“The Great American Mousical" - directed by someone named, hmmm, Julie Andrews - opens tonight at Goodspeed's Norma Terris Theater.

This is the second time the legendary actress and singer has directed for Goodspeed, the first being a revival of "The Boy Friend" a few years back. The show is based on a children's book that Andrews wrote with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton. This marks Andrews' first developmental production of a new musical.

"Mousical" - an affectionate tribute to stage musicals- is about mice who live in the basement of a Broadway theater, where they perform their own shows. Things get dicey when the theater is slated for demolition and the diva mouse goes missing.

The creative team that transformed the book "Mousical" into a musical are composer Zina Goldrich and lyricist Marcy Heisler, who have won a Drama Desk Award and who were the first women to receive the Fred Ebb Award for Musical Theatre Songwriting. Hunter Bell wrote the book for the stage version of "Mousical"; he was nominated for a Tony Award for "[title of show]."

Leading the cast are Emily Skinner, whose Broadway creidts include "Billy Elliott" and "The Full Monty," and Paul Carlin, who has been at Goodspeed before in "1776" and "The Boy Friend."

- KRISTINA DORSEY

"The Great American Mousical," opens tonight and runs through Dec. 2, Norma Terris Theatre, 33 North Main St., Chester; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Wed.; 7:30 p.m. Thur. (except 8 p.m. tonight); 8 p.m. Fri.; 3 and 8 p.m. Sat.; and 2 and 6:30 p.m. Sun. Thanksgiving week schedule is 2 and 7:30 p.m. Nov. 19; 2 and 8 p.m. Nov. 23; 3 and 8 p.m. Nov. 24; and 2 and 6:30 p.m. Nov. 25; tickets start at $43, and all prices subject to change based on availability; (860) 873-8668, goodspeed.org.