Wicked’s New Glinda and Elphaba Open Up About Kismet Casting and Carrying on a Broadway Legacy

Wicked’s newest besties Emma Flynn and Keri René Fuller are flying by bubble and broom in the Gershwin Theatre eight times a week. Now in its 23rd year, the musical has been made even more popular thanks to the Oscar-winning film and is still going strong. The new Glinda and Elphaba chatted with The Broadway Show host Tamsen Fadal at The Skylark about Broadway debuts, their kismet connections to the show and how the production continues to keep things fresh after more than two decades on Broadway.

Flynn found out she’d be making her Broadway debut as Glinda while she was subletting her friend’s apartment, just sitting on his couch. That moment only became more exciting when she found out that her green counterpart would be played by the same actor she watched perform the role on Instagram. "The second I found it was Keri, I was like, 'This is cosmic,'" says Flynn. “There is a video of [Keri] doing ‘Defying Gravity’ [in Stephen Schwartz: Defying Gravity—Live in Concert], and I used to watch it and weep because it was so good. It was the best I'd ever heard the song. And I was like, 'Oh my gosh, if I ever got to do Wicked, I hope that she gets to be Elphaba.'" 

Now, Fuller gets to do just that. This seemingly unbelievable moment was even more enhanced by the bittersweet timing of the call. “When my agent called me, I was like, ‘Come again? What?’ And it was really a very cosmic moment as well because it was actually the six-month anniversary of my father's passing on the day that I got the call," she says. "I was like, ‘This feels right. This feels so, so right.’”

The pair began performances on March 3, but Fuller had been the Elphaba standby for six months prior to assuming the role full-time. “It has always been an eight to 80 show. It has always been that musical,” Fuller says of the production's universal appeal. Despite the high-energy nature and demanding roles, Fuller finds moments of light. “It's so many people's first Broadway show that they're seeing and so many people's last Broadway show that they're seeing. And everybody in between enjoys it as if it's the first time.”

She continues: “It never gets old. It is always just so classic and so timeless.” Not only is the story evergreen (pun intended), but so are the roles in the show. Each actor brings something new, which Fuller knows better than anyone. “It is still the classic musical that we all love, and no matter which Elphaba you've seen over the entire 20-some odd years of Wicked's existence—on tour or in the many, many countries it's performed throughout—you're going to see a different show,” she says.

The magic of Wicked is one constant in the show. Looking down from Glinda’s bubble every night, Flynn gets to see audience members at their very first Broadway show, many having learned about it from the Jon M. Chu films. “It means something to people on a much deeper, more expansive level now that the movie exists," Flynn says. "It always was a household name, but now it's an even bigger entity. I think when people come see the Broadway show now, it also means something deeper; that they've seen the movie and now they get to see it in person.” No matter how Wicked finds its way to fans, the impact lasts a lifetime.

Watch the full interview below.

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