Broadway veteran makes fairy-tale return to Theatre By The Sea in 'Cinderella'
When Gay Willis first performed at Theatre By The Sea 37 years ago, it was something of a lark. But her return this year, in a production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical fairy tale "Cinderella," represents a conscious plan to get back into summer stock after raising children and doing Broadway shows and tours.
When she first auditioned in back in 1985, Tommy Brent was at the helm of Theatre By The Sea. Willis, a North Carolina native who was working in dinner theater near Washington, D.C., at the time, joined a friend on a convoluted one-day trek to Matunuck via air, train and car, and then reversed the trip after the tryout to get back in time for the evening show.
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But the trip paid off. Willis, a soprano, landed the part of Tuptim in “The King and I,” the eldest daughter, Dorcas, in “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” and Sleepy in a children’s production of “Snow White.”
That summer in Matunuck was marked by mosquitoes in her dressing room, warm performances in the days before air conditioning, and loads of memories, says Willis, who this summer is playing the stepmother in “Cinderella.”
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“What a gift the universe has given me to be back here,” she says. “I have such fond memories of this theater. When I auditioned that day, the music director jumped up and wanted to play the piano with me. We just synergized.”
Life between that first summer and today has been busy for Willis, who says a New York City casting director who was sitting in on the auditions at Theatre By The Sea 37 years ago urged her to head to the Big Apple after the season wrapped up.
“He said, ‘You need to be in New York. You have something special,’” she remembers.
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When she did relocate to the city, she was quickly and regularly given roles that took her to stages around the world, much as the casting director had predicted. Willis spent about 20 years on Broadway and touring in “Show Boat” with such names as Cloris Leachman, Dick Van Patten, Marilyn McCoo and Elaine Stritch; toured the world with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman in “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber”; and played Christine opposite Colm Wilkinson and later Ciarán Sheehan in “The Phantom of the Opera.”
She also had two sons, the youngest of whom is now studying musical theater in college.
“This started when I wanted to open up some of my old connections for my son. He had auditioned last year for ‘Mamma Mia!’ at Theatre By The Sea, and I heard my old friend Kenny Ingram was directing ‘Cinderella’ this summer. I told him he should audition for the part of the prince,” Willis says. “He didn’t audition, but I did, to dip my toe back in with someone I trust and feel supported by.”
When rehearsals started a few weeks ago, Willis happily discovered that she was in the same dressing room as before, minus the mosquitoes and the heat. And, while she was disappointed that she can’t walk a few extra steps to get on Moonstone Beach any longer due to conservation efforts, she “could not be happier” to be back by the water and on the stage in Rhode Island.
If you go ...
What: "Cinderella"
Where: Theatre By The Sea, 364 Cards Pond Rd., Wakefield
When: Through Aug. 13
Tickets: $61-$84
Info: theatrebythesea.com/cinderella, (401) 782-8587
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Broadway's Gay Willis returns to Theatre By The Sea where career began
