Ends and Beginnings
As Emma's tour run comes to a close, her twin Ben starts on a new stage adventure
Twenty-six years ago this month, our twins Emma and Ben made their stage debut together — in utero — as Jill played the lead in a community theater production of “Annie Get Your Gun.”
This past Friday, for the first time at the same time, our twins were on stage performing for audiences as working professionals. They were in different shows in different places — Emma in Kansas City for her final weekend on the “Jesus Christ Superstar” tour and Ben with his partner Gaby in upstate New York for the world premiere of Justin Peck’s “Illinois,” a new musical.
For Emma, who was the Mob Leader in a show she performed more than 150 times in just under six months, “Jesus Christ Superstar” was a life-altering experience that kicked off a professional career she has worked toward since she was a child. It’s hard to believe that six months ago today — the day after Christmas — I was helping in New York as she prepared to fly cross country to learn the role in Los Angeles.
For Ben, who danced on stages in New York and around the country for most of his teens, “Illinois” represented a return to something he thought he had left behind when he was injured during the ill-fated Broadway revival of “West Side Story” in January 2020.
It was impossible for us to make it to both shows this weekend, but the fact Jill and I have each seen “Jesus Christ Superstar” three times eased the sting a bit. Not knowing what to expect, we drove to Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson on Saturday for the second performance of “Illinois,” a dance-theater hybrid that is based on Sufjan Stevens’ 2005 album.
The irony that that one show was ending as another began was not lost on Jill and me. As someone who is not a performer, but theater adjacent to a family of them, I get to witness these circle back moments all the time.
Circle Backs
“Circle backs” are my way of describing the situations— people, circumstances, shows, venues — where past meets present. In some cases, a circle back can be pure coincidence; in others, they serve as a sign — vague, obscure, or specific — of a larger theme.
I have numerous examples of this occurring in our family:
Jill and I became close during “Annie,” a show we did together in 1994-95 when we lived in Rockingham County, N.C. Fourteen years later, in 2009, we watched Emma, Kate, and Ben perform in the same show; it was the last time all three were on stage together. The circle back in this instance was a bookend.
The first Broadway show Jill and I saw together as a couple was the Bernadette Peters revival of “Annie Get Your Gun,” several years before she was the lead in the production while pregnant with Ben and Emma.
Five years to the day after Ben made his Broadway debut in "Ragtime," he performed in Louisville, Ky., with "Newsies," in the same theater where he debuted as the title role in "Billy Elliot."
The first time I saw Emma in “Jesus Christ Superstar” was in Houston this past January. It was on my birthday, with Ben, at the same theater he had performed in with “Newsies” several years before.
The show with the longest set of familial “circle backs,” however, has to be “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” the catchy/kitschy Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical.
In 1996, the year we got married, Jill performed in the “Joseph” ensemble for the Community Theatre of Greensboro and I volunteered to work one of the spotlights. Early on, we found out she was pregnant with Katharine, and wondered how we would break the news to our parents.
I will never forget how Jill’s mother, Betty, found out her daughter was pregnant. We ate lunch together before the matinee. Exhausted from tech week (and in Jill’s case, the first trimester), my lovely bride turned down an opportunity for a cup of coffee and my mother-in-law knew. She just knew.
Betty was a deeply spiritual woman who also was, ultimately, a realist. Sitting upstairs at the Carolina Theatre, she merged the two by mixing the “holy” with her default word choice when picking through the profanity dictionary. Little did she know what the next few years would bring.
Cut to 2007. We are living in Virginia. Kate, Emma, and Ben are dancing at Metropolitan Fine Arts Center (now Metropolitan School of the Arts). That summer, the entire family participated in, you guessed it, a production of “Joseph.”
Ben was cast in his first big role (as Benjamin, the youngest of the brothers). The girls were in the ensemble with Jill, who had not performed on stage in several years. I was slated to be the stage manager and do the program. It was, for all of us, an opportunity to participate in something together as a family.
The opportunity was bittersweet, however, when life intervened. My father’s blood disorder had turned into an aggressive form of leukemia. I went to Texas 13 times that year and on July 29, just five weeks before the show premiered, he died.
The diversion of doing “Joseph” — the little show with the big themes — was good for all of us, although I missed most of the rehearsals and we also were gone to Texas for a week for Dad’s funeral. Everyone involved — from cast to crew — was extremely understanding.
On Sept. 8, “Joseph” premiered for the first of its two weekends. Three days later, on Sept. 11 and before the second weekend of shows, my second “mom,” Fran, passed away. We waited until the second weekend was done before returning again to Texas for our second funeral in two months.
Much of that period, understandably, is a blur. But what I remember most vividly is how wonderful it was to have my family — biological and since extended — together for much of that time.
Only one of my children did not get to participate: Nicholas, who lived in North Carolina. He came to rehearsals, learned all of the colors in order in “Joseph's Coat" and memorized the title character’s big solo, “Close Every Door.” He later played the lead in “Joseph” as a senior in high school.
Eleven years later, his sister was on tour in Lloyd Webber’s follow-up musical — “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
Back to Dance
Justin Peck won the Tony Award for choreographing the Broadway revival of “Carousel” and served in the same role for Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” which is where Ben and Gaby met in the summer of 2019. Other “West Side Story” movie alumni, including Gaby’s long-time friend Ricky Ubeda, also are in “Illinois.”
Without dialogue, the show tells its story of self-discovery through song and dance. Following the running order of Stevens’ album for the most part, the plot centers around Henry (Ubeda) while intercutting scenes around key moments in Illinois’ history. The second half focuses on the friendship between Henry and his friend, Will (Ben), that takes a turn when Will becomes infatuated with Shelby, the woman played by Gaby.
No spoilers, but in my (ahem) unbiased opinion the show is a huge creative success, with a 14-piece band and a 12-member cast executing Peck’s vision and Stevens’ music beautifully. The show’s centerpiece is “Chicago,” in which Henry and Will go on a road trip, but there also is a trio between Henry, Will and Shelby that at the end becomes a lovers’ duet.
For our son, 2019 was the tale of two West Sides — the movie where he met Gaby and Peck, and the Broadway production, which left him injured and reconsidering whether he wanted to dance on a stage again. As parents, we supported his decision to pursue TV and film exclusively, but at the same time we missed the energy of watching him dance.
Fortunately, the idea, challenge, and creative energy of “Illinois” brought him back to the stage, this time with his life partner. It was a joyful moment to witness.
The show wraps its run this weekend, then goes to Chicago from Jan. 12-28, where it will play at the Yard at Chicago Shakespeare. Beyond that, the future has not been set, but I’ll be sure to circle back around when we know what is happening.
So happy Ben is back on stage , happy for Emma’s success in Jesus Christ Superstar and love keeping up with you and your family!
WOW! Thanks for sharing your life and beautiful family with us.❤️