Tucked away in the cozy Connecticut town of Chester, sits the Terris Theatre, the little theater which for 40 years has had a significant impact on American musical theater that belies its size and remote location.

It’s where teenage Ariana Grande got her start in “13” before heading to Broadway; where a pre-“Wicked” Idina Menzel sizzled in “Summer of ’42;" where Peter Dinklage was larger-than-life in “Cyrano.” It’s where Julie Andrews tried her hand at directing and where composers Jerry Herman, Frank Wildhorn, Jason Robert Brown and Stephen Schwartz premiered new shows — or took fresh looks at their older ones.

They were just a handful of theater artists among hundreds of others who worked on scores of shows at Goodspeed Musicals’ second theater in Chester (previously known as the Norma Terris Theatre), many of which would move on to New York, London and stages around the country — and the world.

From its first show in 1984 — “Harrigan ’n' Hart” starring “Star Wars” star Mark Hamill — the Terris became known as a place where musicals could be quietly tried out before paying audiences — and without critics (usually) — before moving on to other larger venues, including Broadway which saw Terris-premiering shows such as “By Jeeves,” “All Shook Up,” “The Story of My Life,” “13” and “Amazing Grace.”

This year the 200-seat theater is celebrating its 40th anniversary, with its first three-show season since 2019.

Norma’s gift

It all began in the early ‘80s when Michael Price, former longtime executive director of the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, sought to create a second stage exclusively to develop new musicals.

After seeking out spaces in East Haddam, only to be shot down by town officials, Price learned Susan Bates Inc.'s crochet hooks and knitting needle factory was leaving its manufacturing space in Chester where it had been since the early 1900s.

Bates donated its building to Goodspeed Musicals but Price still needed funds to turn it into a theater fit for musicals.

Stepping up was a musical theater star from another era: Norma Terris, who lived in Lyme and was a board member of the Opera House. Terris, who starred as Magnolia in the original Florenz Ziegfeld production of “Show Boat” in 1927, donated funds for the renovation, insisting that the new theater include an orchestra pit.

“She was a grand dame of the theater, a star of the old order” said Price. “She was a spectacular woman and she could still do a high kick into her 80s.” Terris died in 1989 at the age of 85.

Price said the Terris quickly developed a brand — and an audience — quite different from the opera house, which at that time specialized in reviving little known or under-appreciated American musicals.

“We wanted to do more edgy, more modern material than what we were doing at the opera house,” said Price.

A musical magnet

Soon young theater artists as well as seasoned veterans wanted to work at the out-of-the way theater.

“I was at a cocktail party in New York and Andrew (Lloyd Webber) came up to me and said, ‘I’ve got a show for your little theater that’s perfect.“ Price said the show was “By Jeeves” which went on to Broadway in 2001.

The Terris became “a magnet,” Price said, for those creating new work or taking a fresh look at shows that didn’t quite make it the first time, including Jerry Herman’s “Dear World,” Stephen Schwartz’s “The Bakers Wife” and Michel Legrand’s “Amour.”

“Casey Nicholaw (“The Book of Mormon”) would often say that no one would give him a chance to choreograph until he did ‘The Road to Hollywood‘ for us,” said Donna Lynn Hilton, Goodspeed’s artistic director. It was the same for composer Andrew Lippa who would later write Broadway’s “The Addams Family” debuted his show “john & jen” at the Terris. Hilton also pointed to composers Justin Paul and Benj Pasek who worked at the Terris on a musical version of “James and the Giant Peach.” The team would later win a Tony Award for “Dear Evan Hansen” and an Oscar for “La La Land.”

Hilton said the creatives — newbies and veterans — “would be game to roll up their sleeves and make changes,” depending on the responses from the Connecticut audiences. “I remember Henry Krieger (‘Dreamgirls’) was doing ‘Radio Girl’ here and he came in on a Thursday with a new song and by that night it was in the show. Peter Dinklage (‘Game of Thrones’) never stopped working on that role and that show while he was here.”

But when you’re out in rural Connecticut surprises can happen, said Hilton. An electrical blackout occurred during a midsummer performance of Frank Wildhorn’s new show “Camille Claudel” starring his then-wife Linda Eder. The theater’s generator was revved up and was able to turn on just the house lights — though no air conditioning — and the show went on. “It was a thrilling night,” she said.

The Terris proves to be a nurturing ground for future commercial producers, too.

“It was like an amazing graduate school for producing,” said then-Goodspeed associate producer Sue Frost, who later went on to produce Broadway’s “Come From Away” and the Tony Award-winning “Memphis.“

It was also a chance to see stars in the making. Frost remembers seeing young actors on stage that she just knew had “it” and would be stars some day, such as Sutton Foster who played a nun in “Dorian Gray.”

“I think Norma would be proud that the new work continues,” Price said. “She would be so happy.”

Following “A Complicated Woman” which runs through June 2, the theater will present “Ask for the Moon,” July 19 to Aug. 11, with book, lyrics and staging by Darko Tresnjak who directed “Anastasia” and the Tony Award-winning “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.” The third show, “No Love Songs” will run Sept. 27 to Oct. 27.