Wow! My son let me sleep in this morning! What a rare treat :)
Jennifer Hope Wills
The best part of a weekend morning. No school and we can snuggle. Grover too.
Jennifer Hope Wills
First of the many daily pee cleanings. You moms of boys know my pain. At least I did't step or sit in it this morning :) I think he's about old enough to start cleaning this himself!
Jennifer Hope Wills
And toothpaste cleanings. How do they get toothpaste in the weirdest places?
Jennifer Hope Wills
Weekend mornings usually include homemade waffles, pancakes or muffins but for some reason my son only wanted cereal and banana! Who is he? So what to do instead? Well, let's make some thank you/Valentine cupcakes for my awesome cast and crew!
Jennifer Hope Wills
Need that breakfast! This has the bacon my son also didn't want. What??! And of course breakfast is not complete without good hot coffee in the Christmas present my son picked out for me at school.
Jennifer Hope Wills
Because of timing of the show, sadly no church for a while so this happened instead. Look closely and mine is complete with a little Lancelot.
Jennifer Hope Wills
And this...
Jennifer Hope Wills
And this... (it's a transformer car/plane/bed)
Jennifer Hope Wills
And this! (I have no idea)
Jennifer Hope Wills
Wait...is that more pee? How did it get up on the window??!!
Jennifer Hope Wills
Steamy showers may not be good for the decor but oh so good for the body, soul and voice on these cold, dry winter mornings.
Jennifer Hope Wills
Yay! Cupcakes ready to go!
Jennifer Hope Wills
Of course we better taste test them first.
Jennifer Hope Wills
Well, now that I've already had a full day, it's time to head to work. This is me standing on about 8 inches of solid snow/ice on my lawn (my azaleas are under there somewhere). Yup 130lbs and not sinking through. This stuff is SOLID!
Jennifer Hope Wills
And more cleaning snow off the car. This seems to be a regular part of the routine this winter. And yes...that's my white picket fence :)
Jennifer Hope Wills
Ready to go! Hmm? Wonder if I should stop and get gas? And thank God for my E-ZPass. Why do people still wait in that crazy cash line anyway?
Jennifer Hope Wills
Off I go! Leaving my cute little neighborhood for the commute. It's only 50 minutes on a Sunday morning. Yeah!
Jennifer Hope Wills
I always love the view over the Throgs Neck Bridge. Best picture I could get...I mean...I AM driving :)
Jennifer Hope Wills
I've arrived. Woohoo!
Jennifer Hope Wills
The oh so glamorous first sight when you enter the stage door.
Jennifer Hope Wills
Oh and then there's this.
Jennifer Hope Wills
The signing in pic of course.
Jennifer Hope Wills
Wait?!! I'm not last?!! Who is this Jordan Wolfe guy anyway? Took me a couple tries to get used to it.
Jennifer Hope Wills
The sad and lonely wig area outside my dressing room. Yup...a "Camelot" with only three ladies in it. Yeah! And 8 hot guys! Now those are some odds :)
Jennifer Hope Wills
My station. This old broad needs a lot of stuff to turn herself into "a radiant young princess never before out of her own castle" for the beginning of the show.
Jennifer Hope Wills
Yup. I'm a little obsessed with my friend Erin Williams' all natural makeup and skin care line. Check her out ya'll. She also sings beautifully too.
Jennifer Hope Wills
8 beautiful costumes, 2 capes, 2 tiarras and an extra curtain call costume all by Janell Berte equal one lucky Queen. Of course that also equals zero down time :)
Jennifer Hope Wills
And of course plenty of flowers and jewels.
Jennifer Hope Wills
A Queen needs her snacks! Especially since she remembered to pack dinner and forgot to pack lunch.
Jennifer Hope Wills
A quick stop in the restroom and wanted to show you the ladies opening night gift from our Lancelot Jeremiah James.
Jennifer Hope Wills
On my way to get more coffee I pass by the wardrobe station. I LOVE bins and organization so I'm a little obsessed with this area.
Jennifer Hope Wills
Especially wondering what could be in here.
Jennifer Hope Wills
And really? Tons of organized yummy snacks? Yes!
Jennifer Hope Wills
Now over to the men's hallway for one of my several daily visits. I always hit their water cooler saying ours is broken. Or is it?
Jennifer Hope Wills
First stop is to this lovable guy none other than King Arthur aka Clark Scott Carmichael himself. Had to get this picture as I'm pretty sure this is why I am in a dark wig. "Wonder Twins Powers Activate!!!" And yes, I know this reference ages us. So be it.
Jennifer Hope Wills
And then there is this...hey...Lancelot's gotta keep up those dashing good looks. He's a better man than I.
Jennifer Hope Wills
And dear Martin Van Treuren putting on all of this makeup for his quick appearance as Merlin.
Jennifer Hope Wills
All finished!
Jennifer Hope Wills
In case you are wondering...we can all add singing while stilt walking to the special skills section of our resumes. That's the handsome Dan Fenaughty (Dinadan) ready for fight call.
Jennifer Hope Wills
See...now Dan has his sword. Watch out. And looking on is Damian Shembel, our awesome Swing/Dance Captain/Fight Captain/offstage singing man extrodinaire. It's such a shame this gorgeous mug is hidden backstage right?
Jennifer Hope Wills
Fight call! Yeah! Men with swords!!
Jennifer Hope Wills
"The big guy last"...here comes Lionel (Billy Hepfinger). Big guy is no joke. I think the "shortest" knight is 6'2". Oh yeah! He wasn't there the first day and we had all these crazy tall guys and were intrigued how we could still have "the big guy". But full of big heart too :)
Jennifer Hope Wills
Time for Heather to slap on my long dark wig. Feels very "Christine" like :)
Jennifer Hope Wills
Gotta pin that baby.
Jennifer Hope Wills
Okay..."young" princess ready to go. Show 1 commences! I'm terrible at "selfies" and always look crazy and crooked :)
Jennifer Hope Wills
Hey...wait...is that sweet Nina Kompanek with beautiful Valentine roses? Our other lady Emily Brockway got opening night flowers. Well...at least some ladies still get flowers:(
Jennifer Hope Wills
First stop...offstage singing time...yes...with only 11 cast memebers, we ALL sing offstage. That's cutie pie Sagramore (Michael Glavan) making sure everything is ready.
Jennifer Hope Wills
The beginning of my long journey to make my first entrance from the back of the house. Take a look at one of the last few remaining dinner theatres. A truly unique experience. I love the intimacy of this theatre. Seriously...those people in the front row are CLOSE! Sometimes I really wish I could just reach over and grab some Prime Rib.
Jennifer Hope Wills
First leg of the very cold and smelly journey...
Jennifer Hope Wills
There's more...
Jennifer Hope Wills
and more...
Jennifer Hope Wills
and yes more...about to meet up with the door that leads to the kitchens...
Jennifer Hope Wills
and yes...this is the end of the line...ah the glamour! Time for this princess to head to Camelot.
Jennifer Hope Wills
What's down there?
Jennifer Hope Wills
Two giant lifts that come up through the stage including one that is a turn table...very appropriate for "Camelot" and the "round table".
Jennifer Hope Wills
And this is what you might find coming out of there...the beautiful and sexy, although here slightly terrifying, Nimue (Emily Brockway).
Jennifer Hope Wills
And maybe a tricky photo bombing Rana :)
Jennifer Hope Wills
Oh wait...is that Martin again in new makeup...this time for King Pellinore?
Jennifer Hope Wills
It's getting into armor time...Colleen would rather not be in a picture :)
Jennifer Hope Wills
There he is...King Pellinore in his full rusted glory and Rana too!
Jennifer Hope Wills
Time for the 30 minute intermission. That's long! Of course that means time to eat again and yes...more coffee!
Jennifer Hope Wills
See...food and coffee!!! And this is the party room at intermission...
Jennifer Hope Wills
and this is the quiet car :)
Jennifer Hope Wills
I usually get some kind of visit from Jeremiah in some form of undress. He likes to keep me guessing :)
Jennifer Hope Wills
This is what I see every night waiting backstage waiting to be rescued in "Guenevere"...I just think it's pretty.
Jennifer Hope Wills
Remember earlier...a costume change just for curtain call.
Jennifer Hope Wills
Can't imagine why they wouldn't want me to take my final bow in this?
Jennifer Hope Wills
Phew! Dinner time!!! Needing to pay the bills means eating whatever you can scrounge together from home but when you get to share the couch with these fellas, whose complaining :)
Jennifer Hope Wills
Nap time. Bedding courtesy of my son. Although he wanted me to mention that this was from when he was 4 and he is now 6 and his choice would be Star Wars.
Jennifer Hope Wills
Almost time for the second show and on my way to take my next picture I couldn't resisit this...???
Jennifer Hope Wills
Now...what's in the big box on the side of the backstage area you may ask? Well, I'll show you...
Jennifer Hope Wills
Yup...this is the poor dear "orchestra box". I find it sad that we have aboslutely no connection with them at all. But hey...here they are minus two of the guys.
Jennifer Hope Wills
And this is Ryan Edward Wise - our awesome super sweet musical director/arranger/orchestrator/keyboardist/conductor who we never get to take a peek at during the show except on the very tiny little moniter.
Jennifer Hope Wills
The tragic trio themselves right after the end of Act I when I have to try to hold myself back from breaking into tears from the beauty of Clark's speech all the while having to stare at the horribly ugly face of Jeremiah. Um...am I one lucky gal or what??!! Love these guys!!
Jennifer Hope Wills
Intermission of show 2 and for some reason the boys were talking about their obsession with my sparkly mumu and this picture was sneekily taken by our PSM Victor Lukas.
Jennifer Hope Wills
Trying to take a cast photo but Emily is very concerned that little Jeremy isn't with us yet and I'm telling them to please wait. The boys are like..."let's do this"...
Jennifer Hope Wills
You can really tell what each person is thinking at this moment by the looks on our faces...
Jennifer Hope Wills
Yay!!! We all made it!! Look at this gorgeously beautiful cast. Inside and out. Come see us!!!
Jennifer Hope Wills
Just for fun :) Plus Emily and Dan just look so gosh darn cute!
Jennifer Hope Wills
Look! Christine and Carlotta together again! Michele McConnell was in the audience! Ya'll, if you haven't seen her in "Phantom of the Opera" on the Broadway...RUN!!!!
Jennifer Hope Wills
All that makeup coming off. Yay! No kiss off lipstick is nasty!
Jennifer Hope Wills
Heading home...hmm...maybe I should have gotten that gas?
Jennifer Hope Wills
Um...yeah...so this is when I'm very happy for the luxury of heated seats in my car. It's the simple things in life.
Jennifer Hope Wills
Had just enough gas and made it home safe and sound. Time to eat (and drink) again!
Jennifer Hope Wills
And the very best part of coming home...ending the day like it began. Thanks for joining us.
Jennifer Hope Wills
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Wills starred as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera for four years and played Eileen in Wonderful Town opposite Brooke Shields. Other Broadway work includes The Woman in White and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
* Directed and choreographed by Richard Sabellico, Camelot stars Clark Carmichael as Arthur, Jennifer Hope Wills as Guinevere, Jeremiah James as Lancelot, Martin Van Treuren as Merlyn / Pellinore, Jordon Wolfe as Mordred, Emily Brockwayas Lady Anne/Nimue, Dan Fenaughty as Dinadan, Michael Glavan as Sagramore, Billy Hepfinger as Sir Lionel, Nina Kompanek and Damian Shembel in the Ensemble.
Set Design is by Kyle Dixon, Lighting Design is by Andrew Gmoser, Sound Design is by Jonathan Hatton and Mark Zuckerman, Costume Design is by Janell Berté. Fight Director is James Jelkin. The Technical Director is Steve Loftus, The Production Stage Manager is Victor Lukas, properties are by Grumpy Props. As with all our productions, Lisa Tiso is the Associate Producer.
Performances continues through April 5. Dinner and show tickets range between $54.00 and $80.00. Visit www.BroadwayTheatre.com
