BWW Q&A: Jessica Phillips Talks WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND at Theatre Raleigh

Theatre Raleigh will continue its 2025 season with the developmental production of "What We Leave Behind," a powerful and deeply personal new musical exploring love, resilience and the impact of chronic illness on family.

Written and composed by husband-and-wife team Jenny Giering and Sean Barry, "What We Leave Behind" is inspired by their own journey after Giering's breast cancer diagnosis. The one-woman musical follows Jenny, a composer whose life is suddenly upended, and the unexpected path she forges through humor, heartache and hope.

Leading the production is acclaimed Broadway star Jessica Phillips, whose extensive credits include "Dear Evan Hansen," "Next to Normal," "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert," and most recently, "Redwood" starring Idina Menzel. Phillips has captivated audiences on Broadway, on tour and on screen ("Law & Order: SVU," "Why Women Kill"), and brings her celebrated depth and versatility to this role.

“'What We Leave Behind' is a stunning new musical by the deeply gifted writing team of Jenny Giering and Sean Barry—an intimate, original piece that explores chronic illness and resilience with raw honesty and emotional depth,” said Eric Woodall, Theatre Raleigh's producing artistic director. “We are incredibly proud to produce this new work at Theatre Raleigh, and to have Broadway star Jessica Phillips bringing this role to life. It's a rare and thrilling combination of daring new material and world-class talent.”

Theatre Raleigh is a professional nonprofit theater company recognized for its high-caliber musicals, dramas, and concert series featuring exceptional talent. Since 2023, its productions have spotlighted acclaimed stage and screen performers including Ariana DeBose, Julie Benko, Beth Leavel, Kim Zimmer, Rachel Bay Jones, Norm Lewis and Norbert Leo Butz. In 2024, Broadway stars Carmen Cusack and Nik Walker headlined the company's production of "Bull Durham, a New Musical."

This developmental production of "What We Leave Behind" has been nearly a decade in the making. Giering and Barry began work at The Sundance Institute in 2016, and thanks to Theatre Raleigh's partnership with the Capital Arts Theatre Guild, the show underwent a workshop process this past winter at CATG's Nation Musical Theatre Foundry before moving to the main stage.

What is the story of the new musical you're working on at Theatre Raleigh?

What We Leave Behind is a one-woman production about the life of our composer, Jenny Giering. It's the story of her journey through a series of illnesses that left her permanently disabled, and the struggle to find her way back to her life and music inside a new version of her body.

Can you share some insights about your character, Jenny, in this production?

Jenny is a prolific musician, a wife, and a mother who is sensitive, funny, articulate, sexy, and deeply expressive. When we meet her we get to see, through flashbacks, just how full of life and purpose she was before the onset of her first illness and we cannot help but root for her to hang on tight.

How does your character fit into the overall narrative of this musical?

I actually play multiple characters in this show: Jenny; her husband, Sean, the co-author of this piece; their son, Liam; also a lover, a surgeon, a mystic. We are telling Jenny's story by way of all the people and influences vital to Jenny's recovery and her life's ultimate recalibration.

How do you prepare for a role in a developmental production?

I take my vitamins! It's a real workout for the brain to learn, memorize, then make daily changes that require cutting things I've already committed to memory and adding new material to learn, which is of course how we refine and improve the piece. It's a good kind of hard, though. Deeply creative and hugely satisfying.

What has been the most challenging aspect of working on this new musical?

I'd say the biggest challenge here is the sheer amount of material Jenny and Sean have written. We began the process with 26 songs! Not just 26 songs, but 26 spectacular songs. It's been sad to have to say goodbye to some, but in the end we know these trims will elevate the story.

What about the story of this show resonates with you?