Goodspeed Musicals Set Readings for Three New Teen-Oriented Works

Goodspeed Musicals will present readings of three new musicals during its annual Festival of New Artists. The teen-oriented shows—Factory Girls, Band Geeks! and Life on the Mississippi, based on Mark Twain’s autobiography—will debut at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut, on January 16 through 18.

Life on the Mississippi features a book and lyrics by Douglas M. Parker and music by Denver Casado, and involves the young Samuel Clemens Twain’s birth name, who leaves home in 1858 to learn about steamboat piloting—only to learn more about life, death, love and writing.

Band Geeks! features a book by Tommy Newman, who co-wrote the music and lyrics with Mark Allen and Gaby Alter. It tells the story of the Cuyohoga High School Beavers Marching Band, who face an uncertain future thanks to low enrollment, tight budgets and that cool new kid on the block. It’s up to their husky tuba-playing captain to unite the Beavers and win back some respect at the Festival of Champions!

Written by Sean Mahoney and Creighton Irons, Factory Girls is set at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution and centers on America’s first independent working women. When one woman secretly rallies her co-workers against the burgeoning “soulless corporation,” her actions affect not only the girls and their community, but also the fate of the American worker.