Derrick Williams Gives Thanks for Family, Fiyero and The Book of Mormon at 15

Not unlike the Tony-winning musical comedy hit The Book of Mormon, Broadway veteran Derrick Williams has become something of a long-runner himself. Fittingly, he made his Broadway debut as a swing in the dance revue Swing! before going on to perform in fan-favorite shows like Aida and Wicked, eventually stepping out of the ensemble and into the role of Fiyero in the latter. Now, Williams has spent more than a decade commanding audiences as the General in The Book of Mormon, both on tour and at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre, while making time for TV, film and, most importantly, family.

With Mormon celebrating its 15th anniversary, his daughter heading into another year of college on a full scholarship and a milestone birthday waiting in the wings, Williams reflected on a career defined by staying power—both on the boards and in the General’s unmistakable yellow boots.

You have a long history with The Book of Mormon. How did the show get on your radar?
I was hearing rumblings about The Book of Mormon probably around the time that I was doing Wicked [on Broadway] and then The Lion King [in Las Vegas]. I think they workshopped it for almost five years. The word was out there. I was on Lion King when I got a call to come in for it. They wanted to see me for Mafala. At the time, I thought, “I don’t think I’m old enough for this.” But then I listened to the cast album and thought, “Let me just try to change my whole attitude. Let me go book this thing!” Flew to L.A., went in, did the scene. As I’m walking out the door, Casey Nicholaw, the director, comes up to me and goes, “Listen, I think you’re a little bit too young for Mafala, but there’s another part I think you’d be right for, if you want to take 10 minutes and read it.” [I read for the General]—they literally gave me 10 minutes! They were laughing, and the rest is history.

You started out with The Book of Mormon on tour. What was it like for you to then join this Broadway company at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre?
I’ve been fortunate enough to be in a lot of different buildings. There is something truly special about this building. It’s filled with some of the most colorful, funny, kind and inspiring people I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with. We are a family—and not just the cast. The crew, musicians, wardrobe, everyone. I truly feel a happy building in our business starts at the top. Our producers know our happiness plays an astronomical part in the happiness in the building, which in turn makes folks want to spend time together out of the building. We literally just took a tubing trip together to bond. We drive up to the Delaware River and just coast down, relaxing and telling stories. Our assistant wardrobe supervisor Virginia sets it up every year. We’re talking about 15 years in, and we still get ice cream trucks out there on a two-show Saturday. I know that might sound silly, but it shows they care about our hard work. This is one of the happiest and most enjoyable places to work in theater.

Why do you think Mormon continues to be so successful?
In a lot of ways, it feels like a very old-school Broadway musical. That’s the beauty of it. If you really pay attention to the music it references a lot of different shows. You want to laugh and have a good time? You come see The Book of Mormon. It’s still fun. When I hear people say they haven’t seen it, I’m like, “How? Are you kidding me? You haven’t seen one of the best comedies in Broadway history?” That blows my mind. Now is the time to come. The show is in such a great place. The cast that we have! Kevin’s [Clay] fantastic. Syd [Quildon] and Diego [Enrico], straight from college—absolutely killing it. It is such a well-rounded cast.

You were in the original cast of Wicked—you were actually my first Fiyero! What does it mean to you to be a part of shows with such staying power?
I have moments that I sit here, look in the mirror and just smile. I’m very thankful. Once we got to the 15-year anniversary [of Mormon], Kim Exum, who’s been in our show, sent me a message. She said, “Do you know you’ve been in three of the longest-running modern musicals in history?” [Gets choked up and grabs a tissue] Your career is all about choices that you make. I love what I do. I gotta tell you, I almost didn’t do Wicked because I was supposed to be Big Daddy in Sweet Charity with Christina Applegate. I had the contract sitting at the office for a few weeks and never got to it. Something just told me it didn’t feel right. I held off a little bit, and then Wicked called. My wife also told me she was pregnant. That changes everything: the love of my family, the love of my child and wanting to be with my child. Doing work where I can have them with me has been the most important thing. When I started on The Book of Mormon tour, my child was in the first grade. She’s going into her third year of college—she got a full ride. I’m really proud of her. She still has friends from kindergarten that she still hangs out with now. She wouldn’t have that if I was doing everything around the moon. So that probably means more to me than anything I’ve done. This has allowed me to do that. I left the Wicked tour on January 1, 2006, returned to Wicked on Broadway on January 10, and she was born January 27. These long-running shows have allowed me to have that.

You seem to have an amazing attitude. Where do you think that comes from for you?
It’s my family. It’s how I grew up. I’m from Norfolk, Virginia. I wasn’t raised with a chip on my shoulder. I was taught how to find the love in everybody. That’s how I live my life and that’s how I grew up. I have two brothers, and I was on vacation just a few weeks ago getting to spend time with them. We get a house every summer—there’s like 13 of us now that stay there together. Family is the only thing that truly matters to me. That love from them helps me push the love that I have inside of me out to everyone else.

What does it mean to be part of a show that has been making audiences laugh for 15 years?
It’s so surreal. Both [the current cast] and the original cast all feel involved and special with the anniversary. We’ve all celebrated this together, and I cannot stress enough how important I think that is. Making people laugh—it’s probably the most beautiful thing about this job. Something I love about my part is that I get to walk onstage and have everyone’s attention. I get to razzle dazzle ‘em. When I walk off, it’s such a good feeling. You can feel when you have ‘em. That’s the beauty of live theater. I went to school to play baseball, and I got hurt. Left school, but didn’t want to pursue this because I didn’t think I was good enough. My first Broadway show was Swing! as a dancer. I danced in Aida and Wicked before I got the part of Fiyero. To decide at 19, 20 years old, “All right, I’m gonna give it a shot” and then to still be here a year away from 50—it’s pretty cool.

During your time with The Book of Mormon, there have been harder moments too, be it the pandemic or the fire in May. How have you navigated difficult times?
I didn’t know when or how, but I knew we were coming back. I would never say either were a blessing in any sense, but it’s time I got with my daughter and my family that I’ll never get back. I’ll tell you, with the fire—I woke up to some texts and saw the article. But I said this before, when situations are up or down, it starts at the top and how that is handled. Everyone knew they were going to do their best to get us back as fast as they could, and that we’d be better than ever when we did.

Speaking of pauses, we featured Jennifer Werner on The Broadway Show, and she mentioned that a lot of rewriting of the show was done after the pandemic. What can you share about that process?
We went through the show with everyone. It wasn’t a lot [of changes]. Little tweaks here and there, but just enough to be like, “Let’s get together. Let’s talk about it. Hey, you know, maybe that is a little much. Let’s switch that now. Let’s move forward.” Maybe it wasn’t a lot in 2011, but the world has changed. That’s what we did, and I think people appreciated that. You can’t make everybody happy, but we’re making a lot of people happy!

It feels like The Book of Mormon has been this amazing opportunity while you’ve also had the chance to pursue TV and film. What is your advice to young people who want to be actors?
Our industry is changing so much: the way people are being found, the way we’re auditioning. Right now, we’re constantly taping ourselves for theater auditions, which blows my mind. We were brought up learning how to walk into a room—to own a room and audition and do your thing. Now, we’re behind a camera trying to figure it out. But I would say this, if it’s in you to do it—do the work. Anything great does not come easy. Even once you get there, you gotta keep working. Even now, you and I are sitting here [gestures to script sides on his dressing table]—I’m working. I have to do this tomorrow. But if it’s in you to do it—if it’s really in your heart—you go and do it.

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