Fresh Face: Kendra Kassebaum

Age: 34

Currently: Enchanting audiences as Glinda, the Good Witch of Oz, in Broadway's runaway blockbuster Wicked.

Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri

Leap of Faith: Kassebaum's first taste of the stage came as a teen actress at Notre Dame High, an all-girls' Catholic school. "Doing musicals that required boys was quite difficult," she says with a laugh, "but it was a chance to be around them, so I started doing the shows." Landing at Missouri State University, she began turning her hobby into a career. "I wasn't sure what I was going to do until one of my professors said, 'I think you need to go for it and study acting,'" she explains. "I said, 'OK,' because I loved it. It was a leap of faith. When you're young, you're fearless, so I just kind of went with it."

I Hope I Get It! Performing Arts B.F.A. in hand, Kassebaum arrived in New York having saved up enough for three months. "I don't even know why I picked that number, other than that it was all the money I had," she says now. "But it's almost 10 years later, and I didn't go home!" She earned her Equity card at her first job, playing Val in A Chorus Line at the Bridgeport Playhouse on the Green in Connecticut. "I thought it was the best—I'd get picked up and dropped off at Columbus Circle, like a little chauffeur service," she recalls with a laugh. "I believe you can bring your own fried chicken and beer to the show [in Bridgeport], but it was fun!"

Season of Love: A gutsy visit to the office of Rent's casting directors landed the spirited young actress her Broadway debut gig. "When I first got to New York, I thought what [actors] did was bring a resume and headshot to the show's office and ask for an audition," she remembers. "I'm like, 'Hi, can I audition for your show?'" In her case, it worked, and she landed the role of Mark's mom and eventually covered Maureen. "They would let me do shows outside of New York, then come back," she says with gratitude of Rent's flexible casting policies. "That's how you learn as an actor, and it helps you bring more to the show, too."

Going for Glinda: Kassebaum auditioned for Wicked at the beginning and, though she didn't land a role, remained on the radar of director Joe Mantello, who cast her in the ensemble of his Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins. "During the run, he said, 'Why don't you go back in [for Wicked] and just breathe and try to bring yourself to it?'" she recalls. This time around, she won the role of Glinda on the show's first national tour—getting the good news from a high-profile source. "I was walking up 8th Avenue and I saw [Wicked composer] Stephen Schwartz," she says. "I didn't think he knew me, and he said, 'Congratulations!' I said, 'Why?' and he said, 'Um, I don't know if I was supposed to tell you, but we're going to have you on tour!' That was somethin'!"

She Knows About Popular: Kassebaum is constantly dazzled by the Wicked fan base, which, thanks to websites like YouTube, is growing faster than ever. "It's such a different generation, because people are watching it online, which is illegal," she says with a chuckle. "They write me letters and say, 'I haven't seen the show yet, but I saw you online and I like 'Popular'!' It's so not how I grew up! I'd go to the library and get Singin' in the Rain, put it on the record player and kind of imagine what it's like." The fans span all ages, too: "Some of the letters just kill me: 'I'm saving up my money to come!' I want to spend my salary getting them into the show."

From Oz to the Office: In October, Kassebaum will co-star with Wicked castmate Jayne Houdyshell as lovestruck office girl Lorraine in the world premiere of Adam Bock's The Receptionist at Manhattan Theatre Club. For now, though, she's living up her final days in Wicked, unwinding with friends and spending plenty of time outdoors with her dog, Eddie. "I was living like a nun on tour, figuring out how to make it work," the cheerful actress says, "but now I know how to socialize and just live life. I love walking to work and seeing a bus go by with Wicked on it. It's the coolest-ass feeling ever. I feel like a real New Yorker: I'm in it, I'm living it and I love it."