Goodspeed Musicals is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theater and the creation of new works, located in East Haddam, Connecticut. Its landmark Goodspeed Opera House is a distinctive feature of the view from the Connecticut River and is the birthplace of some of the world’s most famous musicals, including Annie, Man of La Mancha, and Shenandoah.
Goodspeed Musicals also includes the Norma Terris Theatre in Chester as well as several writing and performing seminars. Goodspeed Musicals is considered one of the foremost regional theaters in the United States to date producing 250 musicals, over 70 world premieres, and sending 21 productions to Broadway. Goodspeed Musicals is the first regional theatre in America to earn two special Tony Awards, one in 1980 for outstanding contributions to the American musical and a second in 1995 for distinguished achievement for a regional theatre.
The Opera House was originally built by a local merchant and banker, William Henry Goodspeed. Construction began in 1876 and finished in 1877. Despite the name, it was not in fact an opera house, but rather a venue for presenting plays. Its first play, Charles II, opened on October 24, 1877. After William Goodspeed’s death in 1882, the opera house fell into disrepair, facing a series of less glamorous uses—from a militia base during World War I to a general store and a Department of Transportation storage facility.
The building is unique for a theater. The theater itself is actually located on the top two floors of the building, making for interesting and sometimes difficult scenery and show load-ins. Scenery is loaded-in from the dock area up a vacant elevator shaft that is now outfitted with a winch system to haul the scenery up to the stage level. Much care has to be taken in order to get the scenery up the shaft without scratching or ruining the scenery. One story told around Goodspeed is that while loading in the scenery for Annie’s original pre-Broadway run, a strong gust of wind took a large piece of scenery out of the hands of the loaders and blew it into the Connecticut River.
