BERLIN – For local Jennifer Hope Wills, the last Broadway performance of “The Phantom of the Opera” was personal.
From 2006-2010, Wills performed eight shows a week as the female lead Christine Daaé in the show. Wills, who recently returned to the lower shore and currently serves as a one-on-one educational assistant at Berlin Intermediate School, was able to watch the legendary show’s final performance in New York City last weekend with her father, William Wills, who for 20 years operated Parker Playhouse in Ocean City. Wills grew up acting alongside her family before graduating from Stephen Decatur High School and earning degrees from Salisbury University and the Indiana University School of Music.
Sunday was by invitation only, and Wills was among those in attendance. Throughout its award-winning Broadway run dating back to 1988, there have been approximately 14,000 performances, making it the longest running show in Broadway history.