MISS HYSTERIA, F WORD and More Set for Goodspeed's 20th Annual Festival of New Musicals Announced

The 20th Annual Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals will take place from January 16-18, 2026. The three-day festival of brand-new works will light up the Goodspeed campus with a weekend filled with insider events, seminars, a cabaret, staged readings, and a special 20th Anniversary Festival Concert.
 
The Festival of New Musicals kicks off on Friday, Jan. 16, at The Goodspeed with a staged reading of Miss Hysteria. Inspired by true events, Miss Hysteria follows the wrongly institutionalized Louise Gleizes, a young actress in 19th-century Paris, who strikes a bargain to perform symptoms of “hysteria” for freedom and discovers the power—and peril—of owning her own story. It features a book and lyrics by Laura Schein & Ben Zeadman with music by Zeadman. Saturday, Jan. 17, will be highlighted by a staged reading of F Word, a heartwarming coming-of-age story about Tessa, a teenager on the brink of aging out of the foster care system, as she faces the future and finds family where she least expects it. Music and lyrics are by Alyssa Payne with a book by Sara Matin. The final day of the festival features Foolproof, a brassy, toe-tapping musical comedy that reimagines The Three Stooges as three sisters, Mo, Mary, and Curly, who land punches and punchlines in their effort to apprehend a notorious robber, claim the cash reward, and save their family boutique. It has a book by Megan Loughran & Sonya Hayden, lyrics by Loughran and music by Hayden. Additional festival events ― including seminars, an exclusive cabaret (an informal gathering showcasing new songs by new and established artists) and a special 20th Anniversary Festival Concert ― will round out this exciting weekend.
 
Single tickets for each reading are $30 and $15 for students. Single tickets are $20 for the Friday evening cabaret and $35 for the 20th Anniversary Festival Concert. Goodspeed’s ever-popular Festival Gold Package will offer patrons a weekend full of special events. The $156 package includes admission to all three staged readings, several festival seminars, the 20th Anniversary Festival Concert, and the Meet the Writers Q&A. The Festival Silver Package includes all three staged readings for just $81. Package holders are invited to add-on tickets to the Friday evening cabaret ($18 each) and 20th Anniversary Festival Concert ($30 each). Package holders and those with single tickets can add on the Saturday evening pre-show dinner at the Gelston House for $36 per person. Single show tickets and festival packages are available through the Goodspeed Box Office (860.873.8668), open weekdays at 10:00 a.m. and weekends at 11:00 a.m. Single show tickets can also be purchased online at www.goodspeed.org.
 
The Goodspeed festival offers new and established artists the rare opportunity to thoroughly work on their projects with the help of Goodspeed’s renowned resources and within its artistic environment. Preparations for the festival begin on Jan. 5 when the three teams of writers and composers arrive on the Goodspeed campus and dedicate their time to further writing and composing their musicals in development. They are joined by musical theatre students from The Hartt School and Western Connecticut State University who take part in rehearsals and continued development of the material. The intensive retreat culminates with Goodspeed’s Festival of New Musicals, which showcases staged readings of the new musicals developed during the two-week program.
 
The Festival of New Musicals is part of Goodspeed Musicals’ Max Showalter Center for Education in Musical Theatre. Created in 2002, Goodspeed’s Showalter Center inspires and nurtures musical theatre artists and students by providing a unique and comprehensive range of training and educational programs to serve both the national and local academic communities.
 
The 2026 festival is sponsored by the Burry Fredrik Foundation; The Richard P Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation; The Max Showalter Center for Education in Musical Theatre; The Shubert Foundation, Inc.; The Jessica Waldman Thompson Endowment in Support of The Festival of New Musicals; and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of the Arts. Additional support for the festival is from our in-kind sponsors: Sennheiser and United Airlines.

 
INFORMATION ABOUT THE THREE STAGED READINGS AND SCHEDULE OF SPECIAL EVENTS FOR FESTIVAL PACKAGE HOLDERS
 

Friday, Jan. 16

Miss Hysteria
7:30 p.m. | The Goodspeed
Book & Lyrics by Laura Schein & Ben Zeadman
Music by Ben Zeadman
 
Inspired by true events, Miss Hysteria follows Louise Gleizes, a young actress in 19th-century Paris who is unjustly confined to a notorious mental institution. To secure her freedom, she strikes a bargain with the ambitious neurologist Dr. Charcot: to perform the symptoms of “hysteria” in his sensational public spectacles. As show and reality collide, Louise discovers the power—and peril—of owning her own story.
 
Festival Cabaret: Rona Siddiqui
10:00 p.m. | Gelston House
 
Grammy-nominated artist Rona Siddiqui is a composer/lyricist whose work has earned her the prestigious Kleban Prize for lyric writing, Jonathan Larson Grant and Billie Burke Ziegfeld award. Rona’s cabaret will feature music from her show THE BROWN MUSICAL: A New Brown Musical, an autobiographical comedy about growing up bi-ethnic in America. Learn more about Rona here: ronasiddiqui.com
 

Saturday, Jan. 17

Seminar Sessions
1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. | Gelston House
Seminar titles will be announced at a later date.
 
Festival Dinner
5:30 p.m. | Gelston House
Enjoy a three-course meal with fellow festival-goers.
 
F Word
7:30 p.m. | The Goodspeed
Music & Lyrics by Alyssa Payne
Book by Sara Matin
 
On the brink of her eighteenth birthday, Tessa faces the reality of aging out of the foster care system and starting a life of her own. With a contemporary musical theatre score, F Word is a heartwarming coming-of-age story about facing the future and finding family where you least expect.
 
20th Anniversary Festival Concert
9:30 p.m. | The Goodspeed
 
We're celebrating 20 years of Goodspeed's Festival of New Musicals with a very special concert featuring songs from the presentations you've loved sung by the amazing performers you've seen on our stage. 
 

Sunday, Jan. 18