Neighboring city wooing Goodspeed Opera

EAST HADDAM, Conn. — The fates of this town of 8,000 and the Goodspeed Opera House have been tied together for 127 years.

It's hard thinking of the town without thinking of the opera house — a towering, white Victorian confection known as a Tony-winning temple of new musical theater.

And the theater would not be the same were it not for the quaint New England flavor of East Haddam — a town of two small villages with historic houses, shops, farms, churches, winding roads and the picturesque Connecticut River flowing beside it.

But now the theater is considering building a new stage in nearby Middletown, a re-energized small industrial city that has offered the Goodspeed the moon in exchange for a share of its star power.

The Goodspeed's leaders were surprised and impressed by the town's offer, which includes a $5 million grant, expedited permits and free land downtown.

If the move is made, Goodspeed's leaders will keep the historic theater where it is and present a summer show in it. But the whole Goodspeed campus — including its nationally known set builders, painters, prop masters and its practice studios, expansive library, school, houses for actors and other assets — would leave East Haddam.

"This is a unique situation. This town would be very difficult for us to leave," said Goodspeed's executive director Michael Price. But the Middletown offer is attractive, he said.

Goodspeed has been planning for years to build a new theater with a larger stage to accommodate modern-day musicals and offer the amenities that modern-day audiences expect, Price said.

The theater was built in 1876. The upper floors housed the theater while the lower floors were used for offices, a store and a steamship terminal.

The theater closed after the death of its builder, shipping magnate William Goodspeed. The state used the building to shelter snowplows while it awaited demolition. A group of theater lovers saved and restored the building, which reopened in 1963.

But the building's historic charms are not the main draw. "The site is a first-time attraction. People may be charmed by the plaster, but if you don't give them a good entertainment value for their time and money, then they don't come back," Price said.

Theatergoers have to climb several flights of stairs or take the elevator to reach the stage. To accommodate patrons in wheelchairs, the theater simply unbolts seats from the floor. The Goodspeed's stage is 20 feet deep by 40 feet wide, with 398 seats.

In this space, the Goodspeed has worked magic. The theater has won two special Tony Awards, sent 16 shows to Broadway and launched such well-known musicals as "Man of La Mancha," "Shenandoah" and "Annie."