[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 100 (Tuesday, July 9, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1227]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SALUTING THE GOODSPEED OPERA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SAM GEJDENSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 9, 1996

  Mr. GEJDENSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute yet another 
achievement of the Goodspeed Opera House and its executive director, 
Michael Price.
  ``By Jeeves,'' a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Ayckborn, 
will appear at the Norma Terris Theater in Chester, CT in October. The 
work, inspired by the P.G. Wodehouse stories about Jeeves the butler, 
will be yet another feather in the cap for the Goodspeed, a theatre 
dedicated to the development and preservation of musical theatre.
  The Goodspeed is the Tony award winning house where ``Annie'' and 
``Shenandoah'' premiered over 20 years ago. Since that time, the 
theatre has sent more than a dozen new shows to Broadway, including 
last year's hit ``Swinging on a Star.''
  The Goodspeed currently maintains two separate houses, the 398 seat 
main stage in East Haddam, as well as the 200-seat Norma Terris in 
Chester. The Goodspeed-at-Chester is a unique place developing new 
musicals and nurturing emerging artists. These artists have a space at 
Goodspeed where they can develop their work and get ready for 
commercial audiences without the commercial pressure of Broadway.
  Musical theatre is a uniquely American art form. The spaces that 
Goodspeed provide to artists and theatre patrons alike are an 
invaluable asset to the cultural life of the United States and eastern 
Connecticut in particular.
  And so I congratulate Mr. Price and everyone else on the ``By 
Jeeves'' team. Thank you for your work and the enjoyment you have 
brought me and thousands of others.

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