Jennifer Hope Wills: A (Tiny) New Addition to the Phantom Family
About the author:
A Broadway show is not a 9-to-5 workplace (to say the least!), so the concept of maternity leave isn’t talked about very much—except at The Phantom of the Opera. Broadway’s longest-running show is also one of the most family-friendly, with no fewer than five new moms and four new dads recently taking time off to bond with baby. The most high-profile example is Jennifer Hope Wills, who joined Phantom in April 2006 as a Christine alternate and assumed the leading lady role that December. Wills, who is married to special effects/prosthetics makeup artist Vincent Schicchi, began her leave in August 2008 and returned to the show in June 2009. For what happened in between, you’ll just have to read her charming essay. 
I was never really the type who dreamed about having a family. It was my brother who was so great with children and who we all thought would be the first to have kids. As fate would have it, my sister has five and I’m on my first.
It wasn’t until I met my gorgeous husband, Vincent Schicchi, that I started feeling those motherly urges. I was extremely happy in my marriage, my life and my work as a Broadway actress, but there seemed to be something tugging at me to bring a child into our incredibly blessed life. How would that fit into a career in the demanding and unpredictable world of the theater?
Luckily, I am blessed to not only have a husband who’s also in the arts, but to be a part of a company that has a long history of supporting women taking maternity leaves, and one in which family—like our onstage and backstage family at The Phantom of the Opera—is very important.
Vincent and I were overjoyed when we discovered I was pregnant. Then came the hard part of telling Phantom management and my agent. I was so nervous, but to my utmost delight, everyone embraced the news with excitement and love, and I was promptly granted a maternity leave. The next few months were harder than I imagined as I became unbearably exhausted and my costumes began to pop at their seams. I was also having some minor complications with the pregnancy, so at four months along, I decided the time was right to leave.
Having unlimited free time was exciting at first, but soon severe boredom set in. I found myself missing the routine, the camaraderie and the exercise. I guess it didn’t help that my husband was away with work most of the time and that the days were getting shorter and colder. I honestly never watched so much trashy TV in my life! I suppose at some point I will look back at that quiet time and pine for its return. I did manage an amazing 17-day cross country trip with my husband...our last hurrah.
Fear and panic replaced boredom when we were told by our doctor that something was wrong. I ended up in the hospital on bed rest for nine days and then for another week at home with my mother acting as nurse. Five days after Christmas, little Vincent William was born a month early. During this scary time, it was very moving to see how much the Phantom cast and crew reached out in support. Blessings were with us, and our little boy was the model of beauty and health.
The first five months of motherhood came and went so quickly that they already seem like a blur. Suddenly, it was time to face going back to work. I was plagued with feelings of guilt and sadness for leaving my child, and fear and uncertainty about being able to handle everything. It had been nine and a half months since I left the show, and I was terrified about wearing those heavy costumes and the pointy shoes, and “falling” each performance on that hard steel stage. Not to mention the stamina needed to sing that difficult score night after night and try and sound like the perfect “Angel of Music.” Something about the vocal perfection that Christine is supposed to possess just seemed impossible to live up to.
All I can say is: What an amazing company! From my put-in rehearsal to the terror of those first shows (the first one ending with me crumpling in tears), everyone was so loving and supportive. It made me feel that indeed I had tapped into some “supermom” gene. I’m sure there will be bumps ahead, but I’m already feeling right back in the swing of things. And I can’t help thinking that staying true to who I was before I had my son will help me be a better mother.
I come from a theatrical family, and there is a picture of me as a baby having a grand time hanging out in my mother’s dressing room nestled inside a large file box. A week before I returned to the Majestic in June, I took Vincent with me to that depressing after-pregnancy costume fitting. Our lovely seamstress Annette pulled out a laundry basket and filled it with towels for Vincent to have a safe place to hang out while I worked with Wardrobe. I realized what an amazing journey life is as I saw myself in my child and my mother in myself. The story of our family came full circle and moved into the future.
