![]() The creatives – director, music director, and choreographer – take a knowledgeable, long look back into the history of American musical theater, searching for inspiration. Like with every creative venture, a bit of alchemy is involved in the process of selecting the shows. Our job is to take these old shows and revitalize them and put them on the stage for appreciation fifty, sixty or seventy years later.” What we do is take a look at the projects from the past that are not normally done and rework them so that they will say something to audiences today and entertain audiences of today. Shows that were popular at the time of their creation resonated with the population. He explains the Goodspeed’s mandate, “We draw from the past to contribute to the future! But you can’t draw from the past and present museum pieces. Price has served as Executive Director of the Goodspeed Opera House since 1968. Finally, a group of dedicated conservationists prevailed and restored it to its present status. Later, as a storage depot for the State of Connecticut Highway Department, the building teetered on the brink of collapse. ![]() ![]() Although the building initially debuted as a theater, after Goodspeed’s death it served as a militia base during World War I. It was built in 1876 by banking and shipping tycoon William Goodspeed to provide a venue for his love of theater. The structure itself has played a variety of roles. Approaching Goodspeed by either car or boat, her fanciful façade is sure to impress – but, like a beautifully wrapped present, her gift lies inside. Beyond her intimate, local setting she has become an international icon in fulfilling her mission to present and preserve the American musical. She is the Goodspeed Opera House and, though physically diminutive, her presence and scope are widespread. She was rededicated in 1963 with the opening of a new musical – coincidentally named Oh Lady! Lady! ”Ĭonnecticut’s noble grande dame was almost destroyed in the mid-twentieth century but a group of dedicated preservationists rescued this damsel in distress. Bedecked in white gingerbread skirts and over one hundred years old, she wears her age well. “The eminent Victorian lady presides over her domain on the banks of the Connecticut River in East Haddam.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |