Goodspeed Musicals has announced its 2019 season, which will launch with Meredith Willson’s Tony-winning The Music Man April 12—June 16, 2019. That family favorite will be followed by Because of Winn Dixie, the new musical by Duncan Sheik, Nell Benjamin, and Kate DiCamillo. The production, which runs June 18–September 1, is based on a preacher and his daughter who take in a mutt named Winn Dixie.

Following will be Billy Elliot The Musical, running September 13–November 24, 2019. With book and lyrics by Lee Hall, music by Elton John, and original direction by Stephen Daldry, the uplifting musical follows one boy’s dream to dance against all odds.

Two new musicals will play the Terris Theatre, including My Name Is Ben, running May 17–Jun 9, 2019, with book and lyrics Scott Gilmour and music by Claire McKenzie. The musical is described as the “true story of an ordinary man and his extraordinary life. From his tiny room in New York City, Bernhardt Wichmann III changed the lives of those around him without saying a word. Using just his notepad and pen and open heart, Ben turned a neighborhood of strangers into a community of friends.”

The final presentation will be Passing Through, a new musical by composer-lyricist Brett Rybeck and Eric Ulloa, running July 26–August 18. Passing Through, according to Goodspeed, “tells the incredible true story of a young man who journeys on foot from Pennsylvania to California, collecting stories as he goes. But when his trek brings to light an unresolved family crisis, he must use the lessons he’s gathered to finally confront his past.”