Donna Lynn Hilton, the artistic director of Goodspeed Musicals, got a head’s up early last year about a new musical that might be ideal for Goodspeed.

It is called “Maggie,” about a Scottish widow raising her three sons in a hardscrabble world. The score is folk-pop, with a heavy Scottish influence.

The person who recommended it — theater producer Michael Rubinoff — had done the same about the musical “Come From Away,” which he had originally commissioned. It became part of Goodspeed’s 2013 Festival of New Musicals and then went on to become a huge Broadway and international hit.

This time, Rubinoff thought Hilton would be interested in “Maggie.” At the time, it was premiering at the Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton, Ontario. Rubinoff saw Goodspeed as the right next step for it, if it appealed to Hilton.

“We’ve been big fans of one another’s work and had been looking for something to collaborate on since (‘Come from Away’) … Michael and I just have similar taste, I’ve learned over the 10-plus years I’ve known him. I knew that he wouldn’t reach out to me if he didn’t think it was something that would resonate with me and with our audience,” Hilton said of Rubinoff, who is a partner on “Maggie” at Goodspeed as a commercial producer.

When Hilton saw “Maggie,” she recalled, “I really enjoyed it. I was very moved by it and almost immediately made the decision that if we could ... I would love to include it as the new musical in this season (at Goodspeed).”

And so “Maggie” is making its American premiere right now with a production at Goodspeed’s Opera House in East Haddam.

“Maggie” takes place in mid-20th-century Scotland, where a woman loses her husband in a mining accident when she is pregnant with their third child. Their other two children are under 5 years old.

“Against some really insurmountable — what ought to be for many people insurmountable odds — she manages to raise them on her own. … It’s a beautiful and, I find, heartwarming story about a woman who overcomes every adversity and yet still manages to find joy,” Hilton said.

“Maggie” was inspired by the real life of Johnny Reid’s grandmother. Reid, who co-wrote the songs and book for “Maggie,” is a major music star in Canada. (Hilton and her husband, Jay, went to see Reid in concert at a sold-out 5,500-seat venue.) Reid, who lives in Nashville now, has won many Canadian Country Music Association Awards, as well as Juno Awards.

Reid — who moved from Scotland to Canada as a teen — co-wrote the show’s book with playwright/book writer Matt Murray, and he co-wrote the songs with Murray and Bob Foster. Foster is a music director, composer and orchestrator/arranger who, like Murray, is Canadian. It is Reid’s first musical.

Upheaval in Scotland

The plot for “Maggie” begins in 1959 and spans the following two decades.

One of Maggie’s three boys wants to be a songwriter but has to work in the mines to support the family. Another of the sons is a very talented soccer player with dreams of getting out through his athletic prowess. And the third child is an excellent student who wants to be an engineer.

“Maggie” is set during a time when Scotland underwent tremendous hardship, Hilton noted. Maggie’s world is impacted by that.

During the years depicted, a lot of Scottish people were living in poverty and were hopeless about the situation because of the politics and economics.

There was a time in the late 1960s and early ’70s when Scotland was losing 3,000 people a week to other U.K. countries and territories because of the economic conditions, Hilton said.

“They refer to it as a brain drain, and many, many people were left with no choice but to leave the country to make a life,” she said.

Hilton recalled Mary Francis Moore, who is directing “Maggie” at Goodspeed and previously helmed the show in Canada, telling her about performances in the Great White North. While they knew that “Maggie” would land well with Scottish Canadians, they learned that it does the same with any immigrant community. It does, after all, explore the importance of home and both the value and pain of leaving home.

“So much of us with the support and love of our families have chosen to make our lives far from family in order to fulfill our dreams. It really honors that emotion,” Hilton said.

“Maggie” also reflects the dawning feminism of the era. Maggie is supported by a group of women who evolve, as many women did from the late 1950s through the 1970s, into more independent people with their own voices.

Humor in the mix

At a Goodspeed member event a few weeks back, a man asked Hilton if he was going to leave “Maggie” happy.

“I said to him, ‘Well, if I told you the plot of ‘South Pacific,’ I think you would assume you’re not going to leave uplifted, but guess what? You do. So I hope that people will take a chance and come experience something that I think will surprise and please them,” Hilton said.

And while the family in “Maggie” does face difficulties, there is plenty of humor in the musical, too. The trio of siblings have a close, loving relationship marked by the teasing that brothers tend to do.

And, Hilton said, “The community of people who rally around Maggie are funny, quirky, hard-working and yet find the joy in life — people that we would expect Scots to be.”

Why ‘Maggie’?

Discussing why “Maggie” was a good match for Goodspeed, Hilton said, “I’ve believed for a very long time that while our audience loves a good old classic like ‘South Pacific,’ they also are not afraid of their feelings and recognize that a great musical can also be a piece of work that moves you and touches you. …

“While I know some of our audience just wants to laugh and watch good dance, the majority of it is willing to lean in and absorb work that might be a little bit difficult and emotionally challenging. I think (‘Maggie’) is a great work about a powerful, strong mother who does everything she can do to make sure that her boys have the best chance in life after undergoing tremendous hardship. It’s about real people living their real lives and facing real challenges. That resonates with me and I think resonates with my audience.”

In addition, Goodspeed’s commitment to new work remains strong. Hilton said that, if she has her way, Goodspeed Musicals will stage a new work every season at its Opera House.

“I certainly will try to do that because we do need to grow our audience, and there is an element of the audience that wants work that is new. (By doing new shows here), they get to experience new work right here at home. They don’t have to go to New York City to see something that’s brand new,” she said.

k.dorsey@theday.com

If you go

What: “Maggie”

Where: The Goodspeed, 6 Main St., East Haddam

When: Runs through Oct. 20; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Wed., 7:30 p.m. Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 3 and 8 p.m. Sat., and 2 p.m. Sun.; also 2 p.m. on select Thursdays, and 6:30 p.m. on select Sundays

Tickets: Start at $30, and prices subject to change based on availability

Contact: (860) 873-8668, goodspeed.org.