{"id":1345,"date":"2024-11-21T16:46:58","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T21:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/?p=1345"},"modified":"2024-11-21T16:46:58","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T21:46:58","slug":"an-oral-history-of-elphaba-one-of-broadways-most-empowering-roles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/an-oral-history-of-elphaba-one-of-broadways-most-empowering-roles\/","title":{"rendered":"An oral history of Elphaba, one of Broadway\u2019s most empowering roles"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Idina Menzel, Ana Gasteyer and others open up on the pleasures and perils of playing the iconic \u201cWicked\u201d character eight times a week.<\/h2>\n

There may be no more spellbinding protagonist in contemporary musical theater than Elphaba Thropp, that green-skinned wallflower with a penchant for soaring over Oz and belting battle cries from the heavens.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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For two decades, audiences have marched to Broadway\u2019s Gershwin Theatre and venues around the globe to absorb Elphaba\u2019s tale in \u201cWicked.\u201d A loose adaptation of <\/b>a 1995 Gregory Maguire novel, the stage show from composer Stephen Schwartz and librettist Winnie Holzman reimagines the \u201cWizard of Oz\u201d antagonist as a wide-eyed college outcast steered toward exile by a conniving con man and a scapegoating society.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Featuring iconic show tunes, dazzling stagecraft and a potent portrayal of female friendship \u2014 between that obstinate Elphaba and the bubbly Glinda the Good \u2014 \u201cWicked\u201d has grossed more than $1.6 billion <\/b>on Broadway while enduring as its <\/b>fourth-longest-running show. As Cynthia Erivo immortalizes Elphie in two \u201cWicked\u201d movies, the first of which hits theaters Friday, we break down the role with seven actresses who have played the part onstage.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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  • Idina Menzel:<\/b> The \u201cRent,\u201d \u201cEnchanted\u201d and \u201cFrozen\u201d star won a Tony for originating the role of Elphaba in 2003. In 2006, she reprised the part for the West End production.<\/li>\n
  • Stephanie J. Block:<\/b> A Tony winner for 2018\u2019s \u201cThe Cher Show,\u201d Block played Elphaba in early workshops, then understudied Menzel during the San Francisco tryout. She at last stepped into the role onstage in the first North American tour before taking over on Broadway in 2007.<\/li>\n
  • Ana Gasteyer:<\/b> The \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d actress portrayed Elphaba in the 2005 Chicago production, then got green as a Broadway replacement a year later.<\/li>\n
  • Jennifer DiNoia:<\/b> After serving as the standby in 2007 in Chicago, DiNoia played the part on and off around the world (Broadway, the West End, South Korea, Australia, the North American tour) for more than 15 years.<\/li>\n
  • Mandy Gonzalez:<\/b> The \u201cIn the Heights\u201d and \u201cHamilton\u201d veteran \u2014 currently subbing for Nicole Scherzinger once a week in \u201cSunset Blvd.\u201d \u2014 defied gravity on Broadway in 2010.<\/li>\n
  • Lindsay Mendez:<\/b> A Tony recipient for 2018\u2019s \u201cCarousel\u201d and a nominee for the recent \u201cMerrily We Roll Along\u201d revival, Mendez took up Elphaba\u2019s broomstick and pointy hat in 2013.<\/li>\n
  • Mary Kate Morrissey:<\/b> Broadway\u2019s current Wicked Witch stepped into the spotlight this year, having first played the part on tour in 2015.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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    (Responses have been edited for length and clarity.)<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    The Road to Oz<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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    Block:<\/b> Stephen Schwartz gave me a ring and left me a message in February of 2000. At this particular point, they were simply going to Universal Studios to try to get backing for the play. So I would stand up with Stephen at the piano in a boardroom and sing the tunes. Several months later, it was a reading of Act 1. Several months after that, it was a two-week workshop presentation with Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda. I was eventually asked to be a part of the original company \u2014 but, of course, not as Elphaba. We all know Idina Menzel was, as they call her, Mother Elphaba.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Menzel:<\/b> I had a really good audition up until the point that I sang \u201cDefying Gravity.\u201d At the end, I cracked on the big note at the top. \u201cYou won\u2019t bring meee<\/i> down\u201d \u2014 that didn\u2019t come out very good. So I looked over at the accompanist and said, \u201cI\u2019m going to do that again.\u201d I backed up a little, nailed the note and then finished the song \u2014 \u201coh-ohhh!\u201d<\/i> I think that mistake is actually what got me the role because [director] Joe Mantello said he could really see how fierce I could be.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Gonzalez:<\/b> I remember sitting in the ensemble for a workshop of Act 1 with [future Tony winners] Christian Borle and Celia Keenan-Bolger and seeing just how exciting it was. After that, my life went on a different trajectory. But two years into my run at \u201cIn the Heights,\u201d \u201cWicked\u201d came back and offered me Elphaba on Broadway. So I got to fly, too \u2014 it was truly an amazing circle.<\/div>\n
    Mendez:<\/b> I saw the original with Idina and Kristin, and I was absolutely taken with it \u2014 but I didn\u2019t see myself onstage one bit. At that time and even now, looking at myself versus someone like Idina, I don\u2019t see a lot of crossover. When the time came and I got offered it, I still was like, \u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/div>\n
    Morrissey:<\/b> I saw Shoshana Bean and Megan Hilty in \u201cWicked\u201d around 2005. I went to Catholic school, so for dress-down days I was the girl who would be in her little kilt with my \u201cWicked\u201d T-shirt repping my favorite show. When you spend so much time on your own as a theater kid just singing along to your \u201cWicked\u201d CD, it sort of trains your voice. You learn to sing by parroting Idina Menzel.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    The outsiders<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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    After opening in the aftermath of the Wicked Witch\u2019s death-by-water, \u201cWicked\u201d flashes back and introduces Elphaba as a fumbling Shiz University freshman whose fantastical streak \u2014 that green skin, plus fits of uncontrollable sorcery \u2014 makes her an instant pariah.<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Menzel:<\/b> I remember leaving my audition and going to the stairwell and crying because I felt, \u201cI get this character.\u201d I didn\u2019t have such great esteem at that point in my life \u2014 I had a lot of ups and downs in my career since \u201cRent,\u201d and momentum had gone away \u2014 so I just needed it for many reasons. I identified with the young woman who questioned when it was okay to have power and show anger and show vulnerability.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Block:<\/b> I\u2019m kind of opening up some wounds here, and I certainly don\u2019t want to play the victim in any way, shape or form. But Stephen Schwartz would always say, \u201cMan, the way you sing \u2018I\u2019m Not That Girl\u2019 \u2026\u201d And I said, \u201cWell, because I wasn\u2019t that girl.\u201d They went with Idina, and I completely honor that. I think she\u2019s a remarkable artist. But this is what Elphie is all about. She enters the story with great hope and then finds out that she\u2019s never going to be that girl. At the end, she rises up and finds her purpose. That essentially parallels my journey with this incredible piece.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Gasteyer:<\/b> When I left \u201cSaturday Night Live,\u201d I really set my sights on working onstage. I didn\u2019t come up from the traditional ranks. I was a musical-theater major for a year, but that was it. I didn\u2019t know how to tap. I couldn\u2019t get through a dance call. I was an outsider on Broadway. And I think comedians are all sort of outsiders, to a degree. So that was a comfortable place to stand, for sure.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    DiNoia:<\/b> When this show came into my life, I was still very naive and quite green \u2014 no pun intended. I admired Elphaba because she was so outspoken and just stood up for what was right. I wanted to not just play Elphaba onstage, but I wanted to be her.<\/div>\n
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    Mendez:<\/b> In some ways, Elphaba is every theater kid. We all felt like outsiders in some way, and that\u2019s how we all ended up here.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    \u2018The Wizard and I\u2019<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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    Elphaba\u2019s yearning first song arrives early in Act 1, when the Shiz headmistress, Madame Morrible, says the student\u2019s budding magical talent might just catch the Wizard of Oz\u2019s eye. \u201cOnce I\u2019m with the Wizard,\u201d Elphaba sings, \u201cmy whole life will change.\u201d<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Morrissey: <\/b>Elphaba is a cynic up until that point, and then she gets a sliver of someone saying, \u201cHey, your life could be so different than what you imagined.\u201d And she lets herself believe it, which changes the trajectory of her life. Sometimes I just think in that song about how I let myself believe that I could perform Broadway \u2014 and now I\u2019m doing it.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Gonzalez:<\/b> It\u2019s such a vulnerable moment for Elphaba. She gets to be so excited that somebody told her that she\u2019s special. In that moment, to be so innocent and free and hopeful, it\u2019s really beautiful.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    DiNoia: <\/b>The songs in \u201cWicked\u201d have meant different things to me over different periods of my life, but \u201cThe Wizard and I\u201d has always remained this song full of hope and endless possibilities. Even if you\u2019re having a terrible day, it just lifts you immediately.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Menzel:<\/b> It\u2019s the dream \u201cI want\u201d song for any young woman in a musical.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Mendez:<\/b> It kind of set the pace for the rest of the night for me. If that one felt good, then the rest of the show was going to feel good. And if that one felt shaky? Oh boy, buckle up.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Getting green<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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    Inhabiting Elphaba means, of course, many hours applying green makeup and plenty more washing it away \u2014 sometimes long after departing Oz.<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Gonzalez:<\/b> I remember people would come backstage, and they would just want to see the shower because it was coated in green. You think as much as you scrub that it\u2019s going to come off \u2014 but it just doesn\u2019t.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Menzel:<\/b> I fell through the hole [in the stage during her final performance on Broadway] and broke my ribs and got taken to the hospital in a full face of green makeup. As they were wheeling me out on the gurney, that\u2019s the one thing I said: \u201cMake sure you bring Neutrogena face wash!\u201d Because that was the only thing that would get it out.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Mendez:<\/b> I was dating at that time \u2014 or trying to date \u2014 and that was always a tough explanation. People think you\u2019re ill because you can\u2019t ever fully get that out of your skin. I mean, months later I still had it in my pores and in my scalp. It was hard out there to be a single witch.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    DiNoia:<\/b> Everybody looks so beautiful in it, and I always loved wearing it. But I had to make sure I brought different pillowcases wherever I was playing the role because you leave prints of green during the night.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Gasteyer:<\/b> I had an ear infection or something a year and a half after I left the show, and the ENT was like, \u201cWhat is this brilliant-cerulean green?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Block:<\/b> I would get facials or whatnot, and they would see the green in my hairline, so they\u2019d ask. I knew if I said that I was playing Elphaba in \u201cWicked\u201d there would be subsequent conversations about \u201cCan we get tickets through you?\u201d or \u201cMy niece has always wanted to be a singer.\u201d So I would just tell people that I was a clown, and that pretty much ended the conversation right there.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    \u2018Defying Gravity\u2019<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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    Disillusioned by the Wizard\u2019s suppression of speaking animals, Elphaba rejects his offer of a partnership, accepts her newfound fugitive status and soars away from the Emerald City on her newly enchanted broomstick. All the while, she belts the canonical anthem of empowerment that ends Act 1. \u201cI think I\u2019ll try defying gravity,\u201d she sings. \u201cAnd you can\u2019t pull me down.\u201d<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Menzel:<\/b> It just embodies everything that I felt as young woman, and I continue to feel now, about embracing my own power. Stephen Schwartz is a genius. He writes incredible lyrics and chord progressions that just tug at your heartstrings and feel like the perfect complement to everything you\u2019re feeling as the character. It\u2019s such a gift to be able to sing this song.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Morrissey:<\/b> Everyone has a story where someone has told them they can\u2019t do something, and they\u2019ve said, \u201cF you, I\u2019m going to do it anyway.\u201d Sometimes, I let my eyes lower a little bit while I\u2019m singing, and I can see people with their hands on their mouth or wiping their tears. I feel like that really fuels me.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Block:<\/b> \u201cDefying Gravity\u201d is all about acting. It is all about showing the audience that there is a transformation happening within this character. So for me, it\u2019s far less about hitting the right notes or doing an incredible riff. It\u2019s all about staying true to those lyrics.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Mendez:<\/b> That one\u2019s a beast. I had some issues getting into the flying apparatus during that song and getting my cape caught in it \u2014 and if the cape gets caught, you don\u2019t fly. I always remember being really stressed because I had a couple of no-fly shows, which are super \u201cwomp, womp.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Gonzalez:<\/b> I never had a no-fly show, but I did have a show where the contraption went up and then, as I was singing my final note, it started to swing back and forth like a pendulum. It turned out that a washer in the machine had fallen out. On my last day, the stagehands put that washer on a plaque that said, \u201cThank you for flying with us eight shows a week.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Surviving Oz<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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    There are few more demanding roles in musical theater than Elphaba, who sings on a dozen songs while navigating an emotionally draining arc of self-actualization.<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Gasteyer:<\/b> Honestly, 99.9 percent of playing Elphaba comes down to just vocal, vocal, vocal. All you are doing is protecting your voice, because that role is absurdly big, and it\u2019s relentless. You live like a nun. Whenever you see other Elphabas, it\u2019s like a club. I ran into Lindsay last year on Fire Island, and her husband was like, \u201cYou guys have such a shorthand.\u201d She said, \u201cYeah, we\u2019re all trauma bonded from the vocal work of that show.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Morrissey: <\/b>It can be pretty lonely because your voice is like currency. Everything I do \u2014 even this interview \u2014 is costing me, so I have to think about how much currency I have for the day.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Menzel:<\/b> I mean, it\u2019s kind of my fault. I asked Stephen to take the end of \u201cDefying Gravity\u201d up an octave.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Gonzalez:<\/b> I remember just being totally terrified by the role. The assistant director, Lisa [LeGuillou], gave me some really great advice. She said, \u201cThere\u2019s a treadmill upstairs \u2014 not to get in shape or anything, but you should really get on that treadmill and start singing the music.\u201d I don\u2019t know how she knew, but I got on that treadmill and sang the songs, and all of a sudden I forgot about the fear.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    \u2018No Good Deed\u2019<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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    The character\u2019s final solo comes late in Act 2, when a flailing attempt to save her lover, Fiyero, ends with Elphaba embracing her Wicked Witch persona and ruing the consequences of her benevolent actions. \u201cNo good deed goes unpunished,\u201d she sings. \u201cThat\u2019s my new creed.\u201d<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Mendez: <\/b>That one\u2019s so fun because finally your hair is down, and you\u2019ve got the smoke, and you\u2019re conjuring the spells.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Gasteyer:<\/b> That\u2019s my favorite song to perform. I love the way it\u2019s written. I love its ups and downs. I love how it ascends emotionally. I always felt, acting-wise, the most connected to that song.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Menzel:<\/b> It\u2019s the perfect 11 o\u2019clock number. It\u2019s super diva, and your hair is blowing Beyonc\u00e9-style, and there\u2019s smoke around your feet, and you can step into all of those feelings you feel as a woman. You\u2019re allowed to show your ugliness, and it\u2019s liberating to sort of tell everyone to go f— off.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
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    Gonzalez:<\/b> It\u2019s the rush before the song that comes to mind. You run off the stage, run through the orchestra and crouch into this little lift. All of a sudden, you have to come up like a rock star and go, \u201cFiyero!\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Block:<\/b> A lot of my mistakes that I made in the readings are still a part of the script and the score today. In one of the readings, I looked off the page and sang, \u201cToo much, too much to mention\u201d \u2014 I repeated \u201ctoo much, too much\u201d because I didn\u2019t look at the right words. Now, that still lives within \u201cNo Good Deed.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    A lasting spell<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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    DiNoia:<\/b> Playing Elphaba made me grow up in a very specific way. There were times when she kind of meshed into my real life \u2014 in good ways and maybe not in good ways. So I really learned about myself and learned what I was capable of handling when playing Elphaba.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    \n
    Mendez:<\/b> I think \u201cWicked\u201d did and does and will always resonate with people. We\u2019ve all been through those moments in our lives when we felt misunderstood, when we didn\u2019t belong. We\u2019ve all been through those moments when people have made us feel loved and supported. We\u2019ve also had to make mistakes, and we\u2019ve had to make choices.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    \n
    Gasteyer: <\/b>It\u2019s sort of hard to imagine that only 20 years ago this was the case, but there really weren\u2019t opportunities for female leads in film and television. I saw Idina and Kristin in \u201cWicked,\u201d and I remember thinking, \u201cWhy would I go and just try to be some stand-up\u2019s wife in a sitcom when there are these massive, meaningful parts with range and depth [onstage]?\u201d The fact that there were two female roles that encapsulated a lot of the female experience just made the show really meaningful.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    \n
    Block:<\/b> I knew at the time of the readings that it was going to be an epic piece and one that was going to live on for generations. You have this extraordinary storytelling of unexpected friendship, and stories of sacrifice and love and commitment and purpose. All of the themes within \u201cWicked\u201d are just so deep.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    \n
    Menzel:<\/b> It\u2019s really a love story between two women, and it speaks to every person out there who feels unseen or different or bullied. It acknowledges them. It embraces them. It says you are loved in all of your messiness, and that you need to step into your power.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Idina Menzel, Ana Gasteyer and others open up on the pleasures and perils of playing the iconic \u201cWicked\u201d character eight times a week. There may be no more spellbinding protagonist in contemporary musical theater than Elphaba Thropp, that green-skinned wallflower with a penchant for soaring over Oz and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1346,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[80,5],"class_list":["post-1345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","tag-80","tag-wicked"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/433381a30f4956bd338c152e02303dab8a705878.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Srnq-lH","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1345"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1347,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345\/revisions\/1347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.idina-here.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}