As the election nears, women have a mostly-forgotten heroine to thank for their right to vote: Belva Lockwood, a groundbreaking 19th-century lawyer and the first woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court. The short filmed musical “Lady Lawyer Lockwood Rides Her Tricycle”, a collaboration between Goodwill Theatre Inc. of Johnson City and Prospect Theater Company of NYC, examines the life of this suffragette and her decision to run for President in the 1884 election.
The project, written by Britt Bonney, and directed by Cara Reichel, will be released on Wednesday, October 28 at 7pm, just in time to remind women that their right to vote is something that should never be taken for granted, and that any individual can make a difference.
As public gatherings have been “on pause”, performing arts organizations have been forced to explore new and sometimes foreign mediums. The award-winning Manhattan-based Prospect Theater Company is an organization devoted to creating and presenting original musical theater works by emerging artists. Due to safety concerns, Prospect developed a new VISION series, consisting of six original short films aiming to capture the intimacy and immediacy of live theatre in a recorded format. Four pieces were filmed on location during a September residency at the historic Goodwill Theatre and Firehouse buildings in Johnson City, including the Belva Lockwood piece.
“Belva Lockwood was a truly extraordinary woman,” said Naima Kradjian, Goodwill Theatre CEO. “She was born in Royalton, NY and for many years, she ran a girls’ seminary school in Owego, there’s even the Belva Lockwood Inn there, in her honor.”
The musical’s premiere event will be kicked off by Jacey Powers of “Feminist Cocktail Hour”, sharing the “Belva-dka Lockwood Lemon Fizz” signature cocktail recipe, along with a short history of Ms. Lockwood’s historical contributions. To register for the free livestream event, feminists and history buffs can visit: prospecttheater.org. The performance will also be available after the fact on Prospect Theater Company’s YouTube channel.
“We’ve had a long and rewarding relationship with Prospect Theatre Company. When we heard they were thinking of creating a series of videos but needed a space to create in, we were happy to open our doors,” said Naima Kradjian, Goodwill Theatre CEO. “The Goodwill Theatre building, which turns 100 years old this year, was the perfect space to allow for social distancing while creating. We followed all the protocols of SAG-AFTRA, compete with a regular schedule of COVID-19 testing and onsite monitoring.”
Goodwill Theatre, Inc. and Prospect Theater Company have been collaborating since 2007 with a reading of Sacagawea. Collaborative projects have also included the staged readings of The Flood, Marco Polo, Evergreen, and most recently the musical The Hello Girls, which later went on to a successful Off-Broadway run.
During Prospect’s September residency at the Goodwill Theatre, health and safety requirements were generously sponsored by United Health Services, including regular COVID testing under the guidance of Health Safety Supervisor, RN Megan Farmer.
“We were thrilled to welcome professional artists – many of whom are Broadway veterans – into our incredible space,” continued Kradjian. “When someone steps inside the Goodwill Theatre building for the first time, they always have a moment of awe, and these videos help to capture the magic of the building while offering a virtual tour of the space.” Three floors of the historic Firehouse were also used for filming.
“Lady Lawyer Lockwood Rides Her Tricycle” features a book, music and lyrics by Britt Bonney, and is directed by Cara Reichel. The cast includes Ali Ewoldt, Fiona Santos, Tina Stafford and Jacob Keith Watson. The Director of Photography was Gabrielle Mariella, and the Film Editor was Kristen Brooks Sandler. The Music Director was Fiona Santos, and the Production & Projection Design by Lianne Arnold, with lighting design by Adam Honoré and sound design and audio engineering by Marián Gómez Villota. The Production & Project Manager was Josh Cape.
Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood (1830–1917) was an American attorney, politician, educator, and author. She was active in working for women’s rights, including women’s suffrage. Lockwood overcame many social and personal obstacles related to gender restrictions. After college, she became a teacher and principal, working to equalize pay for women in education. She supported the movement for world peace, and was a proponent of the Temperance movement.
Lockwood graduated from law school in Washington, D.C. and became one of the first female lawyers in the United States. In 1879, she successfully petitioned Congress to be allowed to practice before the United States Supreme Court, becoming the first woman attorney given this privilege. Lockwood ran for president in 1884 and 1888 on the ticket of the National Equal Rights Party and was the first woman to appear on official ballots. While Victoria Woodhull is commonly cited as the first woman to run for president, she was not old enough to run, unlike Lockwood, who received approximately 4,100 votes. Since women could not vote, and most newspapers were opposed to her candidacy, it was unusual that she received any votes. In an 1884 article, the Atlanta Constitution referred to her as “old lady Lockwood” and warned male readers of the dangers of “petticoat rule”.