What was it like stepping onto a Broadway stage for the first time?
When I got the job, I was the Elphaba standby, but they also threw in “you have to cover Nessarose as well”. Which was funny to me because I had auditioned for Nessarose when it went to San Francisco and they didn’t like me at all! [Laughs] I got called into rehearsals much earlier than expected because Idina tore her meniscus in her knee and they weren’t sure if she was gonna have to have surgery or not. So I was there all through tech and trying to learn the role on my own. And even when the show started previews, and we started understudy rehearsals, they were like “Don’t worry about Nessarose right now. Just focus on Elphaba.” So I had done ONE rehearsal as Nessarose and I get a phone call on my way to the theater. Michelle Federer was injured and it so happened that the understudy from San Francisco was on vacation, so I was the only one there. [Laughs] So my Broadway debut was as Nessarose. I remember sitting in the wheelchair when the father’s getting ready to wheel me out for t
