The 18th Annual Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals will light up the Goodspeed campus with a weekend filled with insider events, seminars, cabarets and staged readings. The Festival kicks off on Fri Jan 12, at The Goodspeed with a staged reading of Photosynthesis. The musical features Book, Music & Lyrics by Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako. Sat Jan 13, will be highlighted by a staged reading of Letters to the President, a musical featuring actual letters to the President of the United States since the founding of the nation, conceived by Michael Bello & Jessica Kahkoska. The final day of the Festival features The Snow Goose, a soaring tale of unlikely friendship with Music by Claire McKenzie, Book & Lyrics by Scott Gilmour and based on the novel by Paul Gallico. Additional Festival events ― Including seminars, symposium and exclusive cabarets ― will round out the weekend. Preparations for the Festival begin on Jan 2 when the three teams of writers and composers arrive on the Goodspeed campus and dedicate their time to further writing and composing their musicals in development. They are joined by musical theatre students from The Hartt School and Western Connecticut University who take part in rehearsals and continued development of the material. The intensive retreat culminates with Goodspeed’s Festival of New Musicals, which showcases staged readings of the new musicals developed during the two-week long program. To see a full schedule and purchase ticket, visit www.goodspeed.org. Press contact: Carol Giroux/Goodspeed Musicals (860/873-8664 x323)...