‘Wicked’ welcomes a pioneering good witch, Brittney Johnson

By MARK KENNEDY
AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — While many people spent Valentine’s Day with the traditional flowers and chocolates, Brittney Johnson was making theater history. The young Broadway veteran was gently lowered onto the Gershwin Theatre stage to become the first Black actor to assume the role of Glinda full-time in “Wicked,” shattering a racial barrier on the day of love. Johnson has ended a 19-year run of white actors playing Glinda in any professional “Wicked” company, a milestone made even more powerful since Glinda is the very essence of goodliness. “Wicked,” based on Gregory Maguire’s cult novel, tells the story of two young witches-to-be, one will become the Wicked Witch of the West and the other, Glinda the Good Witch.