Interview: 'The Girls Do All The Heavy Lifting': Actor Jordan Litz On Returning To Fiyero And Making His West End Debut In WICKED
'Fiyero is a princess track, compared to what the girls do!'
After playing Fiyero in Wicked for over 1,700 performances on both Broadway and in the national tour, Jordan Litz has crossed the pond to join the show’s West End cast to celebrate its 20th anniversary. We had the chance to speak with Litz about returning to the role of Fiyero, this time in London. We discussed how he first got the role, how the show has changed his life for the better and how he ran in the New York Marathon and did two performances in the same day!
Congratulations on joining the West End cast! Can you tell us a bit about your journey with Wicked, starting with the audition process?
I went to an EPA [Equity Principal Audition] back in August of 2017 and then the understudy of Fiyero on the national tour opened up that November. They called me in, and they gave me the material about a week in advance. I went in there completely off-book, memorised it to the letter. And it went well, because the casting director was like, “Who are you? And what is this blank sheet of a resume that you've handed me? You've done nothing. Where are you from?”
And that was the beginning of my audition journey with Wicked. I ended up going in three times. The first time, I made it through all the way to the final callbacks, but didn’t get it. I was there with Sam Gravitte - he played Fiyero on Broadway - and then Jeff Sears was the guy that got it over us. About a year later, that same slot opened up again, and Sam got it that time around. And then finally, six months later, the other understudy - there are two understudies in the cast - slot opened up. And the third time was a charm. I finally got it!
Photo Credit: Joan Marcus
Now you’re the longest-running Fiyero globally - how does it feel to hold that title?
That was a title that I couldn't have had an aspiration for, because it didn't even seem like something that could be done! Kyle Dean Massey or Richard H Blake was the previous longest-running Fiyero, and I've watched bootlegs of those guys - they're just legends in the role! The only reason that I am able to do the Fiyero that I can today is because of all of the things that I've learned from watching those guys, taking a little bit of that and making it my own, moulding this Fiyero off the back of twenty years of previous Fiyeros. So it's an honour to have that title - something that I never dreamed of, but a real honour.
And now you're making your West End debut in the role! What is that like?
Again, that was something that was not on my bingo card! I had never even dreamed of coming over to do something on the West End, let alone Wicked, because it had never happened. Carl [Man] is now officially the first guy - I've missed him by two months! I feel like Buzz Aldrin, and he's Neil Armstrong. I was there too, but he's technically the first guy to play the role on both Broadway and the West End. It's never happened before to go and play it on both sides of the pond, so it was never something that even registered to me as a dream.
I was approached by one of the producers leading up to the end of my time on Broadway, and they were asking if I would be interested in doing it. I have a wife, two daughters and a dog, and we had just bought a house - there was so much life stuff that was happening offstage that I was like, “I don't know if this is even something that we can pull off! The stars would have to align in so many ways for this to work out.” And luckily, Wicked has been so good to me that they rolled out the red carpet for us and really made it happen.
Photo credit: Mark Senior, Matt Crockett
Have you spoken with Carl about this “exchange” of the Fiyeros?
He had two weeks of rehearsal before I left the show, so we had some interaction here and there. The rehearsal process is very quick on Broadway compared to the West End. They gave me five weeks here, which is an insane amount of time. That's longer than I had when I first learned the show! I only had three weeks to learn the show when I first started. So five weeks of rehearsal feels like a luxury to really fine-tune things, discover new stuff and get to know my cast.
That's something that is not very common in long-running shows, because often you come in, learn the show with a dance captain and a stage manager and then they put you into the show - bam, you're in. So these five weeks of rehearsal have been a cool opportunity to get to know my cast and make some friendships before we begin this journey of eight shows a week for 52 weeks.
What is it about this role that has kept you with it for so long?
There are a lot of things - I love the role! First off, it's just such a fun role to play. You have really heartfelt moments, you have a lot of great comedic moments. You have some cool up-tempo, fast rhythmic dancing and singing, and then you have this really cool power ballad, gorgeous song that you sing with Elphaba.
It has the coolest costume plot of any role I've ever played. The tight white pants, the maroon suit that you wear in Ozdust, the Captain of the Guard uniform . . . It's just the most iconic costumes that I've ever gotten to wear!
It's also a very manageable role. Fiyero is a princess track, compared to what the girls do! The girls do all of the heavy lifting - I sing two songs, and I'm on stage for maybe an hour of a three-hour show. So it's very achievable to do eight shows a week for years.
Photo credit: Mark Senior, Matt Crockett
I'm sure being on the “princess track” helped when you ran the New York Marathon and then did two shows on the same day - what was that like?
Fifteen minutes before the matinee, I was crying in my dressing room, in the arms of my dresser! I only had one moment in the day where I was like, “This isn't gonna happen.” Coming out of the Bronx, Mile 21, my hamstring completely seized up on me. I couldn't walk, I couldn't run. I had to stand there for about five minutes to let it uncramp. That was the only moment where I was like, “I think I might have to walk off the course and DNF [Did Not Finish].” But luckily, I just started.
And, by the time I got back into Manhattan, coming up Fifth Avenue, that was where all of the theatre fans were watching, so pride took over, and I knew that I had to finish.
Once I started the show, everything was fine. Muscle memory is a beautiful thing when you've done something 1,500 times. I could just press the play button and trust that my voice and my body were going to do what they needed to do. And then after I refuelled and everything, the second show of the day was one of the best shows I've had in months, because it was just pure adrenaline. I knew I was pulling it off, which sent me to the finish line of the day. It was maybe the craziest thing I've ever done - top three, for sure!
Do you have a favourite song either to perform or to watch in Wicked?
It changes all the time! It depends on the actor in the role, because they might bring something to a song that I hadn't noticed before. Personally, it also depends on who I'm doing “As Long As You’re Mine” with. I love all of the Elphabas that I've done the show with. Some, it just tends to click vocally.
I don't really have a favourite song necessarily, because it just depends on who's doing the song that night. But to perform, I think “Dancing Through Life” is consistently the most fun that I have on stage every single night. It's not so hard vocally that if I'm not feeling 100%, I'm gonna freak out and fall apart. Whereas “As Long As You’re Mine,” if I'm not feeling 100% vocally, that one can get a little scary if you're not feeling perfect! So “Dancing Through Life” is the final answer.
Can you tell us a bit about OzCapella?
OzCapella is a little a capella project that I started my first year in Wicked on Broadway. It started with Allie Trimm, who was the Glinda standby at the time, and Mary Kate Morrissey, who was the Elphaba standby. We would hang out at intermission in the rehearsal room upstairs and mess around singing random things, whether it was barbershop tags, goofy riffs and riffs that we always wanted to do in the show that we never could - things like that. There was a day when I said, “Every day when I'm getting into my final costume, I hear ‘For Good,’ and I sing along with a third part. What if we got together, I taught you guys a little arrangement that I've had going around in my head?” We messed around and recorded it in the stairwell. We really liked it, and we were like, “Let's just post it on social media and see what happens.” It just completely exploded! Everybody was so into it, and that fuelled us.
“One Short Day,” to this day, might be my favourite one that we've done. Regardless of who was or wasn’t in the show, we could always come back into the stairwell and throw something together. And then we started pulling people in... We're trying to do a live concert, we've talked about trying to put out an album, and maybe branching out to other shows, going into their stairwells and singing some of their songs. So maybe pop over to Aladdin or Ragtime and sing one of their songs. So we'll see what happens with the future of OzCapella! But it's been one of the coolest gifts that I've had with my time in Wicked.
What do you hope audiences take away from Wicked?
There are so many great messages in Wicked! The most obvious one is not judging a book by its cover and seeing through to the heart of who someone is, regardless of what they look like. But then also, being the father of two daughters now, I really see my girls in the witches. At some point, they're going to go through these trials and tribulations of loving each other and hating each other, and the ups and downs of friendship and sisterhood.
For me personally, seeing two women overcome their differences and become incredible friends is such a cool message that stands the test of time, which is why I think Wicked is so popular 23 years later.
in London's Victoria Apollo Theatre
Photo credit: Mark Senior, Matt Crockett
And finally, how would you describe Wicked in one word?
Life-changing [...] I can't even describe to you how much my life has shifted and moved around this crazy behemoth of a show. It's allowed me to have all these crazy adventures and cool things. It's such a cool gift. So in one word, life-changing.
Wicked is currently running at The Apollo Victoria Theatre in London's West End.
Main Photo Credit: Bruce Gilkas
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