For the producers, it was a turn from being sole producers to being part of a team. “We were brought on after Cicely Tyson signed on. This was also different in the fact that the executor of the estate [for the rights to the story] had the idea and approached Michael Wilson, who was coming off of Gore Vidal’s The Best Man,” Byrd shares. Once on board, he and Jones went to work in bringing together the elements for a hit production.
This project has been particularly interesting for the fact that 80 percent of its audience is white. And while Motown has been a credible competitor for the production, adding iconic public relations strategist and cultural trend expert Marvet Britto to the team has proven to be a key strategy for maintaining the growth of the business model. She is no stranger to positioning distinct productions for success. Britto worked with Lee Daniels to build his brand at the start of his career. Dedicated to empowering creative leaders, she brought the muscle of relationships and resources that carried “Monster’s Ball” (2001), “The Woodsman” (2004) and “Shadowboxer” (2005) to critical acclaim, setting into motion the partnerships that made “Precious” (2009) possible.
Britto saw the same things in Byrd and Jones that she had recognized in Daniels, and in addition to her talents, she also brought on New York Knick Tyson Chandler and his wife Kimberly as producers. Britto’s perspective on the influence of celebrity in supporting the stage outlines the significance of cooperative investing. “We are bringing people who have vast influence in one aspect of the creative field to a different space. As a culture, we understand the gravity of our global influence and how we must be involved on the business side,” Britto attests.
She continues, “I came to the project after meeting Stephen Byrd and Alia Jones. I was inspired by what they were doing. I remember going to see For Colored Girls when I was young. Who doesn’t remember Stephanie Mills in The Wiz? We have been missing that magnitude. Bountiful is a historical addition to our theatrical cannon.”
