Britt Bonney
The Composer Lyricist Cabaret
The Phoenix Theatre Company, Phoenix, AZ, April 22, 2023
Reviewed by Lynn Timmons Edwards
The Festival of New American Theatre is celebrating its 25th anniversary. It continues its tradition of offering a showcase, The Composer Lyricist Cabaret, at The Phoenix Theatre Company.
The April 2023 showcase featured Britt Bonney, an accomplished pianist/music director who is currently a part of the musical team for the revival of Camelot on Broadway. She is also a talented, poised singer who could be a cover model and has a smile that lights up the stage. She introduced herself with “High Cotton Living” from her musical My Precious Snugglefluff which she co-wrote with Nadav Wiesel. The character seemed autobiographical; it was about a southern girl who was moving on up to find adventure in the Big Apple. Bonney’s bio noted that she is frequently commissioned to write new works for young audiences, and this may have been one.
The cabaret cast of singers included four very talented locals—veterans Seth Tucker and Katie McFadzen as well as two singers who were new to me: Jari Haile and Sheilah Utley. McFadzen took on the role of the matriarch obsessed with her cat Snugglefluff by singing “Only the Best,” much to the disappointment of her nephew, portrayed by Tucker, who sang “Would You Love Me Auntie?” (A stuffed cat would have been a better prop than a hand puppet.) Either way, we were cheering for the nephew to succeed in killing the cat. Lady Lawyer Lockwood Rides Her Tricycle is a musical based on a true story of 19th Century lawyer Belva Ann Lockwood, the first woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. It was commissioned by the Prospect Theatre Company. McFadzen’s broad character voice and comic skills were well suited to the lead character who travels about on a tricycle and decides to run for the presidency in 1884. Tucker did a brilliant character flip from forlorn child to senior senator with the aid of a sport jacket and his vocal and acting skills. Haile portrayed the younger Bella, and Tucker played her husband and sang very sexist anthem, “Let a Man Take Care of It All.”
Bonney took a personal moment to share a song she had written for the cabaret, “My One Must-Have.” It was a charming, easy-on-the-ear song about her recent plight in her search for an apartment in New York City with her boyfriend. He was in the audience and took the stage when she finished to show his appreciation for being her “must have.”
The highlight of the cabaret was her latest show Montgomery, which has been in development for five years and received a reading at the Kennedy Center in 2018. The music had a contemporary sound and centered on a story of the early days of the civil rights movement. The main character was 15-year-old Claudette Colvin, who was arrested for not giving up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama, which happened before the Rosa Parks incident. However, the local civil-rights leaders, including Parks, decided to squelch Colvin’s story in favor of Parks, who they believed was better suited as a poster child for the cause. Haile shined on the songs “Make a Move” and “Rebellion on My Mind.” Utley was also delightful as her neighbor, Margaret, who couldn’t wait to spread the gossip of Colvin’s arrest in “Girl in Trouble.” The number reminded me of a modern version of “The Telephone Hour” from Bye Bye Birdie. In the closing number from Montgomery, “Long Road Behind You,” Utley stepped in as Colvin so Haile could sing the role of Rosa Parks, describing the heavy costs born by the civil-rights protestors. Bonney’s vocal-harmony arrangement was stunning, and the ensemble performed it well after having only 10 hours of rehearsal. Unfortunately, Montgomery has been put on a back burner by the New York theater community, which is wrestling with the issue of whether a young white composer/lyricist has the “right” to tell a Black story. This was discussed further in the Audience Talk Back that followed the cabaret and there was overwhelming agreement that the musical should move forward. Perhaps PTC can produce it in partnership with the Black Theatre Troupe.
The cabaret closed with another standalone song, “Don’t Make Me Compete” (co-written with Anna Marquardt). It was a light pop song that had Tucker singing lead along with doo-wop back-up vocals from the women. It is a single-joke song about a young man who begs his girlfriend not to make him compete with her attraction to Ryan Gosling.
Bonney’s résumé includes working with Stephen Schwartz on the cast albums of the 2017 Beauty and the Beast and Disney’s the Hunchback of Notre Dame. She is an alumnus of the BMI Workshop and the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat. She clearly loved her first trip to Phoenix to be a part of the festival, and she has promised not to let her busy schedule as a music director keep her from her love of composing. She’s a gifted pianist and singer who could easily put more cabaret dates on her to-do list.
