Goodspeed Hosts 7th Annual Festival of New Artists 1/13

The Seventh Annual Goodspeed Festival of New Artists, produced by Goodspeed Musicals' Max Showalter Center for Education in Musical Theatre, kicks off its much anticipated three day festival of brand new works on Friday, January 13, at the Goodspeed Opera House with a staged reading of the soulful musical Harmony, Kansas. On Saturday, January 14, Not Wanted on the Voyage from the team who wrote the Goodspeed to Broadway tuner The Story of My Life debuts. On the final day of the festival, the engaging musical The Dogs of Pripyat will be presented. Several special events will round out this exciting weekend. Tickets are available at the Goodspeed Box Office or by calling 860.873.8668 or online at www.goodspeed.org. Tickets are $15 each for one show, $10 each for students. This year's festival is sponsored in part by the Noel Coward Foundation, lead oorporate sponsor RisCassi & Davis, P.C. and The Adolph and Ruth Schnurmacher Foundation, Inc.

This year, Goodspeed's ever-popular Festival Package offers a weekend full of special events. The $79 package includes admission to all three staged readings; the New Musical Preview, a short preview of a new musical headed to The Norma Terris Theatre in 2012; the Symposium panel discussion with musical theatre luminaries; "Pick-Three" festival seminar sessions; a Saturday evening pre-show dinner at the Gelston House and a Meet the Writers Reception which will complete the weekend's festivities. Also included in the special Festival Package is a tour of the expansive Goodspeed Costume Collection and admittance to the Friday Night and Saturday Night Cabarets, informal gatherings showcasing new songs by new and established artists.

Goodspeed Opera House tours will be offered throughout the weekend for both Festival Package and single ticket holders.

"The Seventh Annual Goodspeed Festival of New Artists, with its expanded programs and wonderful new talents, highlights our commitment to developing new musicals," said Michael P. Price, Executive Director of Goodspeed Musicals. "It's thrilling for us to see the Goodspeed campus bustling in wintertime. Our community comes alive when hundreds of musical theatre fans from around the country join the best and brightest new writers and performers as they work together to create the future of musical theatre," he added.

Productions from the three composing teams included in the Goodspeed Festival of New Artists and the schedule of Special Events for Festival Package ticket holders include:

Friday, January 13
Harmony, Kansas

7:30 p.m., Goodspeed Opera House

Music by Anna K. Jacobs

Book and Lyrics by Bill Nelson

A new musical with a lively, soulful score that follows Heath, a farmer in rural Harmony, Kansas and his city-born partner who talks him into joining the newly formed gay men's chorus. Heath discovers a love for making music and unexpected kinship. But when the group decides to perform in public, his world is turned upside down and all that matters to him is threatened.

Festival Cabaret
10:00 p.m., Gelston House
Showcasing new songs by new artists.

Saturday, January 14
Break-out Sessions
10:00 - 12:45 p.m., Gelston House

Broadway MVPs
Peter Filichia, Theater Critic and Author of Broadway Musical MVPs, names his picks for the most valuable players of each of the past 50 Broadway seasons-along with plenty of backstage dish. Book signing will follow.

There is Life After the Festival!
The Harmony, Kansas creative team shares the ups and downs of creating a new musical, where their project is headed next and how Goodspeed's Festival helped get it there.

Noël Coward: The Man and His Music
Noël Coward Cabaret Award Winner and Goodspeed favorite Nancy Anderson talks about the amazing life of Noël Coward and performs highlights from his indelible songbook.

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