“Ben Bonnema’s clever, catchy songs...a bushelful of delights.”
![The cast of THE APPLE BOYS at HERE Arts Center, 2018 [photo by Richard Termine]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54ca53eae4b0d3b0cbb5b5b3/1573496071591-KTT4KY7TM4AV5XUJODIK/The_Apple_Boys_01%28c%29Richard_Termine.jpg)
The cast of THE APPLE BOYS at HERE Arts Center, 2018 [photo by Richard Termine]
Jenn Colella and the cast of ONE WAY at NAMT’s 2019 Festival of New Musicals
Ben Bonnema & Christopher Staskel receive the ASCAP Harold Adamson Lyric Award
Ben Bonnema is the recipient of the Fred Ebb Award, the Jonathan Larson Grant,
the ASCAP Frederick Loewe Award, and the Harold Adamson Lyric Award (with Christopher Staskel). The New Yorker raved about his show THE APPLE BOYS, calling it “a bushelful of delights” and that he wrote “clever, catchy songs.” It will receive its regional theater premiere at Bucks County Playhouse in May 2025 (book by Jonothon Lyons).
ONE WAY, written with Christopher Staskel, was at NAMT’s 2019 Festival of New Musicals starring Jenn Colella (Come From Away, Tony Nom.). It was also developed at the Musical Theatre Factory, the Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriters Project and Writers Colony at Goodspeed. Ben wrote book, music & lyrics to Adult Swim's PETER PANIC, a full-length musical within a mobile game starring Gideon Glick and Emily Skeggs, downloaded over two million times (developed by James Marion).
Other full-length: BOYS WHO TRICKED ME, called "heart-healing musical theater" by Joshua Barone of the New York Times (Musical Theatre Factory); THE LOST GIRL with Arianna Rose (Florida Festival of New Musicals 2021). He contributed additional sound design and composition to Punchdrunk's SLEEP NO MORE and additional orchestrations for Ana Gasteyer's album I'm Hip. His play-by-mail, “The Constellation Melody,” was part of Artistic Stamp’s 59E59 Residency.
Film/TV: Switch Hitter Haze (2019 SPLIFF Film Festival, writer & composer).
Ben holds an M.F.A. from NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program and a B.A. in Music Composition from Whitworth University. He's an organizer with Theater Workers For A Ceasefire and is a founding member of the Musical Theatre Factory.
NOVELS
THE GRAVITY OF US
By Ben Bonnema
Details coming soon…
PLAYS
Tara, a young woman with two years to live, gathers her family to her apartment to review her ideal funeral. After, however, she reveals why she really invited them: as the climate crisis worsens, she wants to make a difference in her limited time left. She’s made a radical plan…
Ultimately, the play asks: What’s it gonna take to make change?
To request the script, please email katiegamelli@paladinartists.com
CONTACT
THEATER:
KATIE GAMELLI
Paladin Artists
KatieGamelli@paladinartists.com
860-930-0757