Meet the first full-time Black Elphaba in ‘Wicked’ on Broadway: Lencia Kebede

Green tears were flowing when Lencia Kebede made history this week on Broadway, becoming the first Black actor to assume the role of Elphaba full time in the Broadway company of “Wicked.”

“It’s hard to even pinpoint a single emotion because I feel that it changes like every five minutes,” she told The Associated Press, still buzzing a day after her debut. “I woke up and I still sort of felt in the world of Oz.”

Kebede, a first-generation Ethiopian American from Los Angeles, spent five years touring with “Hamilton,” most recently in the role of Angelica Schuyler. Stepping into “Wicked” on Tuesday marked her Broadway debut.

“Defying Gravity”

Kebede had already gone through an emotional wringer by the time the curtain finally came down. She sings the Act 1 showstopper “Defying Gravity,” shooting into the air and the power of the moment ripped through her.

“When the lights went off at the end of the song, I started sobbing. Not like just a gentle tear. Viscerally, I had to release,” she says.

“I really felt like I was flying, is the simplest way to put it. I felt like I’m doing it myself, though my own power — my vocal power, my emotional power, the power of all of my African ancestors.”

“If I’m flying solo/At least I’m flying free/To those who ground me, take a message back from me/Tell them how I am defying gravity,” she sang.

“Everyone deserves a chance to fly,” says Kebede. “I’m projecting this message that no matter who you are, what you look like, where you come from, you deserve liberation and you deserve empowerment in the way that the character feels in that moment. It just feels like I’m taking the entire audience in my arms.”

Thank goodness it was intermission. “I needed to regroup,” she says, laughing. “My makeup artist was like, ‘Just let it out, just cry, and then we can clean it up.’”

Who was watching Kebede’s “Wicked” debut?

In the audience were some 60 family and friends — mom and her aunts and uncles, her many cousins, her boyfriend, pals from other shows, her agent and casting directors, even her college choir director.

“My whole family was in the audience — just everyone who I’ve ever loved, with everyone who has loved me and supported me through my life is just like under me, lifting me and holding me,” she says.

“It was just so important to me to have people there that I could share this moment with, so I could say to their faces, ’I couldn’t be here without a piece of your heart that you gave me.’”

A sisterhood of Elphabas

The popularity of the Cynthia Erivo-led movie hasn’t dampened the appetite for the Broadway version, which opened in 2003 with songs by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. Over Christmas, it took in a staggering $5 million over nine performances, marking the highest weekly gross in history for any Broadway show.

Kebede joins a sisterhood of green-clad Black women who have played Elphaba, a list that includes Saycon Sengbloh and Lilli Cooper, both Broadway standbys; Brandi Chavonne Massey, a Broadway understudy; and Alexia Khadime, a full-time West End Elphaba.

Others who have played the role over the years include Shoshana Bean, Stephanie J. Block, Jessica Vosk, Eden Espinosa, Ana Gasteyer and, of course, Idina Menzel, who won a Tony Award in the role in 2004.

A career takes a turn

Kebede graduated from Occidental College in 2016 with a double major of diplomacy & world affairs and politics, intending on a career in law or public policy. By her senior year, she had an itch she needed to scratch.

“I just had this creative craving in terms of storytelling in the theatrical way that I was missing,” she says. “So I sat my mother down and I was like, ‘Look, I think I need just a couple years to explore this creative endeavor.’”

Her first professional job was a production of “Memphis” at Musical Theatre West and then a stint at Tokyo Disney and touring in “Rent.” In addition to years on the road with “Hamilton,” Kebede also sang backup for Beyoncé during her Coachella rehearsals.

“The rigorous nature of touring, I think, prepared me immensely for this,” she says. “I do feel very equipped — physically, vocally, emotionally. I feel like I know how to take care of my body and my mind, how I need to cool down emotionally after such an intense experience for three hours.”

A magical night

On debut night, Kebede tried to keep a set of mental screenshots, a reel of faces and feelings. As she turned to get backstage, she was feeling the love.

“My grandmother and my father passed when I was in high school and I just took a moment to connect with my angels,” she says. “It was, oh God, it was electric.”

Family came backstage after the show for photos and a tour, she was toasted at a nearby bar by friends, she finally ate something and then got home to try to sleep.

“My battery was dead. I mean, I couldn’t even move. I couldn’t move my face. I was just drinking my tea, playing calming jazz. I had to just turn it off,” she says.

And then she had to do it all over again the next night.

—Mark Kennedy, AP entertainment writer

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