Westchester WAG (March 1999)

Vanessa Williams: Dreamin' Westchester Style

by Donna Parratt Lynch

Vanessa Williams’ mother offered her the following advice when she was growing up. "You are going to have to do better than everyone else just to be considered equal because you are black in a white environment." Looking back on her childhood in Millwood, as the only daughter of musical parents, she says, "that’s something I certainly took heed of and I guess I’m an overachiever because of it." To describe herself as an overachiever is something of an understatement. From her truncated reign as the first black Miss America in 1983 until the present, she has recorded four albums--the third, The Sweetest Days, was platinum--had an enormous hit Disney soundtrack single "Colors of the Wind" from the film "Pocohantas," received multiple Grammy Award nominations, enjoyed critical acclaim in the Broadway hit Kiss of the Spider Woman, and filmed numerous television and feature length movies, including the starring role opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Eraser." It’s an impressive list of accomplishments for anyone. She admits, "I have accomplished so much already at 35 and I’ve lived so many of my dreams already." How does she envision herself in 20 years, at age 55? "I don’t know. My next goal is to originate a role on Broadway within the next year or so. Once that’s done, I don’t know what the next thing will be, or the thing after that. Choice is the big buzz word."

Broadway and live theater are her first love, because she says, "I can act, sing and dance in the same performance." She learned from her first film in 1987, Under the Gun, that "I had no control over the final product. It’s the most frightening thing about film. When you’re on stage, you can control every moment, people see what you want them to. A film is up to the director, the editor and what they shoot." Her most recent film, "Dance with Me," a whole new world of dance to her, Latin and Ballroom dancing. She absolutely loved it and now, she says, "I go out and salsa all over New York."

Vanessa is just finishing up a workshop in Manhattan for the Public Theater. It’s a George Wolf musical called Wild Party with a cast of about 15, including Mandy Patinkin and Keith Davis. She’s hopeful it will move from workshop to production, but if it doesn’t, she has plenty of other irons in the fire.

Her attitude towards her work is sage, and while she is clearly an ambitious woman, she knows her destiny is not uniquely within her control. It may have been the ultimate lesson she took away from the 1983 Miss America fiasco. She was burned badly by the press when she lost her title after Penthouse published controversial PRIVATE photographs of her. She learned to be discreet with the press. "I try to be nice and I try to accommodate," she explains, "but then someone picks something up and turns it into something else. I always say that I’m never going to let it happen again and not get burned by putting it out there." Still, Vanessa Williams is, by inclination, candid and straightforward. She doesn’t bear grudges or approach her life with a chip on her shoulder. It isn’t in her nature to be particularly circumspect. As a child, she says she always had lots of friends. "Not much has changed in 35 years," she says. "I’m still very friendly. And I’m still close to lots of my high school friends. We talk about what the school board has decided to do with the new middle school, things like that. We have our opinions, because we’ve been through the school." Talking to her, you get the sense that she’d like to be more forthcoming, but the Miss America scandal toughened her, and perhaps wizened her a bit.

Her determination to overcome the "ex beauty queen image" is palpable. "I resent being labeled or categorized as an ex beauty queen more than anything else. I was a music theater major in college and I studied hard. I always planned on being a performer. To take my life seriously is not a beauty queen issue." She appreciates the opportunities that come her way, she believes that things work out the way they should. Her philosophy is to utilize her gifts, develop those and not try to pass herself off as something she isn’t. She has never recorded any of her own songs, though she’s written a few. "People have gifts and great songwriters are great songwriters. I certainly wouldn’t want to prove a point recording a mediocre song that I wrote." In a similar vein, Vanessa has been offered several opportunities to do her own television series, but she has no interest at this point. "My career is ever changing," she explains. "Right now it is pure musical theater, but in March, I have two nights at the Tropicana in Atlantic City and after that I’m going to the south of Spain to shoot "The Story of Don Quixote," a television movie for TNT starring John Lithgow, Bob Hotchkiss and Isabella Rossellini." She’s excited by the prospect, though it will take her away from her three young children.

"If I’m not working, I’m a Mom," she says. Her parents, Milton and Helen Williams, help out when they can. Her mother retired from teaching in the public school system last June. "They’re in the next town, only five minutes away. They are a great help because other than me there’s just one other person in the house, my nanny." (Ms. Williams has been divorced from Ramon Harvey since 1996.) Her father, who taught musical instruments in the public schools, teaches Jillian, age 8, trumpet once a week. All three children are musical. "Melanie, my oldest who is 10, is very dramatic and loves to act. Jillian loves to sing. Right now her favorite thing to sing when I eavesdrop on her is the "Star Spangled Banner" for some reason." Vanessa is bemused by Jillian’s choice of songs! Devin, her four-year-old son, has been "heavily into Power Rangers for the last three years."

Vanessa lives in Mt. Pleasant, only a few miles from where she grew up in an old stone carriage house. She has just completed an extensive two year renovation, adding a formal dining room, a family room and two bedrooms for her daughters. The house sits on property that was once owned by A.H. Smith, one time owner of the New York Railroad. Vanessa believes that the stone house she and her former husband purchased in 1992 was either servants’ quarters or a guest house to the mansion that once sat on top of the hill behind her house. The original mansion is gone, but the old groundskeeper’s house and barn from the working dairy still stand on the cul de sac where she lives. Her house sits on a hill, surrounded by enormous trees. At the base of the hill are towering evergreens and two ponds. Once the rubble from the construction is cleaned up, she plans on installing a formal English garden near the pool. "I look forward," she says, "to fresh cut flowers and potted herbs on the patio. I’m not sure yet if I’ll do a vegetable garden." She also is eagerly awaiting installation of her new state of the art sound system which is currently sitting in boxes in the garage. "It will be amazing," she says.

The children have been instrumental in getting her involved in the Northern Westchester Center for the Arts. She has served on the board of directors since 1994 and has done concerts and fundraisers for them. The kids take art and theater classes there. Her involvement, she explains, "is an extension of being a parent. And I just believe that the arts are very important." She feels fortunate to have grown up in Westchester. "I saw the best talent that the country has to offer and my kids have the same opportunity. When I was in fifth grade we went to see Danny Kaye at Lincoln Center and my daughter’s fifth grade class went to see The Sound of Music last year." Vanessa takes the children to work with her when she can. They loved meeting Arnold Schwarzenegger when she filmed "Eraser" with him. And they were often on the set for Kiss of the Spider Woman during her nine month run. "I try to incorporate the kids into my work, but they aren’t really impressed." she says very matter of factly. "The thrill is gone. They just want to know how long I’m going to be away this time." She is involved in other charities as well, including Green Chimneys in Putnam County. "It is a working farm for kids who have serious home problems. They come and live and study on the farm. It is a fabulous program." She is involved, with her mother, at The Open Door, which provides walk-in medical care to homeless families in Ossining as well as New Beginnings, an organization that helps mothers who need things for their children. "All my charity work is local," she explains. She doesn’t want to be recognized for it; helping others comes naturally to her.

Free time, needless to say, is at a premium. "When we have free time…" she muses and thinks for a while. She and her daughters love to ride at Fox Hill Farm. "The girls take riding lessons and I take jumping classes. It is such a treat on a beautiful autumn day to ride." They often watch movie videos together. "’Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ is probably our family favorite, but personally, I’m all over the place with movies." The same, she says, is true for music. Her tastes are eclectic and she often chooses what she wants to listen to as part of the ongoing battle with her daughters over their choice of music. Vanessa likes to read and is currently enjoying Memoirs of a Geisha. She likes to cook, especially bake. "One of my specialties is carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. In the summer, I make a yogurt blueberry pie that is nice and light. The kids love it too." She cooks for the kids when she’s home. Vanessa grew up going to church regularly with her parents and younger brother, Christopher (St. Theresa’s in Briarcliff Manor), but now takes her own family to St. John and St. Mary in Chappaqua. "One of our family traditions is to go out for brunch after mass. We’re either in a diner mood or a good food mood," she explains. "We really enjoy Lexington Square and Café Antico in Mt. Kisco. We tend to hit the same restaurants over and over." Shopping is not one of her favorite pastimes. "I hate mall shopping and I’m not a catalogue shopper so all I really shop for are necessities and groceries. In terms of kids’ stuff we’re all over the place and for gifts, there are great shops all over Westchester." She usually drives herself to and from Manhattan in her Range Rover, accompanied by her cell phone, to make every minute count.

Vanessa views her life as an ever changing tableau, an unfolding work in process. But she is smart and knows that things won’t happen unless she makes them happen. She recalls that her farewell quote in the high school yearbook was "see ya on Broadway." She never doubted that she’d make it. "It was just so natural for us," she says, referring to herself and her brother Christopher who is an actor in Los Angeles. "My parents always encouraged us. We were constantly putting on shows in front of the fireplace. We had lots of cast albums and we’d get on some Broadway clothes and perform something we’d heard or seen."

Clearly, Vanessa Williams has the passion and talent to do pretty much whatever fate offers her. As she says, "choice is the buzz word." She’s wide open to life. And being who she is, she’ll take the best from whatever it is she does, and live it.