Broadway’s Wicked will welcome two new witches to the stage this spring, with Lencia Kebede serving as the first Black actress to play Elphaba Thropp full-time. Kebede takes over the role from fan-favorite Mary Kate Morrisey.
She will be joined by Allie Trimm, who’ll play Glinda full-time following Alexandra Socha. Trimm previously played the role’s standby from December 2021 through March 2024. The new leading duo will begin performances on March 4.
Kebede, who comes into the role fresh off the heels of the Wicked film, joins the production at a time when the show’s sales are up. Prior to this announcement, she toured with Hamilton and Rent, playing Angelica Schuyler and Joanne respectively. She has also sang backup for Beyoncé. “Thank you to everyone who has ever believed in me,” Kebede said in a press release. “For the dreamers, the different, and the defiant—it’s our turn to fly.”
The actress joins a storied list of Elphabas, which includes Idina Menzel, Shoshana Bean, Mandy Gonzalez, and more. On Broadway, various Black actors have played Elphaba as understudies or standbys, but never before has a Black actress played the role eight times a week. Internationally, Alexia Khadime played the witch on London’s West End, serving as the sole Black woman to play her full time around the globe—until now.
Cynthia Erivo, who portrayed Elphaba in the film, manifested this moment in her ELLE 2024 Women in Hollywood interview. She said she didn’t believe she could play Elphaba given the lack of Black women who have embodied her onstage, but she hoped that would change.
“I couldn’t even dream about wanting it,” Erivo said. “When you’re in this skin and you walk around, you are immediately an ‘other.’ It was a really wonderful experience to be able to step into this role, outside of my own skin, and into someone else’s, who has also been ‘othered.’ It’s important to know what it feels like. I hope that this shifts and changes things across stages.”
Brittany Johnson became the first Black actress to play Glinda full-time on Broadway in 2022. In celebration of the show’s 20th anniversary in 2023, Johnson told ELLE.com that performing Glinda’s iconic song “Popular” was “the epitome of feeling freedom, fun, and truth onstage.” She went on to say that “having the freedom to embody a character authentically each night also forces vulnerability, and vulnerability, in my opinion, is the most important quality in a great actor.”
