Curtain goes up on Festival of New Artists

As Goodspeed's Festival of New Artists enters its fifth year, it has hit a happy milestone. For the first time, a show is making the jump from the festival to a full-fledged run at Goodspeed's Norma Terris Theatre.

"Band Geeks!" was part of last year's festival and now, from May 13 to June 6, it will play the Norma Terris in Chester. The show by Tommy Newman, Mark Allen and Gaby Alter revolves around a marching band of misfit kids.

In the meantime, this year's Festival of New Artists kicks off this weekend, and along with a trio of disparate shows comes an expanded line-up of seminars.

Donna Lynn Cooper Hilton, Goodspeed's line producer, says that they offered a symposium for the first time at last year's festival and were surprised how well it did, attracting 100 people.

"So we thought, 'Let's give them more,'" she says.

Tom Kitt, who won Tony Awards for best original musical and best orchestrations for the acclaimed "Next to Normal," is part of the symposium, along with producer David Stone ("Wicked," "Next to Normal").

In other sessions, Sue Frost talks about how a producer decides whether to invest in a show. Frost used to be Goodspeed's associate producer and is now the producer of the Broadway hit "Memphis."

When finding new musicals to be developed and given staged readings at this festival, the Goodspeed organizers look for a variety of attributes. They're drawn to projects that they find interesting but that are not ready for full productions. They look for talented writers who have a unique new voice but whose show wouldn't necessarily end up on Goodspeed's mainstage, Hilton says.

They seek shows, too, that are appropriate for the Hartt School college students who perform these readings.

Leading off this year's line-up is "Hello Out There," with book and lyrics by Eric Price and music by Frank Terry. It's 1995, and a trio of teens figure out how to use the Internet to earn (possibly illegally) tens of thousands from the stock market. But then the S.E.C. finds out.

The second piece, "Rewrite" by Joe Iconis, is actually three rock musicals in one: "Nelson Rocks!," in which a guy tries to fix his life before the class bell rings; "Miss Marzipan," about a high-stakes dinner party; and "The Process," in which a writer's characters come alive.

The third show is a more traditional Goodspeed show. "Lincoln in Love," with book and lyrics by Peter Kellogg and music by David Friedman, focuses on when young Lincoln, mourning his late fiancee and starting to serve in the Illinois legislature, meets socialite Mary Todd, who will eventually become his wife.

Hilton says, ultimately, "There are other people who produce excellent new musicals, but really nobody has a greater history at it than Goodspeed does."

Tickets are $15 each for performances ($10 students).

The cost for the entire weekend is $75. The festival seminars are only open to people who buy the weekend package; for information on what other events the package includes, visit www.goodspeed.org or call (860) 873-8668.

The "Creating 'Next to Normal'" Noel Coward Foundation Symposium is free and open to the public.

FRIDAY

"HELLO OUT THERE"- 7:30 p.m., Goodspeed Opera House Book and lyrics by Eric Price, music by Frank Terry

SATURDAY

"REWRITE"- 7:30 p.m., Goodspeed Opera House Book music and lyrics by Joe Iconis

FESTIVAL SEMINARS- 11 a.m. and 12:15 p.m., Gelston House For people who have paid for the weekend package: "Famous Flops" with historian John Pike; "Reliving the Follies" with author Ted Chapin; Sue Frost on how a producer chooses a show; and Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich on finding and adapting material for musicals.

NOEL COWARD
FOUNDATION SYMPOSIUM-
4 p.m., Goodspeed Opera House "Creating 'Next to Normal'"

SUNDAY

"LINCOLN IN LOVE"- 7:30 p.m., Goodspeed Opera House Book and lyrics by Peter Kellogg Music by David Friedman