INTERVIEW: A mother’s love for her son is the focus of ‘Brilliant’ new musical
Photo: Kimberly Suskind stars as Sarah in the new musical Brilliant. Photo courtesy of creative team / Provided by Kampfire PR with permission.
Brilliant, a new musical by Dani Tapper, follows the character of Sarah (Kimberly Suskind), a devoted wife and mother, who cares for her son Adam, who has recently been diagnosed with behavioral challenges. As the audience experiences through song and story, Sarah and her husband face a difficult decision concerning their son and his future. There are no easy choices, and each uphill battle is seemingly replaced by an even larger one.
The musical will play an extremely limited engagement Sept. 28 to Oct. 2 at Theatre Row in New York City. Misti Wills will direct the production, which is being co-presented by Dani Tapper Productions and the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival (the festival is also directed by Wills).
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Tapper about the new musical; she wrote the music, book and lyrics. The NYU graduate has built a career for herself as a children’s performer in Cleveland. In addition to releasing music albums, she has also offered theater and music classes to young people for years. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
Where did the inspiration for Brilliant come from? Is it purely fictional or based on real life?
Brilliant was born almost entirely from personal experience. Most times the dialogue came so easily to me because I was reliving the exact conversations in my head that had taken place at some point in my life. However, I also incorporated many of my friends’ experiences as well. It turns out many of our experiences with our children and husbands were very similar. That is what made me realize how universal this story really is.
How long has the show been in development?
I began working on Brilliant in 2016.
How did this current production come about? How did the stars align?
I am a composer at heart, and this show developed as a collection of songs representing the different emotions I was experiencing while raising my son who was struggling. After about a year or so I met with a writer at a theatre convention who said I needed to first create a story, and then I would know which songs I needed and how they would fit into the story. He also recommended several books to read about learning how to write!
I’ve been going to theatre all of my life, so I already had an understanding of the “road map” of a musical story. But I still had so much to learn. It took me about another year to come up with that first draft. I then looked around for a writer to help with the development, and fortunately quickly met up a with a teacher at my daughter’s school who had previously written and produced several musicals. We worked together on Brilliant for about another year and had a few small readings.
Then as the show began to develop further I realized that only I could really tell this story the way it should be told because I had lived it every day of my life, so I continued to work on the script on my own. By early 2020 I was starting to have more readings for larger groups, including groups of mothers of children with special needs. Those were very special nights.
By March 2020, I was accepted into the festival, and for the next year I spent most of the time really working on the story to get it as tight and ready as possible. I actually got very sick in June 2020, and I would say I have to be thankful the festival was postponed a year, or I never would have been able to have participated.
What’s it like to work with director Misti Wills?
Misti has been such a pleasure to work with so far. We just seem to be very aligned on how we see the show and the characters. I love her creative ideas, and I feel very confident handing the reigns over to her when it comes to the creative vision of the show.
Do you believe parents in the audience will have some important takeaways from the piece?
Yes — so many! This is a story for all parents, no matter who your child is and if they have a diagnosis or not. We all have dreams of who we think our child may be, and we all know the feeling of having a child who is not exactly what we expected. And as parents we are all are just trying to do our best, even if it means we fall short sometimes. I think parents, especially mothers, often times need a reminder that it’s OK if things aren’t going right. There is a song in the show called, “Fill this Home With Love.” The idea is that as parents our main goal is to fill our homes with love. If we can do that, if only for a few moments, or a day here and there, then we are doing OK.
What’s the future beyond this short engagement? Are you hoping for more performances?
I love this show. And I don’t mean I love it because it’s the greatest thing ever written. I love it because it’s real, and I think it’s important. It has become a part of many people who have watched it grow over the last five years. So yes, I would love to see it be able to reach more audiences in any way possible, if only to provide solace to other parents who are struggling. It’s a relatively simple show, especially in terms of musicals, which hopefully will allow it the opportunity to be performed in a variety of venues.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Brilliant, by Dani Tapper, will play Sept. 28 to Oct. 2 at Theatre Row in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
