House or La Vita •
Enjoy a three-course meal with fellow Festival-goers. Check ticket for location.

ZM | 7:30 p.m. | The Goodspeed
FESTIVAL CABARET | 10:00 p.m. | Gelston House •
Mark Sonnenblick, a 2016 and 2017 participant in the Johnny Mercer Writers Colony, has been a Dramatists Guild fellow and a librettist for the Kennedy Center’s American Opera Initiative. He has developed work with the Duffy Institute at the Virginia Arts Festival, The Yale Institute for Music Theatre, The Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, and Prospect’s Music Theater Lab.

Sunday, January 15

ROW | 1:00 p.m. | The Goodspeed

MEET THE WRITERS Q&A | 3:30 p.m. | The Goodspeed  ••
Gain insight into the inspirations and processes of the writers.

Lead Corporate Sponsor:

With Support From:

2017 Friends of the Festival