Because their parents perform in the Broadway production of "Wicked," these two munchkins receive magical privileges.
Jordan Litz, who plays Fiyero, tells TODAY.com that Greta, his 20-month-old daughter, "learned to walk in the lobby of the Gershwin (Theatre)." Meanwhile, Greta's similarly aged buddy, Parker Peery, daughter of Glinda standby Jennafer Newberry, gets to play peekaboo with her mother's iconic "bubble dress."
"Greta and Parker are like 'Wicked' besties," says Newberry. "So it’s really, really special to have all these memories and getting to watch them hang out together backstage."
Though in the past, parenting and performing didn't mix, Broadway seems to have grown more tolerant of highlighting visibly pregnant performers, like Broadway legend Audra McDonald in "Shuffle Along," or actors who request modified schedules to see more of their kids, as Tony nominee Amber Gray did while in "Hadestown."
"I think our industry in general is finally catching up to the fact that children and working parents are not a hindrance. It's actually something that adds so much to the experience," says Newberry, who suspects that the audience enjoys the relatability factor of knowing that actors have kids waiting for them at home.
Though the optics couldn't be cuter, the daily grind of an 8-show week is especially tough for parents of young children. Together with their supportive partners and coworkers, Newberry and Litz find ways to make it work, but the theater life is not without sacrifice.
The two performers shared that one of the hardest parts is missing bedtime.
Newberry, who first performed the role of Glinda on Broadway while three months postpartum, lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, fairly close to the theater. Even so, she is only able to put her daughter to bed twice a week.
"My husband (Zach Peery) is so generous, and he FaceTimes me into bathtime almost every night, which is really, really sweet," she shares. Because Newberry breastfed Parker for a year, Peery would often bring the baby to the theater on two-show days so Newberry could feed and play with her.
"I’m not foolish enough to think I’ve done it alone," she says. "It took a very supportive husband and very supportive community around me."
Part of that community is Litz, who has known Newberry since they performed in Disney's "Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Review" in 2016. When visiting New York City that summer, Newberry took Litz to his first Broadway show, which just so happened to be "Wicked." Newberry had a friend in the cast, so they got a backstage tour after the show, never knowing that they would one day be performing together in the very same show.
Litz started playing Fiyero on the "Wicked" tour in early 2020, and he moved to the Broadway cast in May 2023. After his wife Julie gave birth to daughter Greta, he says, "everything is different" in terms of his performances. Much of the change is positive, but some is challenging, including the lack of consistency in his vocal and physical performance.
"When I was on the road with 'Wicked,' I called out once in a year and a half, and since Greta has been born, I’ve called out ... I don’t even know how many times," he says. "And it’s not necessarily because of Greta. It’s just the extra stresses of life, having to not only do the show at night, but also be present as a dad and wanting to be involved by day."
He and his family moved to a New Jersey suburb, so it's not as easy for his wife and Greta to stop by the theater, but they are involved in the Broadway community in other ways. For example, he chats with TODAY.com after taking the whole family to Central Park to see the "Wicked" softball team play "Aladdin" in the Broadway Show League.
Like Newberry, Litz hates missing out on bedtime, but when he is home, he tries to make it extra special by singing "Remember Me" from Disney's "Coco."
From the "Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Review" to having daughters just four months apart while performing on Broadway, Litz and Newberry have a unique history. After all, it's not everyone who can say that an iconic Broadway theater is their child's playground.
"At some point, we’ll be able to show Greta these pictures and videos of this unbelievable historic theater that she walked around in as a child, taking her first steps," says Litz.
"The best part has been just recognizing that my two dreams aren’t mutually exclusive," Newberry adds. "There is a world in which you can live your professional dream and and your personal family dream and neither one has to suffer. You can do both with excellence."
