"Carnival" at Goodspeed Musicals has Acrobats, Jugglers, Puppets and Magicians

The original cast album design for Carnival.
Carnival is one of those classic book musicals that tells a heartbreaking love story surrounded by the color and vibrancy of a traveling troupe of artists. With a gorgeous score by the almost forgotten Bob Merrill, it is a musical I actually saw on Broadway with Anna Maria Alberghetti in the lead role of Lili, a young innocent.

Scheduled to run from July 9 – Sept 18 at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn. This production will officially open on August 4, 2010. The last time I saw this musical was at the Berkshire Theatre Festival in 1979 or so. It's been a long time waiting for a top notch production, which the Goodspeed name always promises.

Lauren WorshamThe magical and heart-warming tale of a naïve young woman who eagerly joins a traveling circus. Surrounded by a riot of acrobats and jugglers, music makers and clowns, she is dazzled at first by the troupe’s manipulative magician. In the end she finds happiness with a disillusioned puppeteer who can only express himself through his delightful puppets. Based on the film Lili and with songs like “Love Makes the World Go Round” and "Her Face," Carnival! casts a romantic spell over the entire audience.

In addition to the Music and Lyrics by Bob Merrill Carnival's book is by Michael Stewart, based on Material by Helen Deutsch with Revisions by Francine Pascal.

Now to the cast. Lili will be played by Lauren Worsham whose gorgeous voice I heard up at the Weston, VT Playhouse two summers ago in Adam Guettel's Light in the Piazza. She broke my heart with her acting.

Adam MonleyPaul will be played by Adam Monley who appeared on Broadway in Mamma Mia! . Mr. Monley played Dominque in The Norma Terris production of The Baker’s Wife.

Marco will be played by Mike McGowan whose Broadway credits include Ragtime, Grease, The Apple Tree and The Producers. Mr. McGowan previously performed in Goodspeed’s 2001 production of They All Laughed.

Rosalie will be played by Michelle Blakely who performed the Broadway revivals of Annie Get Your Gun and Grease. Jacquot will be played by Nathan Klau. Schlegel will be played by Laurent Giroux whose Broadway credits include The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Dancin’ and Pippin. Mr. Giroux returns to Goodspeed where previously he played M. le Marquis in The Baker’s Wife.

Joshua DeanThe ensemble will include Joshua Dean and Ben Franklin, co-founders for New York based aerial theatre company Suspended Cirque. Mr. Dean has performed around the world as a ballet, modern, and musical theater dancer. Mr. Franklin has performed all over the world as an actor/singer/dancer. He has worked in numerous regional theatres, national tours, world cruises, Off-Broadway, and Lincoln Center.

Price Waldman from Broadway’s The Little Mermaid and Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! joins the ensemble. Mr. Waldman returns to Goodspeed where he previously performed in Sweeney Todd and Amour.

Other members of the ensemble include Timothy Hughes, Kara Kimmer (Goodspeed’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum), Robin Masella, Clifton Samuels, Amy Shure, Justin Urso and Dana Winkle (Goodspeed’s Pippin and Mack & Mabel). The swings will be Miguel Edson and Melissa Steadman.

Carnival! will be directed by Darko Tresnjak, who directed Goodspeed Musicals’ Amour and A Little Night Music. Carnival! will be choreographed by Peggy Hickey, whose previous Goodspeed Musicals credits include Brigadoon, King of Hearts, Amour, On The Twentieth Century, and A Little Night Music.

Scenic designs will be by David P. Gordon whose New York Credits include String Fever, Cheat, and Princess Turandot. Mr. Gordon also designed the Goodspeed production of A Little Night Music.

Costume Design will be by Fabio Toblini. Mr. Toblini has served as Assistant Costume Designer for Broadway’s Triumph of Love and assisted Costume Designer Ann Hould-Ward with her Broadway sensation Beauty and the Beast . Mr. Toblini served as Assistant Costume designer for Goodspeed’s revival of Man of LaMancha in 2000.

Lighting design will be by John Lasiter whose designs for Goodspeed Musicals include Annie Get Your Gun, Camelot, Big River and 1776. His off-Broadway credits include The Seagull, Common Vision, and Make Me A Song.

Puppet designer for Carnival! will be Robert Smythe. Mr. Smythe is considered one of the foremost puppet artists in the United States. As the founder and Artistic Director of Mum Puppettheatre, the only regional theater in the United States devoted to puppetry, he wrote, directed and performed over 20 original productions using puppets, masks and human actors.

The Music Director for Carnival! will be Michael O’Flaherty. He is in his 19th season as Goodspeed’s Resident Music Director. F. Wade Russo will be Assistant Music Director. Orchestrations will be provided by Dan DeLange, who provided the orchestrations for Goodspeed Musicals’ Annie Get Your Gun, Camelot, 42nd Street, Half a Sixpence, High Button Shoes, Singin’ in the Rain, The Boy Friend, Red Hot and Blue, Call Me Madam, and Babes in Arms. Carnival! is produced for Goodspeed Musicals by Michael P. Price.

Performances and Tickets

Carnival! will run July 9 through September 18, 2010. Curtain times are Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m. (with select performances at 2:00 p.m.), Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. (with select performances at 6:30 p.m.). Tickets are available through the Box Office (860.873.8668), open seven days a week, or on-line at www.goodspeed.org.

Goodspeed Musicals "Annie Get Your Gun" Hits a Bullseye

The Company of Annie Get Your Gun at Goodspeed Opera House until July 3. Photos by Diane Sobolewski.
Theatre companies do Broadway musicals all the time, but few productions ever seem to measure up to the originals. The one reliable exception is the little Goodspeed Opera House, hidden away in East Haddam, Connecticut, just southeast of Hartford. This is one company that almost always hits a bullseye.

Jenn Gambatese as Annie Oakley

Since Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun opened this past weekend, we had to revisit this musical tale about Annie Oakley (1860-1926), who was a sharpshooter from Ohio, and her husband, Frank Butler.

The verdict? The audience rewarded it with wildly enthusiastic applause, and so did I. It's fresh, funny and fabulous. The love they lavished on this musical is right up there on stage to hear and see. There's an energetic cast of two dozen singers and dancers who put their hearts into the show. The choreography by Noah Racey was dazzling. The work of the hard working performers was enhanced by the sparkling sound, with eight top notch musicians in the orchestra pit.

This edition of Annie Get Your Gun is not the same as the original, however. Cuts - most significantly of "I'm An Indian Too" - and updates were made to both book and song to bring it into the 21st Century, and to avoid some of the earlier racist cliches that were common in the mid 1940's.

From the opening notes of "There's No Business Like Show Business" to the rip roaring final duet of "Anything You Can Do" the two lead actors, Jenn Gambatese as Annie Oakley and Kevin Earley as Frank Butler filled the hall with glorious singing and acting that made the old fashioned book almost believable. Despite all its puns the audience loved every line, got every joke. I had a grin that went from ear to ear for most of the show. So much so that my jaw is sore today.

Kevin Earley as Frank Butler and the company of Annie Get Your Gun at Goodspeed Opera House.
Success of course has many mothers. Nevertheless, a big portion of the credit has to go the incredibly clever director, Rob Ruggiero who used every inch of stage space available. His cast swarmed and swirled under the big top, through the crowned heads of Europe and into a high society gathering. One dance took place on the top of a railroad car which rolled on and off stage with ease.

David McDonald made Buffalo Bill Cody a gentleman ringmaster in this role. Equally impressive were Bill Nabel as Pawnee Bill and Rebecca Watson as Dolly Tate. Impeccable timing in delivering his lines was Chief Sitting Bull played by the delightful Michael Nichols.

Orville Mendoza - who I first heard at Barrington Stage Company - carried the roles of Running Deer and several others over the course of the evening.

Rounding out the major figures are the two lovers Winnie Tate (Chelsea Morgan Stock and Tommy Keeler (Andrew Cao). Their voices were sweet, if not terribly loud.

As usual, the Goodspeed's production was world class, even with the limited playing space this jewel box of a theatre has to work with. Michael Schweikardt's set was highly creative, billowing posters and curtains doing the work of dividing the locations and scenes with speed and decisiveness. The costumes by Alejo Vietti were just amazing to see, detailed right down to the dirt and grime on Annie's leather and rough hewn clothes.

Anyone who is looking for a top notch musical - of the old fashioned variety - should find their way to East Haddam and see this superb company for themselves. You will quickly discover why Goodspeed is the home of Broadway hits - they have sent more musicals to Broadway than any other regional theatre company.

Annie Get Your Gun. Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Original Book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields. Revised by Peter Stone. First performance April 16, 2010. Recently extended to play to July 3. Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut. About 2 hours, 15 minutes with one intermission. http://www.goodspeed.org/