Goodspeed Announces The Story of My Life Starring Gets and Chase

Goodspeed Musicals, the only two time Tony Award winning theatre in the country, is proud to announce that The Story of My Life, an inspiring new musical, will be the fall production at The Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, Connecticut. This captivating production begins October 10 and is scheduled through November 2.

This new musical tells the story of two childhood friends and how that friendship profoundly defined their lives. Thomas Weaver is a best selling, award-winning author. Alvin Kelby was his best friend for thirty years. But time can test the bonds of friendship – and when it does, Thomas calls on the only resource he has – his stories of Alvin – to learn where things went wrong. A richly melodic musical, The Story of My Life is a soaring tribute to the power of friendship and the people who change our lives forever.

The Story of My Life is an intimate musical comedy with music and lyrics by Neil Bartram and book by Brian Hill. Mr. Bartram is the recipient of a Dramatists Guild Jonathan Larson Fellowship, a Jonathan Larson Foundation Award, and was a finalist for the 2007 Fred Ebb Award. He wrote the music and lyrics for The Nightingale and the Rose and Somewhere In The World which ran for five seasons at the Charlottetown Festival (Canada's third largest theatre festival). Mr. Hill is currently Associate Director of Disney's The Little Mermaid and served as Resident Director of The Lion King for six years.  For the Stratford Shakespeare Festival he directed Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience and was Associate Director of Susan H. Schulman's acclaimed productions of Man of La Mancha and Fiddler on the Roof.   He was Resident Director of the Toronto, Vancouver and national companies of Forever Plaid and served as Associate Director to Susan H. Schulman for the U.S. national tour of Sunset Boulevard and the first national tour of The Sound of Music.

Tony Award nominated Malcolm Gets, whose Broadway credits include Passion, Amour, and Dreamgirls, will play Alvin. Gets may be best known to audiences as Richard on the television comedy Caroline in the City and was seen the recent feature film Sex and the City. Thomas will be played by Will Chase, whose Broadway credits include High Fidelity, Aida, The Full Monty, Rent, and Miss Saigon.

The Story of My Life will be directed by Richard Maltby, Jr., who returns to The Norma Terris Theatre where he previously directed Goodspeed Musicals' production of The 60's Project.  On Broadway, Mr. Maltby directed Ring of Fire, Fosse, Song and Dance, and won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for Ain't Misbehavin'.

Additional Broadway credits include the lyrics for Big, and Miss Saigon.

The musical director for The Story of My Life is David Holcenberg, whose Broadway credits include Good Vibrations, Mamma Mia!, and Seussical and as Associate Conductor for the Broadway revival of Show Boat.

Jonathan Tunick, longtime orchestrator for television, film, and the stage, will provide the orchestrations for The Story of My Life. Mr. Tunick's numerous Broadway credits, more than forty to date, include A Catered Affair, 110 in the Shade, Lovemusik, A Chorus Line, The Color Purple, Nine, Into the Woods, Company, and Titanic. With his Tony, Emmy, Grammy and Academy Awards, he is one of five living persons holding all four major awards.  Robert Brill, who designed the Broadway productions of Cabaret, Assassins, A Streetcar Named Desire, Anna in the Tropics and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, will design the sets. Wade Laboissonniere, who served as Assistant Costume Designer for the Broadway productions of The Caretaker, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Associate Costume designer for The Sound of Music, will design the costumes.   The lighting designer is Ken Billington whose previous designs for Goodspeed Musicals include The 60's Project; They All Laughed!; Road to Hollywood; and Red, Hot & Blue. Mr. Billington has designed numerous shows on Broadway including the revivals of Fiddler on the Roof, Chicago, and Hello Dolly!, and the recent productions of Sunday in the Park with George, High Fidelity, The Drowsy Chaperone, and Ring of Fire.  Carl Casella, who designed the recent Broadway productions Tale of Two Cities, Xanadu and Ring of Fire, will design sound.  The Story of My Life is produced for Goodspeed Musicals by Michael P. Price.

The Story of My Life will run October 10 – November 2, 2008. Tickets are on sale now to Goodspeed members and will go on sale to the general public on September 5. For more information call the Box Office at 860.873.8668 or online at www.goodspeed.org.

Dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theatre, Goodspeed Musicals produces three musicals each season at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn., and additional musicals at The Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, Conn., which was opened in 1984 for the development of new musicals. The only regional theatre to receive two Tony Awards (for outstanding achievement), Goodspeed also maintains The Scherer Library of Musical Theatre and The Max Showalter Center for Education in the Musical Theater. Goodspeed gratefully acknowledges the support of American Airlines, official airline of Goodspeed Musicals; additional support from Blum Shapiro; Hoffman Auto Group; Mohegan Sun; Henkel Corporation; Updike, Kelly & Spellacy P.C.; Essex Savings Bank; and the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism.