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Susan Birkenhead, Gretchen Cryer, Kathie Lee Gifford, Carol Hall, Henry Krieger, Melissa Manchester, and Pam Tills are among the songwriters who will contribute to the score of Hats! The Red Hat Society Musical, which will gets its world premiere at the New Denver Civic Center, beginning on October 7.

The musical will be directed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett, who received two Tony Award nominations for her direction and choreography of the Broadway musical Swing!, and feature a book by playwright Anthony Dodge and his wife Marcia Milgrom Dodge (who is currently directing the Bay Street Theatre's production of The Who's Tommy! No casting has been announced.

The show focuses on a woman about to celebrate her 50th birthday who meets several members of the Red Hat Society, a real-life national group of women over 50 who come together to have fun. The group was officially formed in 1998, and gets its name from the original six members who all dressed in red hats (and purple clothing) when getting together for tea. Today, the Society has more than 40,000 chapters in all 50 states as well as 30 countries around the world.

A workshop production of the musical will take place August 3-5 in New York City.