Disco is back with a bang as ‘Summer: The Donna Summer Musical’ takes the stage across the country during its Broadway Across America tour. I was fortunate to catch up with Brittny Smith during the show’s Austin run and pick her brain about her background and how she sees the show.

Smith plays Diva Donna as well as Mary Gaines in the show, and has a resume that makes her a premium choice to play the music icon. Being born and raised in Houston, TX — a blessing in itself — Smith has been in the entertainment industry since childhood, having landed her first national gig at age seven. Although Smith didn’t grow up during the height of the Disco Era, she did get a healthy dose of disco at home with her mom cleaning on Saturday mornings.

“I'm actually not that far removed from the disco era — I'm an 80s baby. I look so much younger, but I'm an early 80s baby at that,” she laughed. “The disco era was the 70s and kind of sizzling out when I was a kid, so I still had a little bit of that lingering influence as a young girl, growing up in Houston, so I did have a connection to Donna Summer’s music.”

As a young adult, Smith was a dancer for the Houston Rockets during her time at Texas Southern University, and was signed by Matthew Knowles (Beyoncé’s father) to lead the music group Lady Lux, as well as co-starred in ‘Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming’ alongside Pooch Hall and Teyana Taylor — so, needless to say, the woman has talent to spare. In Summer, she channels these talents to bring life to her character without simply giving audiences her best Donna Summer impression.

Brittny Smith (“Diva Donna”) and the female ensemble of Summer. Photo by Denise Trupe

“I really try not to impersonate Donna, but embody her,” Smith elaborated. “I still brush up on videos, I studied her mannerisms — things that she does when she's performing. I watched a lot of her interviews, and I've read her book. There’s friends and family members of hers that I've connected with, that I talk to all the time actually, and there are elements about her that people just didn't know — specifically her humorous side. There's a lot of times in the show where I get to tell jokes and I have these cool one-liners and I deliver in such a way that I think is authentic to who she was and her delivery.”

In studying the life of Donna Summer, Smith quickly developed a kinship with the Queen of Disco. Decades apart, both women faced similar challenges — Summer’s agent pushing her to be more sexy and journalists focusing more on Smith’s bedroom escapades than her public talents — while pushing to be taken seriously as entertainers.

“One thing that's really big that a lot of people didn't know about Donna is she really wanted to be taken seriously as a serious vocalist — as a serious singer,” she continued. “Her first single that hit big was ‘Love to Love You,’ and it is sexy and she is moaning, and out the gate in disco became kind of a sex symbol. I resonated with that because throughout the show, she also keeps saying, ‘I wanna be taken seriously. Those songs are great, but I also wanna do this where I get to belt and I get to use this particular part of my voice.’ I resonate with that theme so much just being in the industry, going through different sectors of it and just being a woman and also being a woman of color in this industry.”

(l to r) Brittny Smith (“Diva Donna”), Charis Gullage and the ensemble of Summer. Photo by Denise Trupe

While Summer tells the story of how Donna Summer risked it all to break through barriers, becoming the icon of an era and the inspiration for every music diva who followed, it’s impossible to overlook the feel of the era, and that’s not lost on Smith. From studio sessions to trouble on city streets, this show paints a robust picture of Summer’s experience.

“The number one on my list of things I enjoy about the show is we get to wear these — specifically me — beaded gowns and I get to wear beads and sequins and that kind of stuff,” she said. “There's a disco ball and lights flashing and stuff like that. It's just fun every night. So, rarely does the show get boring.”

The show features more than 20 of Summer’s classic hits, making it a hit for practically any audience, but for Smith it’s hard to pin down a personal favorite.

“Honestly it depends on how we're feeling that week,” Smith admits. “It changes from week to week, month to month sometimes. But I have to say one that's consistent is ‘Last Dance.’ It's not only one of her most iconic, more recognizable songs, but it's the finale song for obvious reasons. The audience, no matter where we are, they jump up. They hear the first note of the song and immediately they're clapping. I lead that song in the beginning with kind of the slow solo and then the beat drops and the whole cast comes in and it's just this big party. But as soon as they hear that first adlib, the first note, every audience is erupting in applause. Every night that is just the best feeling. So it has to be my favorite.”