Broadway’s Wicked continues to be an incredibly relevant musical even decades following its debut. Following the successful release of its first film adaptation, Wicked’s popularity has soared to new heights.
That said, the casting of Cynthia Erivo as the Wicked Witch Elphaba Thropp, has resulted in a significant new casting choice in the Wicked musical. For the first time, the musical will have a full-time black actress portray the character, Lencia Kebede.
Kebede is an Ethiopian American actress from Los Angeles, who toured in the world-renowned musical Hamilton for five years. Before Kebede, there was only a handful of black actresses for Elphaba in the musical, primarily standbys or understudies.
The announcement of her casting unsurprisingly resulted in massive online discussions. While many were happy about the change, some thought it would take away from the original intention of the character.
The black community saw the casting as a long time coming, considering black audiences have often felt drawn towards Elphaba’s struggles, with many calling her a black-coded character. The original Wicked story was based on the experience of the Jewish community and the hardship they have collectively faced trying to fit in with society. While Elphaba hadn’t been written with other POCs in mind, her struggles with racism continue to resonate with people.
Kebede’s casting as Elphaba has been another great step in welcoming more diverse casting choices within Broadway. Hopefully, this choice will influence similar roles shortly.
