Actress Portraying The Good Witch In 'Wicked' Thrilled About Her First Lead Role
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- Only three days left to catch one of the hottest musicals on Broadway. "Wicked" is playing at the Hippodrome and it's only the second time the play has been featured in Baltimore.
Rochelle Ritchie has an inside look.
It's one of the most popular musicals to hit the Hippodrome in nearly five years.
"The show's three and a half hours. It's a lot of work but it's a pleasure to be a part of the show," actress Jeanna De Waal said.
De Waal plays the character Glinda, the good witch. It's her first lead role since beginning her Broadway career in New York.
"I've had lovely parts in other shows but this is the first time I've played a role as big as Glinda, definitely," she said.
De Waal says the cast gets ready hours before the doors of the Hippodrome open. Taking time to stretch and warm up those incredible voices, two of the most fascinating parts of the show are "Defying Gravity" where the wicked witch rises high above the stage and when Glinda appears in a bubble machine with a $10,000 wand.
De Waal and her team allowed WJZ's Rochelle Ritchie to take a ride in the bubble. And it's not as easy as it looks.
Before Ritchie knew it, she was rising 28 feet above the stage.
"Now we are going to move to the right, and I can tell you, my heart is beating faster. That is for sure," Ritchie said.
And though she is no rookie at it, even the professionals get butterflies.
"You're up there for when the music starts and stuff and sometimes my nerves get the better of me because I can see the show starting and hear it and it's exciting because you're sort of waiting on your own," De Waal said.
"Wicked" shows until Nov. 4. This is the second time in five years it's visited Baltimore.
