A friend of mine, Beth Blatt, who I met at NYMF 2005 (her show was THE MISTRESS CYCLE) is workshopping her new musical CARABOO with a staged reading at the Goodspeed Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, CT, a short drive from Goodspeed's home in East Haddam.

The Norma Terris Theatre was inaugurated in 1984 by the Goodspeed Opera House for the development of new musicals. The theatre is named in honor of the actress Norma Terris, star of Jerome Kern's SHOW BOAT and a devoted patron and trustee of the Goodspeed Opera House during her later years.

CARABOO, PRINCESS OF JAVASU, written by Marsha Norman (Book), Beth Blatt (Lyrics) and Jenny Giering (Music) was presented at NAMT last fall. This staged reading was directed by Gary Griffin.

So the day after I saw LI'L ABNER in East Haddam, I saw a 6:30pm performance of CARABOO in Chester.

First though, I went on a touristy visit to The Mark Twain House in Hartford. This was the house he built when he was 38, just before his first book "Innocence Abroad" was published.

He had moved to Hartford to be closer to his publisher and wasn't as yet "famous". The money for this huge and grand house came from his wife's family. They have done a splendid job restoring the house, complete with all the intricate Tiffany and Company stencils on the walls and ceilings. Only a small portion of the artifacts and furniture in the house are from the original house -- most are period pieces -- but they look so close to the photographs that they might as well be the original pieces.

It was nice to hear how much happiness was in the house that he shared with his wife and three little girls, Suzy, Jean, and Clara. It was during this period that he wrote his most famous works. Sadly, his wife and two of his girls (Suzy and Jean) would die before him, and he would suffer financial difficulty later on in life. The house was totally worth a visit, and we picked up a nice bag of Huckleberry jelly beans in the gift shop!

Then we went shopping in Chester and had an early dinner at wonderful French restaurant called Restaurant du Village, where my youngest daughter Trinity actually had "lapin" for dinner (we had to promise not to call it "bunny").

Richard Todd Adams happened to be appearing in CARABOO so it was fun to see him perform again (he was Brett in the NYMF 2005 production of PLANE CRAZY).

Richard was in fine form, as was the entire cast. They were really outstanding. The creative team rehearses for two weeks and then puts on performances over the weekend. Then, they work on it for another week and then do a final weekend of performances. The musical numbers were done as an insert in the program -- I'm guessing that is done because they'll change over the course of the workshop! It sounds like a great environment to really work the piece.

No costumes, minimal props and sets (including one VERY shaky ladder...gulp), but the show really came to life. It is based on a true story about a very poor woman in the early 1800s who pretends to be a foreign princess and manages to wend her way into British society (remember the movie with Phoebe Cates?). Kathy Voytko played Caraboo, and Richard Todd Adams played Eyenesso, her partner in fraud.

At the end of the performance, Beth hosted a "talk back" in the lobby to get feedback. Quite a few people stayed to ask questions and give comments, but my nine-year old daughter Trinity definitely had the most insightful and constructive comments of the bunch! Way to go Trinity!

I wish I could see it again this weekend to see how it is has changed!

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