Defying expectations: Modesto native lands dream Broadway job as star of ‘Wicked’
When Lindsay Pearce got the call that she had landed the lead role in “Wicked” on Broadway, the Modesto native only had one question.
“Are you sure?” the 28-year-old said she asked her agent. Yes, indeed, she had been cast to play Elphaba, the titular “Wicked Witch of the West” in the Tony-winning musical. “And then I asked her again, ‘But are you sure?’ ”
The role will be The Modesto Junior College alum’s Broadway debut and culmination of a childhood dream of making it on the Great White Way. After spending close to a decade in Los Angeles working in TV, film and theater, Pearce has uprooted her life and moved to New York to take on the iconic role fist made famous by Idina Menzel.
The singer and actress, who attended Modesto Christian and Valley Charter schools, vividly remembers the first time she saw the musical — which imagines the unlikely early friendship between Elphaba the “Wicked Witch” and Glinda the “Good Witch” from the “Wizard of Oz.” It was 2009 and she drove to San Francisco with her mom to catch the touring show just before her 18th birthday.
The first act ends with Elphaba belting out the show’s signature song, “Defying Gravity,” while defiantly flying high above the stage.
“The minute she went into the air I was unwell. I was a different human being. I went from a smiling teenager on the verge of adulthood to a complete mess,” Pearce said in a phone call from her new New York home. “My mom looked over and was like, ‘Are you OK?’ The lights went up and my face was wet and I was clapping and everyone was losing their minds. I turned to her and said, ‘I want to do that someday.’ And she was like, ‘OK’.”
Making her Broadway debut
Now, 11 years later, she is set to do just that. She opens on Broadway as Elphaba Tuesday, Feb. 25, in the legendary Gershwin Theatre. She is set to play the role of the famously green-skinned witch who makes friends with Glinda while college roommates at least through the year’s end.
But Pearce’s passion for performing started well before her “Wicked” experience. She’s been a regular on regional stages since she was 6 years old, appearing in productions by Opera Modesto (then called Townsend Opera Players), Denair Gaslight Theater, Sonora’s Stage 3 Theatre, Turlock Youth Performing Arts and Modesto Junior College over the years.
But it was about a year after she first saw “Wicked” that things began to really take off. First she won the inaugural Valley Talent Project (then called Valley’s Got Talent) in 2010. That got her on the radar of fellow Modesto native and Emmy-winning Hollywood casting director Robert Ulrich.
From there she was cast in “The Glee Project,” a reality competition spin-off of the hit Fox musical series “Glee” where Ulrich served as a mentor. She came in second on the show, and later appeared in a recurring role on “Glee.”
During her “The Glee Project” days “Wicked” again came into Pearce’s life. On the penultimate episode she sang “Defying Gravity” to save herself from elimination — and it worked.
Even though close to a decade has passed since that moment, Ulrich remains firmly in Pearce’s corner.
“I couldn’t be happier for Lindsay. She’s an enormous talent, a great actress with one of the best voices out there,” he said in an email to The Modesto Bee after her “Wicked” casting.
Her career in L.A.
In 2011, Pearce moved to Los Angeles and began landing roles in other shows including a guest starring spot on the hit series “Grey’s Anatomy” and a recurring role on the Freeform show “Recovery Road.”
While she was finding work in L.A., Pearce said she still dreamed of Broadway. But she worried after 10 years in Southern California she had missed her shot. Many start auditioning for Broadway right out of college.
“Life went in a different direction, as life does,” she said. “I watched so many people go to Broadway in my friends circle. And I always said, ‘That’d be so cool’.”
So she made the goal of moving to New York by the end of 2019, start of 2020. But first she landed a job performing on a cruise ship for nine months, which took her around the world, and then she spent two months in the foothills last fall starring as Juliet in the Murphys Creek Theatre production of “Romeo & Juliet.”
In November of last year she auditioned for ”Wicked” in New York. Pearce said she thought she was just being put in a “for your consideration” file for the Broadway show or its touring act , not necessarily auditioning to replace the Broadway’s outgoing Elphaba, Hannah Corneau.
Then, over Thanksgiving, she got an email saying they’d like to see her again the next week because the audio from her audition wasn’t clear. She went, but after that again nothing. Nothing until her agent called on Jan. 2 as she was about to get on a plane.
“She said, ‘How do you feel about moving to New York to play Elphaba in ‘Wicked’ on Broadway.’ I said, ‘What did you just say to me?’ ” she said.
From there, she had about 20 days to get her life in order and make the move to the East Coast. She landed in New York Jan. 27 and began rehearsing a day later.
In the month of rehearsals that have followed, Pearce said she had gained an unending appreciation for the work it takes to put on a Broadway show. Now in its 17th year, “Wicked” is the fifth-longest running show on Broadway and one of its highest earners ever, second only to “The Lion King.”
But Pearce said while her performance schedule will be intense (eight shows a week, with only Mondays off), it is nothing compared to the behind-the-scenes mechanics of putting on such a large production with special effects, elaborate costumes, extensive makeup, and more.
“Watching a Broadway show from the wings is like watching a track meet,” she said. “You’ve got discus, javelin, shot put, hurdles, sprints, long races all happening right next to each other and no one is getting hit. And everything happens at lightening speed.”
Turning Elphaba green
Last week was also her first time in the full green Elphaba paint, which takes 35 minutes to apply and then is reapplied during intermission. Pearce is also getting used to the Wicked Witch’s wardrobe, particularly her 17-pound dress and accompanying accessories.
“You’ve got a book bag and a broom and you’re green and it’s very strange and you’re sweating and emoting and singing at the top of your range. It’s absolute heaven and so humbling,” she said. “But Elphaba does not happen without dozens of other people putting her on that stage — the makeup artists, wig technician, wardrobe team, music director, stage director and the cast who has welcomed me with open arms. They’ve never once made me feel like I didn’t belong here, like I didn’t earn Broadway.”
Aside from the physical demands of the show, Pearce said taking on such a well-known and well-loved role has been daunting. “Wicked” helped to make Menzel and her Glinda counterpart Kristin Chenoweth household names. But she said she already has been embraced by the “Green Girls” sisterhood of Elphaba Broadway veterans.
They’ve given her tips and tricks on how to remove the bright-green paint (Neutrogena makeup remover wipes, a lot of them) and where to get the best massages. At home, her shower and sheets have been stained green.
Each actress has brought their own spin to Elphaba, and she hopes to make the character feel authentic. The show, and its message, serve as a constant inspiration to her.
“It’s a good lesson about not bringing people down, women especially,” she said. “It’s really empowering. I have never felt so connected to myself as a female or my friends. It’s been a really, really cool experience. I can’t say the word humbling enough.”
With opening night in her sights, Pearce will have plenty of valley love rooting her on. Many of her family and friends, including her mother Carol Pearce, will be there to watch her debut. Some of her past professors and vocal coaches from Modesto Junior College plan to see the show this year as well.
Thankful for Modesto
She was last in Modesto to perform in August, when she sang to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Valley Talent Project at the Gallo Center for the Arts.
“I just feel so so thankful to everyone in Modesto — everyone at the Gallo Center, everyone at MJC, everyone I know from Sonora, Merced, Turlock, Denair. There’s something special about people from the valley,” she said. “I’ve texted my mom so many times to say thank you for driving me to those rehearsals, those auditions. That dedication was instilled in me by her and all my mentors in Modesto.”
As for her Broadway future, she said she hopes to stay on the East Coast and continue working and performing.
“If feels so good to have this opportunity. If it never happens again, if this is my first and last show, I couldn’t ask for a better experience,” she said. “It’s the role of a lifetime. I just hope to keep her alive until I give her to some other fabulous woman who puts her hat on.“
Bee staff writer Deke Farrow contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 23, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
