Lencia Kebede is Wicked’s first Black actor to play Elphaba full-time, fulfilling Cynthia Erivo’s wish
Lencia Kebede (left) will be the first Black actor to play Elphaba full-time in the Broadway musical Wicked. (Backstage/Getty)
Lencia Kebede has been announced as the first Black actor to play Elphaba full-time in the Broadway musical Wicked; something that Cynthia Erivo wished for when she took on the role of Elphaba Thropp in the movie adaptation.
The Broadway production will welcome two new actresses portraying the green and pink witches, respectively. Kebede will be taking over Mary Kate Morrisey’s rendition of the Wicked Witch of the West. Meanwhile, Allie Trimm will join Kebede as Glinda the Good Witch.
Kebede, who previously toured with Hamilton as Angelica Schuyler and Rent as Joanne, said via a press release: “Thank you to everyone who has ever believed in me. For the dreamers, the different, and the defiant—it’s our turn to fly.”
Following the huge success of the Wicked film, Kebede will make history with her role as Elphaba. Despite the musical launching into theatres over two decades ago with Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth in 2003, only one Black woman (Alexia Khadime on London’s West End) has been cast full-time as Ephaba in a professional production – until now.
Erivo previously spoke out about hoping her tenure as the green witch on-screen would positively impact the stage role for future Black performers.
“Why would that change for the film? I couldn’t even about wanting it,” she told Elle Magazine in 2024. “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,” she told the outlet.
Trimm previously played Glinda’s standby from December 2021 to March 2024. She will take over the role from Alexandra Socha, with Trimm and Kebede launching performances on 4 March 2025.
You can get tickets for Wicked the musical on Broadway here.
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