Jennifer DiNoia鈥檚 journey with Wicked began ten years ago when she was cast as a swing in the Chicago company. After a year or so swinging, she was elevated (literally) to an Elphaba Standby track, and she鈥檚 been going on as the Green Girl ever since. Of course, there have been breaks throughout her ten-year stint鈥攈er most recent being the longest鈥攂ut she鈥檚 back on Broadway as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. For the record, she has performed the role of Elphaba in seven companies across four countries, more than any other actress in the show鈥檚 history.
Before returning to Oz, DiNoia and husband Rion Stassi welcomed a newborn girl named Joules in November 2015. 鈥淢otherhood is a whole new perspective,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like putting on this pair of glasses that you鈥檝e never, ever looked through.鈥� But, for eight shows a week, she trades in her mom glasses for a pair of green shades to don at Wizomania. In her Wicked dressing room, between shows in a Shiz University hooded sweatshirt, we catch up with DiNoia, who talks about Wicked鈥攐ne of the biggest chapters of her life and career.
Tell me about your journey with Wicked. When did you start?
JD: I started in Chicago in February of 2006. I was hired as a swing, and I think it was when they were adding the crossover swing track into the show. When I started, the dancer swing was on a medical leave, so I was the dancer swing when I first started in the show. I didn鈥檛 cover any roles; that was my first swinging job, which is the hardest job in our business. I think swings are the unsung heroes of musical theatre. They have to know so much stuff, and it鈥檚 quite a task, so I did that for about a year-and-a-half, and within that year-and-a-half, I became an emergency Elphaba cover because some people had medical leaves, and I ended up going on, so they just kept me on as an emergency cover. I ended up getting moved into the standby position in Chicago around the year-and-a-half mark, and the rest is history from there.
What was your first flight like?
JD: I don鈥檛 remember. I mean, it was so magical, but I think that鈥檚 why I don鈥檛 remember it because it feels like it blew past me. It was so quick, and the show is not short. It鈥檚 quite long, but it was also so long ago, and I feel like I鈥檝e grown up in these last ten years so much so that I can鈥檛 really remember it. It鈥檚 crazy. Every flight is amazing. It really is. I don鈥檛 know how else to put it.
Have you ever had any Plan B flights during 鈥淒efying Gravity鈥�?
JD: Yeah! Plenty. I actually had one this week. It definitely pulls you slightly out of the moment for a second because you have to go into, 鈥淥kay, what do I need to do now?鈥� In my head, I always think, 鈥淚 know they want to see me fly, so I鈥檝e got to give it even more.鈥� It makes you pull up. It鈥檚 like anything in live theatre. If something goes wrong, you have to be ready to jump into the moment. I think it鈥檚 really exciting. Some people are a little like, 鈥淲omp womp!鈥�
What has been one of your favorite Elphaba moments over the years or one of your most memorable experiences?
JD: One is popping into my head. This is outside of the show at the stage door. When I was on tour鈥攊t was while I was playing Elphaba鈥攚e were in Houston, and this girl who is clearly an Elphaba in real life walked up to me and couldn鈥檛 really talk to me. She couldn鈥檛 speak, but she had something in her hand, and she kind of just handed me this note and was like, 鈥淭hank you.鈥� It was a piece of a paper bag, and it said, 鈥淵ou inspire me鈥� on it. I framed it because it was just鈥� That鈥檚 the reason why you do this for a living. You want to inspire people, and with Wicked itself, it鈥檚 such a gorgeous show, and it has such a beautiful message, and for somebody that is clearly an Elphaba, whatever characteristics she might carry in her real life similar to Elphaba鈥檚, that made it all worth the sweating and the green and all of the moments where you might be tired. That鈥檚 why. [Plus] all the traveling鈥攁ll the different cities and countries I鈥檝e been to鈥攖hose have been the most magical things that have happened.
You鈥檝e been able to see the world because of Wicked. That鈥檚 probably one of the best gifts you could ever get.
JD: Absolutely. I wouldn鈥檛 take away any of those experiences. The first one was Sydney, Australia, which was just wild. I鈥檓 on the other side of the earth for the first time. I鈥檝e never traveled that far. It was so cool to meet a group of people who had been doing Wicked, but on the other side of the earth, [and] probably not many of them have seen our version [on Broadway]. That鈥檚 why other countries have been amazing to do it in. I also did it in Seoul, which was mind-blowing, doing it with non-English-speaking audience鈥� They don鈥檛 really know The Wizard of Oz, they don鈥檛 really grow up with it, but this story of Wicked still resonated with them so strong. It was about meeting those people and having those experiences and finding these new moments in the show鈥攇etting that opportunity to work with so many different actors, which has been cool, and London was really like the big, huge highlight. Going to the West End was just wild.
Who became some of your closest Wicked friends?
JD: In the Australian company, I really got to be good friends with James Smith and Emma Delmenico, they were the Boq and the dance captain, [respectively]. They were invited to my wedding; I was invited to theirs. We keep in touch as much as we can. We couldn鈥檛 go, but鈥� In London, [there were so] many [people I became friends with], like Savannah Stevenson, who played Glinda, was such a great girl, and we keep in touch鈥攚e FaceTime and Skype. On the road, the first time I full-time played Elphaba was with Hayley Podschun, who is a New York girl. She was part of my bridal party. And then in Chicago, I made some of my best friends in life鈥擭athan Peck, Alicia Albright, Meredith Atkins. There are countless people who have become staples.
What was your first memory of Wicked before you auditioned? When did you see it?
JD: I didn鈥檛 see it until I was cast in the show. I was doing We Will Rock You in Las Vegas, and myself and Marcie Dodd, who is a past Elphaba as well, drove from Vegas to L.A. to audition. She went into the singer call; I went to the dancer call.
You鈥檙e a dancer first and foremost?
JD: Yeah. I mean, it鈥檚 been a while since I鈥檝e taken a dance class, but that鈥檚 how I got into the show鈥攖hrough my dance call. I sang 16 bars of 鈥淗ow Will I Know鈥� by Whitney Houston.
What was your reaction when you were first cast in Wicked?
JD: I was over the moon. When I was on tour with Mamma Mia!, I remember sitting in the National Theatre backstage in Washington, D.C., and we were listening to Wicked for the first time. The album just came out; it was 2003. And I remember hearing Idina [Menzel] sing 鈥淒efying Gravity,鈥� and I was like, 鈥淗old on? There鈥檚 a role out there that gets to do this every night?鈥� I felt like I hadn鈥檛 connected with any roles I had seen [that were currently on Broadway], and I couldn鈥檛 believe it, so I just started singing it all the time. I鈥檇 play it over and over and over again, but I hadn鈥檛 gotten to see the show until I was cast in Chicago.
Wicked has become such a phenomenon, and there are so many YouTube videos out there. Do you ever feel pressure to sing a certain riff or feel like you鈥檒l be filmed during the show?
JD: When I first started out, yes, and there obviously weren鈥檛 as many [bootlegs], but I鈥檝e decided to stop looking at YouTube or any kind of websites or talking about the show. When you鈥檙e first starting out, and you go on for one show, you鈥檙e hoping that as many people got to see it as possible鈥攈oping that it was good, anyway鈥攂ut I am the kind of personality that I have to step away from that. If I listen to recordings of myself, I鈥檒l judge every single moment. It鈥檚 live theatre, and nobody is perfect. There鈥檚 going be a bunk note every once in a while, and if I focus on that or listen to it or watch it too many times, I鈥檒l get in my head, and I won鈥檛 be able to do it onstage. So the pressures of trying to stay away from it is hard because you also kind of do want to listen to them, so there鈥檚 that whole [thought of], 鈥淒on鈥檛 go there because you鈥檒l fall into a YouTube hole.鈥� I fall into YouTube holes in any genre, [like a] makeup tutorial, and five hours later, I鈥檝e watched so many people put on makeup, and I鈥檓 like, 鈥淕od where鈥檇 the time go?鈥� If I was looking up myself, it would be way worse I think. It would have to involve something like wine.
Do you have any special vocal moments you get to do that you love?
JD: I have options that I鈥檒l always take if I鈥檓 feeling good, so there鈥檚 a few optional notes that I鈥檒l do in 鈥淒efying Gravity鈥� or 鈥淣o Good Deed鈥� or 鈥淲izard and I,鈥� but I鈥檓 not really a 鈥渞iffer.鈥� I can do riffs, but they don鈥檛 come out of me flowy and naturally, like a Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston. It doesn鈥檛 fall out of my mouth like that, so I don鈥檛 necessarily plan them, but I have a few options that I go with that will somewhat change or morph within where my voice is sitting for that day.
Over the years, I鈥檓 sure there鈥檚 been an onstage mishap or two. What鈥檚 a fun story you can share?
JD: Oh my goodness! I always forget because there鈥檚 so many! Moments where I just literally forgot the words completely and didn鈥檛 speak? There鈥檚 hundreds of those. I can think of one when I was in the ensemble, when I was a swing鈥� I came in for the ballroom crossover, and those dresses are so big, and as a swing, you sometimes wear different ones, or at least in Chicago that鈥檚 how it was, and I hadn鈥檛 worn this one before, and I came out, and the automation brings off the armoire and vanity table as Nessa is leaving the stage, and my dress got caught underneath the vanity table, so I literally came out, and then I got dragged right back offstage. I was like, 鈥淥kay, I鈥檓 just going to milk this moment for all it鈥檚 worth.鈥�
Michael Gioia is the Features Manager at 半岛体育.com. Follow him on Twitter at .
