'Wicked' welcomes a pioneering good witch, Brittney Johnson
The IndependentGet Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “It’s about what it means for other people, for people that are going to see me do it or for people that just know that I’m here.” Johnson is part of a sisterhood of women who have recently broken boundaries on American stages, including Emilie Kouatchou, who became the first Black woman to play Christine in “The Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway, and Morgan Bullock who has become Riverdance's first Black female dancer. “It’s really moving to have it be for you.” Lindsay Pearce, her co-star as Elphaba, says Johnson is someone “obviously born for this” and says she's never seen anyone work harder. "Theater’s supposed to be the mirror of what the world looks like, and that’s what the world looks like.” Johnson's other Broadway credits include “Les Misérables,” “Motown the Musical,” “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” and opposite Glenn Close in “Sunset Boulevard” and as a guest in Kristin Chenoweth's Broadway concert show, teaming up with the original Glinda. “She said that I was a drama queen from when I was a child," Johnson says, then laughing adds: "I don’t agree.” She was bitten by the musical theater bug in high school.