BWW Interviews: Jody Gelb, WICKED's Madame Morrible, Talks About Her Phenomenal Role

For Jody Gelb, who plays Madame Morrible in the national touring company of Wicked now ensconced at TPAC's Andrew Jackson Hall for another record-setting run, every night in the theater is so much more than just another day on the job. For her, it's an inspiring adventure which further proves that Wicked is so much more than musical theater: it's a phenomenon.

"I've been thinking about this for a while," she says during a phone interview from Richmond, Virginia, the tour's stop prior to the company's move to Nashville. "There are so many elements to the show...it really has something for everyone. There's this amazing spectacle that takes you to another world. You're in Oz, you're looking at people dressed in a way you've never seen people dress. But inside of that, you have this amazing story.

"The heart and power of the show is in the story of these girls and their friendship. You have these two types...the Galinda type and the Elphaba type, so audiences have that feeling of 'I'm Galinda, or I'm Elphaba' which helps bring the story home for most people."

And, like everyone who's ever been a member of Wicked audiences all over the world, Gelb has a definite idea which character represents what may be found inside her own heart: "For me, Elphaba would have been my part. I get her story, I get her story of alienation."

Thus, Gelb credits the musical's exceptional storytelling power as the genesis for the Wicked phenomenon that rivals anything you could compare it to - in fact, Wicked is so universally beloved by its fans that it's possible that the show has irretrievably set the bar for any theatrical endeavor that follows in its wake.

"It's the power of the story," she surmises. "I don't know why else it would have such an effect on people. I've met people who've come back 20 times - or many more than that even - men and women who are so deeply moved by the show."

"It's the experience of this school that's represented onstage, the transformative power of the friendship of the two women," suggests Gelb, who has been a member of this company since March, following a run in the San Francisco company of Wicked. "You weave into that the experiences of people who know the story of The Wizard of Oz and the magic of what Gregory Maguire has done with his book and the magic of what Winne Holtzman and the other adaptors have done with the musical...the way they tie it together."

And the result? "You've created this amazing show that's very powerful," Gelb concedes. "And then you have this music that hits people in the heart. Wicked is so many things, but at the center it's the power of the friendship and the story of these women."

One of her favorite things about Holtzman's script is the way in which the characters interact with one another and the character development made possible by the fantastical story that plays out onstage. Playing Madame Morrible, whose dramatic arc in the tale may indeed be the most far-reaching, gives Gelb the chance to show off her acting chops and to be challenged in every performance.

"[Madame Morrible] is a fantastic role for me in many ways," she explains. "While I was doing research on the character before I started, I immediately loved all the layers of her character, and when I started rehearsal, I sort of brought my ideas and the colors I thought she had to the role."

Playing Madame Morrible, she says, allows her "be charming and really nasty, you get to sing just a little bit, there are no quick changes - and they are the most glorious costumes in the world! - then there's the wig design, it's very inspiring to have all of these elements come together in the character choices made for you by the designers of Wicked."

The journey from the musical's first baby steps, if you will, eight years ago when the creative team first brought their vision to the stage to its worldwide acclaim (productions continue to thrive all over the globe, with future productions planned for more countries), is "mind-blowing," according to Gelb. "They felt they had a good show eight years ago, but you never know what is going to happen until you put it out there...you never know what you're going to have that moves you to that next level until it happens," she says.

"You never know how that will ultimately happen - to have it all over the world - and now, eight years later, it's still extremely powerful." Gelb says. "And that's because of the power of the story and the music, which is so  integral to the story."

In fact, she confesses, hearing Anne Brummel and Tiffany Haas (who play Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, in the company) singing their signature tunes at each performance still has the power to move her: "Hearing those women sing those songs - I cannot believe I'm hearing what I'm hearing and it goes straight into your heart."

Perhaps that explains how Gelb has no problem keeping her own performance fresh for every performance. Of course, it helps that she's a veteran of Broadway (she was a member of the original companies of Wrong Mountain, The Who's Tommy and Titanic) and regional theater (she moved from Manhattan to San Francisco ten years ago, making her presence felt in American Conservatory Theatre productions of Happy End, The Time of Your Life, A Doll's House, Blithe Spirit and Wrong Mountain), but she says there's much more to it than just professionalism and experience. It's her own creative process that informs her performance.

"First of all, I'm always walking in front of 2,000-plus people for every performance, so that keeps me on my toes in a very visceral way because I'm very aware of that," she explains. "It's never been easy for me to just walk out there and do it...I have to focus my mind and know what I'm going to do, to be in the moment.

"It really is kind of wacky, because you know your lines and you know what you're going to do - and when it works, it really works. I don't think it looks different from the outside, what the audience is seeing onstage, but inside your own head, you feel the difference in every performance."

Wicked runs through November 6 at TPAC's Andrew Jackson Hall. Performance times are as follows: Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m. (with the inclusion of one Thursday matinee performance at 2 p.m. on October 20); Friday evenings at 8:00 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sundays at 1 p.m and 6:30 p.m. Ticket prices range from $50-$160. For details, visit www.tpac.org.