Goodspeed Opera House News

On November 9, Primary Stages will host 'Leading Ladies,' the organization's 25th Anniversary Benefit Gala, honoring influential women who have contributed to the theater's work over the past 25 years. The event will take place at the Grand Hyatt New York and begins at 6:30pm.

Long Wharf Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Managing Director Ray Cullom, will present the beloved musical The Fantasticks, directed by Amanda Dehnert, from October 7 through November 1, 2009, on the Mainstage.

Long Wharf Theatre announces the cast of its upcoming production of The Fantasticks, book and lyrics by Tom Jones, music by Harvey Schmidt, directed by Amanda Dehnert. The play will run from October 7-November 1 on Mainstage.

RGA Productions presents Frankenstein, a concert and rock music telling of the iconic Mary Shelley tale featuring a Grand Rock style that evokes the sound of Pink Floyd, Evanescense, Alan Parsons Projects, Metallica, Stravinsky & Bartok.

Arena Stage presents an innovative take on the world's longest-running musical, The Fantasticks by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt. Director Amanda Dehnert (Oregon Shakespeare Festival‘s All's Well That Ends Well and Stratford Shakespeare Festival's Cabaret) and famed set designer Eugene Lee (Tony Award for Broadway's Wicked, Candide, Sweeney Todd) take a spin on this timeless love story by staging it in Rocky Point, an abandoned amusement park in Rhode Island. This whimsical twist on the classic musical is full of buoyant humor, charming music and incredible magic that will thrill audiences of all ages. The Fantasticks runs November 20, 2009 - January 10, 2010 at Arena Stage at the Lincoln Theatre, with an official opening on Friday, November 27, 2009.

The Theatre Company at CAP21 presents The Dorothy Strelsin New Works Reading Series -Salvation, a New Comedy by James McLindon. Salvation will be presented Monday, November 9th, 7:30PM.

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, a new musical based on the beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder series of classic American books, will open October 27, 2009 at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center as part of the HCA/TriStar Broadway at TPAC series.

THIS HOLIDAY SEASON IS GOING TO BE 'DREAM-Y' - David Elzer, Peter Schneider and Crooning Crabcakes, LLC are thrilled to announce that the Ovation nominated (Best Musical Intimate Theatre, Best Featured Actor - Jim Holdridge), critically-acclaimed (LA Times CRITICS' CHOICE, Backstage CRITIC'S PICK, LA WEEKLY GO!) smash-hit world premiere production of LIFE COULD BE A DREAM, written and directed by Roger Bean (The Marvelous Wonderettes) with choreography by Lee Martino (Reprise On Your Toes, On The Town) and musical direction by Michael Paternostro (Kiss of the Spider Woman, Thrill Me) is EXTENDING AGAIN through SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27 at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood.

David Elzer, Peter Schneider and Crooning Crabcakes, LLC are thrilled to announce that the critically-acclaimed (LA Times CRITICS' CHOICE, Backstage CRITIC'S PICK, LA WEEKLY GO!) smash-hit world premiere production of LIFE COULD BE A DREAM, written and directed by Roger Bean (The Marvelous Wonderettes) with choreography by Lee Martino (Reprise On Your Toes, On The Town) and musical direction by Michael Paternostro (Kiss of the Spider Woman, Thrill Me) is EXTENDING through Sunday, October 25 at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood.

Martin Charnin, creator, director and lyricist of Annie, will be theatrically reunited with his original Annie, Andrea McArdle, for the first time since the mega-musical was on Broadway in 1977. They team up again in Love is Love, a brand new musical revue conceived and directed by Charnin, which will premiere in Florida at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre for ten performances as a special limited engagement from October 15 - 25, 2009.

Goodspeed Musicals, the nation's only two-time Tony Award winning theatre, announced today that it will build 17 new homes to be used for New Actor Housing on the Goodspeed Campus in East Haddam, Conn. The New Actor Housing initiative represents the largest capital project in Goodspeed history. Construction is set to begin this Fall with a target completion date of Fall 2010. A project of this magnitude is certain to have an immediate and positive economic impact in East Haddam as well as throughout the state of Connecticut.

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, a new musical based on the beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder series of classic American books, will arrive on November 24 at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri. Melissa Gilbert, who rose to fame as a child playing ‘Laura' in the hugely successful NBC television series 'Little House on the Prairie' during the 1970's, now continues her legacy ‘on the prairie' by taking on the role of Ma. LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE will also star Steve Blanchard as Pa and Kara Lindsay as Laura. Tickets for the St. Louis engagement of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE are on sale now. Tickets may be purchased by calling 314-534-1111, online at www.metrotix.com, or by visiting the Fox Theatre box office.

The anticipated new Broadway production of Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's Tony Award® winning musical RAGTIME has announced complete casting of its 40 member company.

Goodspeed Musicals, the only two time Tony Award winning theatre in the country, is proud to announce the cast of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. This hilarious musical comedy of errors from the director who brought you Goodspeed's On the Twentieth Century and Promises, Promises will run through Nov. 29 at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn. This production will be sponsored by Bank of America and associate sponsor Connecticut Light and Power. The production opens tonight, October 21st.

Goodspeed Opera House, the only two time Tony Award winning theatre in the country, is proud to announce the opening of A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM. This musical comedy of errors from the director who brought you Goodspeed's On the Twentieth Century and Promises, Promises will run from Oct. 21 - Nov. 29 at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn. This production will be sponsored by Bank of America and associate sponsor Connecticut Light and Power.

Drama Desk Nominee Jon Peterson returns in Song Man, Dance Man, a one man show about the one man shows at The Triad Theater: July 20, August 24, Oct. 20, Nov. 17, all at 7pm. Free event at Barnes and Noble: July 22 at 6pm.

Drama Desk Nominee Jon Peterson returns in Song Man, Dance Man, a one man show about the one man shows at The Triad Theater: July 20, August 24, Oct. 20, Nov. 17, all at 7pm. Free event at Barnes and Noble: July 22 at 6pm.

A new musical about a runaway slave who becomes one of America's first Black Cowboys will debut this fall when CROSS THAT RIVER is presented by The New York Musical Theatre Festival and Patricia Harris, starting October 12, 2009 at TBG Theatre (312 West 36th Street - 3rd Floor) in New York City.

According to a report in Variety, Goodspeed Musicals will present three classics next year, two of which the theater company will be staging for the first time. They include Irving Berlin's 'Annie Get Your Gun,' Bob Merrill's 'Carnival' and Frank Loesser's Pulitzer Prize-winning 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.'

Martin Charnin, creator, director and lyricist of Annie, will be theatrically reunited with his original Annie, Andrea McArdle, for the first time since the mega-musical was on Broadway in 1977. They team up again in Love is Love, a brand new musical revue conceived and directed by Charnin, which will premiere in Florida at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre for ten performances as a special limited engagement from October 15 - 25, 2009.