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The last time Lencia Kebede lived in New York, in 2015, she was a 21-year-old college intern at the United Nations, taking and translating notes for the ambassador from Guatemala, who was working on an anti-poverty initiative.<\/p>\n
What a difference a decade can make. Instead of pursuing a career as a human rights lawyer, Kebede is now a working actress in New York defying gravity eight times as week as the first Black actress to play Elphaba full time in \u201cWicked\u201d on Broadway.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a dream role that is also allowing her to tend to her two passions. \u201cThe place where Elphaba and I meet,\u201d she said, \u201cis empathy and advocacy for justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
After her internship, she returned to college and graduated from Occidental with a bachelor\u2019s degree in diplomacy and world affairs. But she knew that she had to follow her musical theater ambitions instead of going to law school.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
In \u201cWicked,\u201d a prequel to \u201cThe Wizard of Oz,\u201d Elphaba, born with green skin and preternatural sorcery skills, is the young adult version of the Wicked Witch of the West. But the story reveals that she is neither evil nor envious, and instead is a consummate outsider who uses her powers to protect herself and others from the authoritarian rule in Oz.<\/p>\n
Kebede, whose parents immigrated to the United States in the early 1970s to escape a military coup in Ethiopia, said her own back story is helping her bring a fresh global and political perspective to Elphaba\u2019s heroism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Kebede, now 31, was drawn to the stage \u2014 not the film industry in her backyard \u2014 and began her musical training in the church choir. She also did community theater programs, and credits the \u201cteachers who invested time in me along the way.\u201d In 2018, she landed her first lead role as Deloris in a regional production of \u201cSister Act.\u201d Later that year she joined the cast of a 20th-anniversary tour of \u201cRent,\u201d playing Joanne.<\/p>\n
Soon she was auditioning for the touring production of \u201cHamilton.\u201d Initially hired for the ensemble, she was elevated, in 2023, to one of the coveted lead roles, Angelica Schuyler, which she played for two years before coming to \u201cWicked\u201d this spring. Between those shows, she had a plum gig as a backup singer in the rehearsals for Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s 2018 Coachella concert. \u201cTo watch her work ethic,\u201d Kebede gushed. \u201cShe\u2019s everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Shortly after her Broadway debut, Kebede and I met at Awash, an Ethiopian restaurant on Manhattan\u2019s Upper West Side, where we had dinner and talked about her cultural upbringing, her commitment to social change and what being the first full-time Black Elphaba on Broadway means for younger theatergoers. These are edited excerpts from our conversation.<\/p>\n
When did you first see \u201cWicked\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019ve been obsessed since I was 12, and saw the show in New York in 2007. I identified with Elphaba, but I mostly identified with the music. The lyrics made me feel empowered. Having this thing that I\u2019ve idolized my entire life now be a part of who I am, it brings me to tears.<\/p>\n What was your response when you learned you would play Elphaba?<\/strong><\/p>\n I didn\u2019t cry, I started cracking up. I was at a loss for words. I\u2019ve always imagined that I could do something special and impactful in the world. Now I\u2019m having this opportunity to do that. It was an abundance of riches, and it made me laugh.<\/p>\n This is your first Broadway role. How did you prepare for it?<\/strong><\/p>\n I spoke to previous Elphabas, and the biggest thing that they taught me was just to give myself grace because the role is so intense. A lot of them said, Don\u2019t be a hero. Rest when you need it, and you can\u2019t be a perfectionist in this role, eight shows a week. It\u2019s simply too technical and requires too much. I was reminded that no matter what I felt throughout this process, one of my green sisters had felt it before, which made me feel so much less crazy and alone. They told me to lean on your sisters. It\u2019s a special, secret club. And Cynthia [Erivo] even sent me flowers on my debut.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Speaking of Erivo\u2019s success in the \u201cWicked\u201d movie, did you feel any additional pressure being the first full-time Black actress to play Elphaba onstage on Broadway?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It feels like I\u2019m a part of a bigger conversation \u2014 an international conversation \u2014 about what it means to be a member of a marginalized community. And finding a way to self-advocate in a system that doesn\u2019t reflect you, represent you, or make you feel safe. That\u2019s what Elphaba represents to me. So it goes beyond race.<\/p>\n But I also wanted to be a positive inspiration, especially for the young Black and brown kids who haven\u2019t seen themselves in positions like this. Now that more youth and children are exposed to \u201cWicked,\u201d I want to rise to the occasion.<\/p>\n How do you think the story of Elphaba\u2019s outsiderness resonates with audiences right now?<\/strong><\/p>\n Humans are obsessed with categorizing things because the unknown is scary. Just because Elphaba is different doesn\u2019t mean she\u2019s scary. If we all embraced our differences a little more, even the small ones, the world would be more peaceful. Difference doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s a threat.<\/p>\n You spent a semester interning at the United Nations. Where does your interest in human rights come from?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n I worked at the Guatemala Mission at the U.N., and I would go to General Assembly meetings and take and translate notes for the ambassador. They were focused on peacekeeping, poverty, equality, and speaking for those who couldn\u2019t speak. It felt like an important duty to represent the country and its needs.<\/p>\n But my mom\u2019s dad, my grandfather, was a diplomat in Ethiopia to England, so he did a lot of work with Queen Elizabeth. Just the people\u2019s work. He was the only politically involved family member. It\u2019s not that I was unaware of it, but it\u2019s just this energy in my family. If you believe in something, you can achieve it. Before joining them herself, my maternal grandmother sent her kids to live with close friends and family in Los Angeles from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. So, my family is just a bunch of warrior women pursuing their dreams.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n How did those experiences shape your vision of Elphaba?<\/strong><\/p>\n We express ourselves very differently. She\u2019s just more explosive. I\u2019m much more like a pacifistic conversationalist. But I feel very attached to her passion, empathy, deep belief in herself, and willingness to fight for what she knows is right, even when everyone disagrees.<\/p>\n What do you hope audiences take away from your performance?<\/strong><\/p>\n Just because they don\u2019t see themselves in a position that they desire doesn\u2019t make it any less possible or true for them. History happens when people take chances on what they believe in. I didn\u2019t see a Black woman in this role. I didn\u2019t even imagine it when I was a kid. As I grew older, that changed. So I want people to see me and say, \u201cShe did it, so I can too.\u201d I tell myself, \u201cI\u2019m going to sit here. I\u2019m going to let myself sit here forever.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n