2023 IMPACT REPORT GOODSPEED MUSICALS
The 2023 season—our 60th Anniversary Season—has proven to be an exceptional journey for Goodspeed Musicals. We've had the privilege to witness the joy of musical theatre uniting communities, elevating spirits, and forging enduring memories. Our productions have struck a chord with individuals of all generations, and it is your steadfast support that fuels the stories we bring to life.
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OUR MISSION
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Goodspeed Musicals’ mission is to share the joy of musical theatre; to delight, inspire, and challenge audiences; to nurture creators; and to build and support a broad, diverse, and inclusive community.
In 2023 Goodspeed began to implement its new three-year strategic plan. Through this new plan Goodspeed will fulfill this mission by focusing on three goals:
1. Sustain Goodspeed’s pre-eminence as a statewide and national leader in musical theatre by broadening and modernizing the concept of the classic musical as well as developing new work that advances and enriches the art form.
2. Grow Goodspeed’s organizational culture around accountability, community, and equity.
3. Secure Goodspeed’s future and develop a financially sustainable operating model through revenue growth and expense assessment.
GOODSPEED MUSICALS TODAY
Goodspeed mounts both new and newly-revived musicals each year on our main stage at The Goodspeed and at The Terris Theatre in Chester—a total of more than 400 performances during the April to December season, attracting more than 113,000 patrons to the Connecticut River Valley. We stand at the forefront of producing and preserving the American musical, simultaneously reinventing the classics and inventing new ones. We attract well-known icons of the theatre world and foster emerging talent among composers, lyricists, and librettists. Each year, actors, directors, choreographers, and technicians aspire to come to Goodspeed to practice their craft. Among millions who know and love this art form—and those who appreciate its history and enduring appeal—Goodspeed is widely recognized as “The Home of the American Musical.”
THE FUTURE WE ENVISION
The Goodspeed campus will continue to serve as a thriving musical theatre company where artists and the creative process inform the work on our stages and educational pro-
OUR FACILITIES
THE GOODSPEED
The Goodspeed, originally constructed in 1876 as the Goodspeed Opera House, is a historic landmark on the Connecticut River. The building was marked for demolition in 1958, but local preservationists became interested, and in 1959 the Goodspeed Opera House Foundation was organized to restore and reactivate the theatre. With the cooperation of the State of Connecticut and the support of donor-members of the Foundation, The Goodspeed was restored and rededicated on June 18, 1963, with the opening of the musical Oh, Lady! Lady!!
THE TERRIS THEATRE
The Terris Theatre, inaugurated in 1984 by Goodspeed Musicals, is dedicated to developing new musicals and honors actress Norma Terris. Initially a knitting needle factory, the space was fully renovated as an intimate 200-
Throughout the year, and intensively during the winter months, Goodspeed addresses issues unique to the field by offering innovative and highly sought-after programs through our Max Showalter Center for Education in Musical Theatre. The Festival of New Musicals features students from The Hartt School and Western Connecticut State University performing staged readings of three brand new musicals, industry-related seminars, a symposium and cabaret performances. Each winter, Goodspeed also hosts The Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Grove that invites musical theatre writing teams to retreat from daily life for a four-week residency and concentrate solely on writing new musicals.
grams. We aspire to serve as a safe haven where a singular commitment to discovery and innovation will enrich the field with the next generation of musical theatre artists.
seat theatre, and opened its doors on July 10, 1984, with the new musical Harrigan ’n’ Hart. Since its opening, The Terris has presented over 90 new musicals, including 13, A Sign of the Times, and Amazing Grace.
THE ARTISTS VILLAGE
Goodspeed owns and maintains 34 houses which accommodate as many as 121 people at a time. These homes are managed by Goodspeed’s company management team and maintained by Goodspeed’s Facilities team. In addition, a fleet of cars and vans transports artists to and from the theatre and other locations while they are staying on the Goodspeed campus.
THE CHAUNCEY STILLMAN PRODUCTION FACILITY
Behind each Goodspeed production is a wealth of technical and engineering expertise. The Chauncey Stillman Production Facility houses one of the largest and bestequipped scene shops in the country. In this 33,000-squarefoot facility numerous craftspeople build, weld, and paint all the scenery and props used in each Goodspeed show.
Staff Scenic Artist Ashley Donnert paints the Summer Stock setTHE FACTORY BUILDING
The Max Showalter Room in our Factory Building holds not only the memorabilia from the decades long career of this beloved actor of stage and screen, but is now home to Showalter’s pair of baby grand pianos. It was Max’s wish that these beloved instruments be shared by composers, musicians and performers in a space that will be used for programs and events to inspire and educate “young creators in the fields of theatre, film and music.”
THE SCHERER LIBRARY OF MUSICAL THEATRE
Extending its mission beyond the stage, Goodspeed is home to one of the largest musical theatre libraries in the nation. The Scherer Library currently houses 2,264 libretti, 3,570 scores, 30,000 copies of sheet music and a 11,100+ vinyl record collection. Used by theatre historians and educators across the country—as well as actors, directors and choreographers in residence—the collection contains scripts, scores, sheet music, and recordings of virtually every Broadway and Off-Broadway musical ever produced. In addition, the Library is an invaluable resource to Goodspeed’s own Music and Production Departments.
COSTUMES
Costumes seen on Goodspeed’s stages are designed from scratch and expertly sewn in our Costume Shop, or they are selected from the Goodspeed costume collection of more than 600,000 costumes and accessories that occupy
more than a mile of hanging rail in the Barrington Costume Center. Most productions require as many as 250 costumes, not including hats, shoes, wigs, and other accessories. (PHOTO: First Hand Ka'ihe Fisher sews a costume for Gypsy)
REHEARSAL STUDIOS
The Natalie & Ashton Tenney Rehearsal Studio features three rooms for music, staging, and rehearsals. The Alice Rehearsal Studio, named after Alice Hammerstein Mathias, includes a dance space and an additional rehearsal studio.
EDUCATION: THE ARTS EDUCATION COLLABORATION
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Underserved schools Counties
"You've got to be carefully taught..." As we look to the future of Goodspeed's 2024 season, we also reflect on the 758 students who were members of our audience through the Arts Education Collaboration program in 2023. Through The Max Showalter Center for Education in Musical Theatre, this program introduces and educates the youth of Connecticut by cultivating a relationship with the community and encouraging emerging musical theatre artists. It is our hope to preserve the American Musical and Goodspeed for future generations.
We believe it is important to engage the young—especially those from underserved communities in the state of
Connecticut—in the creative process of musical theatre, making the art form accessible to new generations of theatergoers. Each season, through our Arts Education Collaboration, we bring elementary, middle, and high school students from Windham, Middlesex, Hartford, and New Haven Counties to our productions at The Goodspeed or The Terris Theatre and give them a special behind-the-scenes look into the making of a show. We also provide in-school workshops prior to and after attending the show. For many students, it’s their first time seeing a live production. The entire program is underwritten by Goodspeed and its generous funders, and is provided at no cost to the schools or students.
Students from The ISAAC School participate in a workshop before seeing Dreamgirls. Wethersfield High School students pose with actor Mel Johnson Jr after seeing The 12; Students from ISAAC School before a matinee of Summer Stock.
THE 2023 SEASON
We began 2023 with a lot of enthusiasm, and why not? We had just finished a very successful season in 2022, had a fantastic season planned, and were finally reopening The Terris Theatre. As it turned out, the 2023 season exceeded our expectations! Our audience at The Goodspeed grew to almost 100,000 and at The Terris, over 11,000 came to see a show. Hosting over 90,000 people made for a joyous year. And the joy continues with 5 out of 6 of the shows seeing continued life beyond Goodspeed.
During the 2023 Season, Goodspeed employed:
Artisans, Technicians & Administrators
Marquee Producing Partners: Amy & Frank Campbell
Marquee Producing Partners:
89 people attended the sensory-friendly performance of Summer Stock
Actors & Stage Managers Musicians & Staff Creative Team Members
April 28 - June 25, 2023 THE GOODSPEED
Book by Arthur Laurents
Music by Jule Styne | Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Suggested by memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee
Music Direction by Adam Souza
Choreographed by Patricia Wilcox
Directed by Jenn Thompson
The season opened with a bang when Gypsy appeared on the Goodspeed stage for the first time. Judy McLane as Rose and Talia Suskauer as Louise gave memorable performances alongside an outstanding cast. Jenn Thompson delivered another hit as director and Patricia Wilcox’s dances brought cheers.
Did you know? Cha Cha, the dog in Gypsy, was rescued and trained by Bill Berloni who began his career at Goodspeed with Annie.
July 7 - Aug 27, 2023
THE GOODSPEED
Book & Additional Lyrics by Cheri Steinkellner
Based on the classic MGM film; Produced by special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatrical Ventures
Music Direction by Adam Souza
Music Supervision by Doug Besterman
Directed & Choreographed by Donna Feore
The houses were packed all summer for the world premiere of Summer Stock. Who can forget Corbin Bleu’s tap dancing prowess and leaps through the air? Or doubling over with laughter whenever Veanne Cox (Mrs. Wingate) took the stage? With an extremely talented cast and a show packed with song and dance, audiences ended every performance with a thunderous ovation. The New York Times exclaimed, “Who could ask for anything more?”
Did you know? Commercial producers are working toward a Broadway production in 2025.
Philip Hernandez, Judy McLane and Talia Suskauer. Photo by Diane Sobolewski. Corbin Bleu and cast. Photo by Diane Sobolewski. Dick & Mabel Seymour Hila & Saul Rosen
Marquee Producing Partners:
RADM.
Marquee Producing Partners:
RADM.
2023 SEASON SPONSORS
Sept 8 - Oct 29, 2023
THE GOODSPEED
Book & Lyrics by Robert Schenkkan
Music & Lyrics by Neil Berg
Music Direction by Adam Souza
Music Supervision by Greg Jarrett
Directed by John Doyle
The 12 was like no other musical that we’ve seen on the Goodspeed stage. Bold, thought-provoking, and contemporary are only a few words to describe a show that will linger in our memories for a long time. It began with music in a style unfamiliar to many in our audience, but soon moved into beautiful ballads and personal songs to tell a gripping story of people finding love and hope after losing everything else. Critics and audiences raved about this incredible new musical at The Goodspeed and we happen to agree.
Did you know? There's an album in the works for The 12 featuring the Goodspeed cast and orchestra.
Nov 10 - Dec 30, 2023 THE
GOODSPEED
Book & Lyrics by Tom Eyen
Music by Henry Krieger
Music Direction by Christie Chiles Twillie
Choreographed by Breon Arzell
Directed by Lili-Anne Brown
Even on Goodspeed’s small stage, Dreamgirls was the big, bright, sparkling show that everyone expects. Telling a Motown-inspired story about a girl group in the 60’s and 70s going from obscurity to fame to break up is no easy feat, but this cast and creative team gave us a show that we all enjoyed. The voices were powerful, the wigs were outstanding and many wished they had the costumes in their closet at home!
Did you know? Our production of Dreamgirls can be seen at McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ through March 24, 2024.
IN-KIND SEASON SPONSORS
TERRIS THEATRE SPONSOR
The cast of The 12. Photo by Diane Sobolewski. Louise C. Wilmot USN (Ret.) & James E. Wilmot The cast of Dreamgirls. Photo by Diane Sobolewski. Production Sponsors: Hoffman Audi The Paul Group at Morgan Stanley Louise C. Wilmot USN (Ret.) & James E. Wilmot
Marquee Producing Partners:
Rich Cersosimo & Valerie Koif
Anne Rothstein & Jane Hellman
Dick & Mabel Seymour
Mary M. Wilson & Jeff Riley
Production Sponsors: Hoffman Audi
National Endowment for the Arts
Marquee Producing Partners: Hila & Saul Rosen
Russell Tait & Lee Anderson
HERE YOU COME AGAIN
July 26 - Aug 27, 2023
THE TERRIS THEATRE
By Bruce Vilanch, Gabriel Barre and Tricia PaoluccioFeaturing Songs Written or Recorded by Dolly Parton (And Others)
Music Direction by Eugene Gwozdz
Directed and Choreographed by Gabriel Barre
After three years, The Terris Theatre reopened with sold out performances and roof-raising applause. Here You Come Again starred the extremely talented Tricia Paoluccio whose rendition of Dolly Parton was so real, some believed that the queen of country music herself was in town! In a lighthearted look at Covid lockdowns and boyfriend breakups, the show was packed with Dolly’s music and plenty of sage advice.
Did you know? You’ll have another chance to see Here You Come Again when it makes its debut on London’s West End in 2024!
Oct 13 - Nov 5, 2023
THE TERRIS THEATRE
Written and Directed by Marshall Pailet
Choreographed by Misha Shields
Music Direction by Myrna Conn
Director of Artistic Sign Language Alexandria Wailes
"Wow!" is the only way to describe this ground-breaking new musical about a deaf soldier in WWI. A wonderful company of deaf, hard of hearing and hearing actors brought this emotional story to life in a most creative way. With a surprising mix of drama and humor, and inventive use of sound foley, we witnessed the horrors of war while gaining a deeper understanding of the non-hearing world and the challenges faced by those who are deaf.
Did you know? After its developmental production at The Terris, Private Jones had a full production at Signature Theatre in Washington, DC from February 8 – March 17, 2024.
Produced Sent world premieres
Launched performances
Played hours
Performed for hours of applause
Enjoyed actors
Employed patrons
Delighted
Tricia Paoluccio. Photo by Diane Sobolewski. The cast of Private Jones. Photo by Diane Sobolewski.For our 60th anniversary season, Goodspeed celebrated our continued dedication to new work by staging four new musicals across our two stages—in addition to supporting over 60 projects at all levels of development.
THE JOHNNY MERCER FOUNATION WRITERS GROVE
We kicked off our year with The Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Grove, which we host every winter on our campus. With 32 writers working on 19 different projects, the Artists Village was bustling with creative energy.
NYU NEW WRITERS RESIDENCY PROGRAM
During the winter, we also host the graduating class of the prestigious NYU Musical Theatre Writing program. This special retreat is designed to aid the crafting of their thesis projects as they barrel toward graduation.
FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS
No year would be complete without our Festival of New Musicals, which was particularly joyous, in March. Double Helix, The Great Emu War, and Little Miss Perfect proved to be three knockout readings—each unique in their own way. Double Helix went on to production in the summer at Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, Little Miss Perfect made history as the first musical to ever emerge from our GoodWorks Commissioning Program, and The Great Emu War had audiences in stitches with its wit and old-fashioned charm. To top it off, the cabarets of Eric Ulloa and Brett Ryback’s work alongside the song cycle Letters to the President were a magnificent cap to a pitch perfect weekend.
single tickets sold to the 2023 Festival of New Musicals
NEW MUSICALS AT THE GOODSPEED
With a treasure trove of classics from the American Songbook and based on the MGM film of the same name, Summer Stock is a good, old-fashioned song-and-dance musical about putting on a show and saving the farm—who could ask for anything more?! The most remarkable part of the Summer Stock creation process is how miraculously short it was. Most new musicals take around 5 years of development to be ready for a Goodspeed-level production, but Summer Stock came to fruition in about 9 months. There are very few places on planet earth that can facilitate creating a brand-new musical in that time frame. After multiple workshops in New York during the winter and spring, the show was in remarkable shape when it arrived on campus and, of course, continued to be refined during rehearsals and throughout previews as well. Goodspeed is beyond ecstatic to have ushered in the world premiere of this delightful new addition to the musical theatre canon.
Right on the dancing heels of Summer Stock, The 12 brought a decidedly different tone to the Opera House. Written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Robert Schenkkan and award-winning composer Neil Berg, it had been in development for years. After an acclaimed run at the Denver Center a number of years ago, Tony Award-winning director John Doyle joined the creative team in advance of the Goodspeed production, helping guide the revisions and changes.
THE TERRIS THEATRE
Of course, one of the highlights of 2023 was the grand reopening of our Terris Theatre in Chester. As a theatre dedicated to the development of new work, The Terris is fundamental to our artistic aims. Welcoming audiences back was none other than Dolly Parton and her timeless catalogue of hits in Here You Come Again, a fun, warm musical where Dolly’s music comes to the rescue of an artist struggling at home during the pandemic. This joyful comedy packed in audiences last summer and left everyone crooning Dolly tunes (though no one doing it better than Tricia Paoluccio herself who flawlessly embodied the Queen of Country).
Perhaps the utmost example of new work on our stages this year was Private Jones, which closed out our return season at The Terris. A completely homegrown piece, Marshall Pailet (who both wrote and directed the show) began writing Private Jones at The Grove in 2019, where he churned out the entire first act in just under two weeks. He wrote the remainder of the show upon his return to New York and we produced the first public reading at our Festival of New Musicals in 2020—where it left the audience electrified. We remained committed to the piece throughout the entire shutdown, and produced a workshop in 2022 before announcing that we would be doing this developmental production at The Terris. With its groundbreaking use of sign language and storytelling, it was an emotional experience to finally see the show take the stage. And in keeping with the mission of The Terris, the cast, creative team, and crew very actively workshopped the show in front of the audience. All of the improvements were on full display when the show opened at Signature Theatre just outside of Washington, DC this February.
THE FUTURE
We’re very proud of our dedication to supporting new work and fostering the voices at the forefront of the industry. As our new season begins and we host a U.S. premiere at The Goodspeed and three additional new shows at The Terris, we hope you’re just as excited as we are about the future of all of these pieces and the future of musical theatre.