Newtown's Brett Boles Spills 'The M. Tea" Online

NEWTOWN, CT - The M. Tea is the brainchild of Brett Boles, an award-winning musical theatre composer/lyricist and the Choir Director at Hall High School in West Hartford. In each TikTok episode, Mr. Boles "spills the tea" on the qualities of musical theatre songs that "work," from a songwriter's perspective, and somehow manages to do it all in under a minute.

"Welcome to The M. Tea, a series where I "spill the tea" on what makes certain musical theatre songs work, from a songwriter's perspective...all in under 60 seconds per episode!"

I am grateful to the Shubert Theatre for introducing me to this TikTok sensation through their Next Stop: New Haven AT HOME LATE NITE fundraiser on Feb. 11. Although I knew of Mr. Boles through his work with NewArts (Disney's THE LION KING, 101 DALMATIONS) and Trumbull Youth Theatre (CHILDREN OF EDEN,) I was unaware of his new venture. During the virtual entertainment for this event, Mr. Boles performed an exclusive edition of his series, talking about songs from the five Rodgers and Hammerstein's musicals that made their World Premieres on the Shubert stage. It was my favorite segment of the evening. Immediately after the virtual entertainment had ended, I found The M. Tea on Instagram, as I am not on TikTok, and fell into a rabbit hole of delight. I am happy to report that the short videos are linked on Mr. Boles' professional website and the new Facebook page.

In the series, the composer examines a wide variety of musical theatre pieces, carefully chosen to demonstrate what their composer/lyricist has done right when writing them. With the voice of a music teacher, he points out musical features in the well-known works that we should have noticed, but somehow never did. His insights, many based in music theory, are both fascinating and enlightening for those of us who have not studied music as much as we should have. What he has called his "crazy analysis" is really a brief deconstruction of many songs, both classic and contemporary; he often gives credit to the iconic composers that we all admire.

From Broadway World.com: "I get to combine my experience as a songwriter, my adoration of the musical theatre art form, and my passion for education all at the same time," Boles writes. The series was born out of a desire to educate musical theatre performers and consumers about how songs are put together. "I noticed that there was a lack of content like this, and my hope is that after listening to me pull back the curtain to reveal the creative process behind songwriting for the theatre, people will listen to musical theatre tunes with new ears, and be able to pick up on some of the nuances that make the songs come alive-and this is exactly what seems to be happening."

Because Mr. Boles meticulously keeps the videos under 60 seconds, he must speak extremely fast. Listeners are required to pay close attention to keep up, and will probably want to watch more than once to make sure that they didn't miss anything important. Keep an eye open for some very cute graphics matching the theme of each segment that quickly appear and disappear.

Mr. Boles posted on Wednesday that a milestone as been reached.

"Thank you to everyone for your support of The M. Tea! Without you all watching, it wouldn’t be a thing! 47,000 following on TikTok now!"

The videos will appeal to all ages, but are a gold mine for both teachers and students; it appears that some of the videos are shot in a high school classroom. Mr. Boles speaks our language, albeit very rapidly, so pay attention!

Mr. Boles works as a producer/narrator at Audiobook Creation Exchange: ACX.com and a lyricist at The Official BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. In 2013, he co-conceived From Broadway With Love: A Benefit Concert for Sandy Hook with Tony-winning producer and founder/president of Broadway Records Van Dean. As a vocal arranger, Brett has worked with Sirius XW Broadway channel darling Seth Rudetsky, another musical genius who often deconstructs Broadway numbers.

Sarah Jane Schostack posted this about The M. Tea: "Musical Theatre friends, especially teachers: if you don’t know what my best pal Brett Boles is doing on TikTok, check him out. Putting his genius musical brain, natural teaching ability and RAPID SPEECH abilities to good use over at the M.Tea!!!"

My current favorites are The M. Tea videos about songs from WICKED, RENT and HAMILTON, but I am sure that there will soon be segments that will become part of this list.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions in a normal year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and on Twitter @nancysjanis417 Check out the NEW CCC Facebook page.