Video: Inside Rehearsal For Goodspeed's 20th Annual Festival of New Musicals
The weekend will be filled with insider events, seminars, a cabaret, staged readings, and a special 20th Anniversary Festival Concert.
By: Stephi Wild Jan. 13, 2026
The 20th Annual Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals will take place from January 16-18, 2026. Check out an all new video from rehearsal for the festival, featuring clips of the cast and creative teams talking about the shows!
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. 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.
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