East Haddam Village and the Goodspeed Opera House

The Village of East Haddam is unique in many magnificent ways. The Village is probably most known for its nationally known Goodspeed Opera House which has been run for decades by Tony-award winning Executive Director Michael Price. The Opera House is one of Connecticut's premier tourist attractions; visitors can see Broadway style and caliber musicals in their own backyard. The Goodspeed Opera House was the original home of Broadway musicals The Man of LaMancha, Shenendoah and Annie before they made Broadway history on the "Great White Way" and launched the careers of the likes of Andrea McArdle and solidified Richard Kiley as a bonafide Broadway star.

Also unique about the Village, which is located in the Gateway Conservation Zone, is a partnership effort between the Gateway Commission and the Town of East Haddam to develop standards that are slightly different than those that apply everywhere else in the Conservation Zone of the lower river. When the East Haddam Planning & Zoning Commission wanted to adopt a "village district" where structures, including the Opera House, would not meet the adopted standards of the Gateway Commission, the two groups put their heads together and came up with a negotiated compromise that satisfied the needs and mission of both parties.