Middlesex COUNTY · Arts & community life
Goodspeed Opera House: a theater returns
A riverside commercial building saved and returned to musical theater.
Historical focus · 1876–1999
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The story in photographs
5 October 2011
Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut — later documentary photograph
Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut — later documentary photograph
Image credit & source
Carol M. Highsmith / The George F. Landegger Collection of Connecticut Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
No known restrictions on publication. Carol M. Highsmith photographs at the Library of Congress.
Original source · Reuse terms5 October 2011
Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut — later documentary photograph
Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut — later documentary photograph
Image credit & source
Carol M. Highsmith / The George F. Landegger Collection of Connecticut Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
No known restrictions on publication. Carol M. Highsmith photographs at the Library of Congress.
Original source · Reuse terms5 October 2011
Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut — later documentary photograph
Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut — later documentary photograph
Image credit & source
Carol M. Highsmith / The George F. Landegger Collection of Connecticut Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
No known restrictions on publication. Carol M. Highsmith photographs at the Library of Congress.
Original source · Reuse terms5 October 2011
Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut — later documentary photograph
Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut — later documentary photograph
Image credit & source
Carol M. Highsmith / The George F. Landegger Collection of Connecticut Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
No known restrictions on publication. Carol M. Highsmith photographs at the Library of Congress.
Original source · Reuse terms1 September 2011
View from the Connecticut River of the Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut — later documentary photograph
View from the Connecticut River of the Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut — later documentary photograph
Image credit & source
Carol M. Highsmith / The George F. Landegger Collection of Connecticut Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
No known restrictions on publication. Carol M. Highsmith photographs at the Library of Congress.
Original source · Reuse terms9 October 2011
View from the Connecticut River of the Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut — later documentary photograph
View from the Connecticut River of the Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut — later documentary photograph
Image credit & source
Carol M. Highsmith / The George F. Landegger Collection of Connecticut Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
No known restrictions on publication. Carol M. Highsmith photographs at the Library of Congress.
Original source · Reuse terms9 October 2011
View from the Connecticut River of the Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut — later documentary photograph
View from the Connecticut River of the Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut — later documentary photograph
Image credit & source
Carol M. Highsmith / The George F. Landegger Collection of Connecticut Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
No known restrictions on publication. Carol M. Highsmith photographs at the Library of Congress.
Original source · Reuse terms9 October 2011
View from the Connecticut River of the Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut — later documentary photograph
View from the Connecticut River of the Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut — later documentary photograph
Image credit & source
Carol M. Highsmith / The George F. Landegger Collection of Connecticut Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
No known restrictions on publication. Carol M. Highsmith photographs at the Library of Congress.
Original source · Reuse terms9 October 2011
View from the Connecticut River of the Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut — later documentary photograph
View from the Connecticut River of the Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut — later documentary photograph
Image credit & source
Carol M. Highsmith / The George F. Landegger Collection of Connecticut Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
No known restrictions on publication. Carol M. Highsmith photographs at the Library of Congress.
Original source · Reuse termsTHE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTOGRAPHS
People, places, and change.
Commerce and performance, 1876–1877
William H. Goodspeed built the opera house in 1876. It combined theater with offices, a general store and a steamboat passenger terminal. The first performances took place on October 24, 1877. River traffic brought performers and audiences into a building where business, travel and entertainment shared the same address. [1]
Preservation, 1958–1963
After a period of decline and use as state highway storage, the building faced demolition in 1958. Local supporters organized the Goodspeed Opera House Foundation in 1959. Restoration led to the theater’s rededication on June 18, 1963, with Oh, Lady! Lady!!, beginning a new chapter for the historic building. [1]
A producing theater and a library
The revived theater developed a reputation during the 1960s and 1970s, including productions of Man of La Mancha and Annie. A large 1975 donation of sheet music and scores helped establish its theater library. The collection’s first librarian arrived in 1979, linking performance with the preservation of musical-theater records. [2]
Sources & further reading (2)
Keep the sources close.
Download this collection’s notes, timeline and image credits. Photographs link to their original archives and require an internet connection.
Building dates and photograph dates are recorded separately. Later photographs are identified in their captions; unknown exposure dates remain unknown. Follow each image’s credit and reuse terms.