Brittney Johnson has made history as the first black woman to portray Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, in the Broadway show Wicked.
"My heart is bursting with gratitude. Thank you, thank you! God is so good!" Johnson said in a tweet. "I am so humbled to be the first Black Glinda and honored to fulfill the dreams and hopes of so many! I feel like my feet have yet to touch down."
The actress made her official debut on Jan. 10. Prior to that, no black actress has ever played “Glinda” in an English-language production of the GRAMMY-winning musical, according to several reports. Johnson joined the cast in June as an understudy.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">My heart is bursting with gratitude. Thank you, thank you! God is so good! I am so humbled to be the first Black Glinda and honored to fulfill the dreams and hopes of so many! I feel like my feet have yet to touch down. The importance of this moment in history is... <a href="https://t.co/503uPIAq1O">pic.twitter.com/503uPIAq1O</a></p>— Brittney Johnson (@sunnybrittney) <a href="https://twitter.com/sunnybrittney/status/1083804472256724993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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"Representation is so important and I'm honored to be a representative here on Broadway and in the theatre community. My hope and prayer is that people all over the world can see my story and have faith that they can achieve their dreams too. Nothing is impossible!" she continued in another tweet.
Wicked is a musical spinoff of Gregory Maguire's book Wicked: The Life And Times Of The Wicked Witch Of The West, which is inspired by L. Frank Baum's classic The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz. Wicked debuted in San Francisco in 2003. It is the sixth longest-running musical ever.
READ: Still "Wicked": Celebrating 15 Years Of The GRAMMY-Winning Musical
In the past, Kristin Chenoweth and GRAMMY winner Jennifer Laura Thompson have played “Glinda” onstage.
Jessica Vosk, who plays “Elphaba,” aka The Wicked Witch of the West, had her own thoughts to share about the history-making accomplishment on Instagram:
"Miss Brittney Johnson is gracing the Gershwin stage as the first Glinda of color on Broadway. This is both deserved and integral to this show and the entire theatre community. The fact that she inspires all of us here is one thing. The fact that she is inspiring women all over the world to follow their dreams is simply life changing all around. This is what a Glinda looks like."
