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Broadway's 'Wicked' welcomes Lencia Kebede, its first pionering full-time Black Elphaba

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Lencia Kebede is the first Black actor to assume the role of Elphaba full-time in the Broadway company of " Wicked " "It’s hard to even pinpoint a single emotion because I feel that it changes like every five minutes ," she says.

"My whole family was in the audience — just everyone who I’ve ever loved, with everyone who has loved me and supported me through my life is just like under me, lifting me and holding me".

On debut night , Kebede tried to keep a set of mental screenshots, a reel of faces and feelings.

As she turned to get backstage, she was feeling the love.

“My battery was dead. I mean, I couldn’t even move. I had to just turn it off,” she says.