Goodspeed to Host 41 Writers for Annual Writers Grove

Goodspeed Musicals has revealed the participants for the 14th annual Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Grove at Goodspeed Musicals, which will be held Jan. 26 – Feb. 22 on the Goodspeed campus in East Haddam, Connecticut. A distinguished group of 41 established and emerging composers, lyricists and librettists representing 19 new musicals will gather in East Haddam creating a truly exceptional environment for discovery and inspiration at one of the premier writers’ residencies in the nation.
 
Established in 2013, the JMF Writers Grove is an unparalleled, long-term residency program devoted exclusively to musical theatre writing. Providing a sanctuary for composers, lyricists and librettists to embark on new musical theatre work or to devote a substantial amount of time to a work in progress, the Grove is a colleague-to-colleague program. For four weeks, starting Jan. 26, the writing teams work in residence in Goodspeed’s Artists Village, each team in their own house, with whatever support is needed, from dramaturgical to Goodspeed’s fine music department. In the evenings writers get together in an informal, salon-style environment to share the day’s work. This gathering allows the artists an invaluable opportunity to gain insight from one another. The Grove is the ultimate think tank of veteran Broadway and young working professionals in theatre today.
 
“The Mercer Grove at Goodspeed is a haven of creativity. We are tremendously grateful to the Johnny Mercer Foundation and our many new works supporters who make this month of inspiring work possible,” said Donna Lynn Hilton, Goodspeed Musicals’ Artistic Director.
 
Jonathan Brielle, Executive Vice President of the JMF and Writer/Producer in Residence stated, “Now more than ever, musical storytellers are essential to imagining a brighter future. The JMF Writers Grove at Goodspeed is one of the rare places where our work is allowed to grow with trust and care.”
 
Over the course of the program, Jonathan Brielle will again serve as Writer- and Producer-in-Residence. He is a Broadway songwriter/writer as well as a producer and writer advocate whose work spans stage, television, and education. With music and lyrics for Foxfire (Broadway, starring Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn); book music and lyrics for Himself and Nora (Off-Broadway, Outer Critics Best Musical nomination, James Joyce Center, Ireland and The Old Globe). Regional credits also include A Complicated Woman (music and lyrics, Terris Theatre/Goodspeed) and Nightmare Alley (Geffen Playhouse, NYMF). His cabaret musical 40 Naked Women, A Monkey and Me, developed at the O’Neill Cabaret Conference ran at the Axelrod Theater with Tovah Feldshuh. In Las Vegas, Brielle created Enter The Night (12-year run, Stardust Hotel) and MadHattan (New York, New York Hotel). He has also produced national tours (Rugrats Live, Goosebumps Live!) and writes for the TV series Wonderama. He serves as Executive Vice President of the Johnny Mercer Foundation. A former National Projects Director of the Songwriters Guild of America, Brielle is the founder of Vala, a platform for launching musicals and providing Forever Free arts education for grades K–12. Jonathan continues to work from Brielle Studios in a restored 1846 schoolhouse in N.J.
 
Blair Russell will serve as Resident Producer. He is a Tony nominated producer and developer of theatre and live performance whose experience ranges from fringe festivals to Broadway shows. His most recent projects include Pop Off, Michelangelo! which concluded a hit run in the West End and Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year. Some other projects include the hit concept album of EPIC: The Musical by Jorge Rivera-Herrans, the 12-time Tony-nominated Slave Play by Jeremy O. Harris, Lizard Boy by Justin Huertas, and the concept recording of the new musical For Tonight by Shenelle Salcido and Spencer Williams.
 
Joining the Grove for a third year is Rose Oser as the Resident Dramaturge. A Brooklyn-based theatremaker from the San Francisco Bay Area, they currently serve as the Producing Director of National Queer Theater (NQT), where they co-lead the organization’s programming and strategy.
 
Clifford Lee Johnson III returns to the Grove as Dramaturge where he previously served as the resident dramaturge for a number of years prior to a brief hiatus. He is a dramaturge and producer who specializes in developing new musicals and was the Director of Musical Development at Manhattan Theatre Club from 1993 to 2009.
 
Goodspeed’s Artistic Director Donna Lynn Hilton continues to guide efforts on the JMF Writers Grove at Goodspeed alongside Goodspeed’s Associate Artistic Director Michael Fling.