Rediscovered Porter Unwraps Holiday Schedule

EAST HADDAM — Tony Award-winner Debbie Gravitte (Jerome Robbins’ Broadway), Peter Reardon and Ben Lipitz continue to star in roles originated by Ethel Merman, Bob Hope and Jimmy Durante in the jazzy and hilarious Red, Hot and Blue!, which continues on Goodspeed Opera House’s stage through the end of the year.

The theatre has released its holiday schedule for the final two weeks of the production. Performances are as follows: Wednesday, December 20, 2 and 7:30 pm Thursday, December 21, 7:30 pm; Friday, December 22, 8 pm; Saturday, December 23, 4 and 8:30 pm; Wednesday, December 27, 2 and 7:30 pm, Thursday, December 28, 7:30 pm; Friday, December 29, 8 pm; Saturday, December 30, 4 and 8:30 pm; and Sunday, December 31, 2 and 6:30 pm. Patrons at both New Year’s Eve performances will be invited to enjoy complimentary champagne and party favors to ring in the new year.

Written in 1936 by the composer and lyricist Cole Porter and bookwriters Russel Crouse and Howard Lindsay, the same team that created the successful Anything Goes two years earlier, Red, Hot and Blue! introduced the world to such Porter delights as “It’s De-Lovely” and “Ridin’ High.”

Goodspeed has reworked the forgotten classic with a revised book by director Michael Leeds, who has incorporated seven songs from the Porter repertoire including “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” and “Just One of Those Things.”

Tickets are $20 to $42, available through the Goodspeed box office, 860/873-8668, open seven days a week.