Goodspeed Musicals says the Grove will follow strict COVID protocols.Īmong the musicals that were worked on in the first decade of the Johnny Mercer Grove are Michael R. This year’s retreat will feature its largest group in years - 30 participants working on 15 new musicals.

The Goodspeed also has a formidable library of musical theater scores, history books and other items. Experienced playwrights and composers are on hand to mentor and assist the Grove residents, as are members of the theater’s music department. They meet regularly in yet another house to share their work and receive immediate feedback from peers, in a casual setting that resembles a salon or open mic event. Johnny Mercer was the lyricist whose hits included “Moon River,” “Autumn Leaves”, and “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive.” His foundation is dedicated to helping the careers of up-and-coming songwriters.Īt the Johnny Mercer Writers Grove, musical-theater composers and writers live and work together in some of the many small houses that the Goodspeed owns near the opera house. The Goodspeed partnered with the Johnny Mercer Foundation to create the Grove retreat a decade ago. The Goodspeed is best known for its public performances at the Goodspeed Opera House in the summertime, but the theater is a year-round enterprise dedicated to American musical theater in all its forms, from classics such as “Cabaret” and “42nd Street” (both of which are part of the 2022 Goodspeed season) to musicals that haven’t been written yet. Goodspeed Musicals’ Johnny Mercer Writers Grove, an annual winter retreat where musical-theater creators work on new shows, will return to its in-person set-up this month after having to meet virtually last year because of the pandemic.

Goodspeed opera house 2019