Goodspeed Opera House

An 1876 Victorian Theatre On The Connecticut River, Restored And Reopened In 1963; Dedicated To The American Musical, With Man Of La Mancha, Shenandoah And Annie Among The Shows That Originated Here Before Broadway · East Haddam, Connecticut

William Goodspeed was a shipping and banking man who in 1876 built himself a six-storey Victorian pile on the Connecticut River at East Haddam, with his offices and a store below and a theatre on the top floors, reached by a staircase that steamboat passengers climbed straight off the dock. It decayed into a state highway department storage depot and was nearly demolished before a preservation campaign restored it, reopening in 1963 with a new purpose: the American musical, specifically. Since then Goodspeed has become the most significant developer of new musical theatre outside New York - Man of La Mancha, Shenandoah and Annie all began here before Broadway, along with dozens of revivals. The auditorium seats under four hundred, which is why the reputation is enormous inside the business and almost unknown outside it. There is no general access to the building: the season runs roughly April to December and you get in by buying a ticket to a show or to one of the announced backstage tours.

6 Main Street, East Haddam, East Haddam, Connecticut, 06423, United States

SEASONAL, and organised around a production schedule rather than opening hours. The season runs roughly April to December with several productions in repertory succession, performances most evenings and matinees on set days, and dark nights between runs. Backstage tours of the building run on announced days, usually in the morning and usually in season only. There is no general public access to the theatre outside performances and tours.

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