Shakespeare has a new wife in the hit Broadway musical & Juliet, now in its third year bringing audiences to their feet at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.

Teal Wicks, who made her Broadway debut as a formidable Elphaba in another long-running Broadway favorite, Wicked, has just taken over the role of Anne Hathaway in the Max Martin-scored musical that puts a twist on the ending of the classic Shakespeare tragedy Romeo & Juliet. Wicks, who follows Alison Luff into the role of Shakespeare's assertive wife, arrives on Broadway having played the same part in the musical's ongoing North American tour. In New York she shares the stage with Gianna Harris as Juliet, Drew Gehling as Shakespeare, James Monroe Iglehart as Lance, Kandi Burruss as Angélique, Michael Iván Carrier as May, Liam Pearce as Romeo, and Nathan Levy as François.

Wicks has also been seen on Broadway as Lady in The Cher Show, Mary Barrie in Finding Neverland, and Emma Carew in the Jekyll & Hyde revival. Her Off-Broadway credits include The Blue Flower, Piece of My Heart, The Ballad of Little Jo, and Fahrenheit 451 plus Stairway to Paradise for the City Center Encores! series.

TV audiences may be familiar with Wicks' work on Étoile, The Peripheral, The Night Agent, NCIS: New Orleans, Evil, Elementary, The Good Wife, and Chicago Justice.

In the interview below for the Playbill series How Did I Get Here—spotlighting not only actors, but directors, designers, musicians, and others who work on and off the stage to create the magic that is live theatre—Wicks shares why losing a role may have been a blessing, "Cher-apy” sessions at The Cher Show, and why she should have purchased an apartment during her Wicked run.

Where did you train/study?
Teal Wicks: I went to UC Irvine for a BA in Drama. And I have to give a shout out to my first voice teacher, Margie Curler, at Pease Conservatory in Sacramento, CA.

Was there a teacher who was particularly impactful/helpful? What made this instructor stand out?
My sixth grade teacher Mr. Thornton was the first teacher that made learning exciting. He had such a passion for education. He taught us Shakespeare, challenged us to be critical thinkers, encouraged us to take studying seriously and to find our own voice. He also gave me my first acting role in our school production of Julius Caesar. I played Calpurnia, I had one monologue, I took it very seriously, and thought I was the star of the show.

You've performed in several national and North American tours, including & Juliet. Can you share some of the challenges and rewards of touring?
I love traveling. I love being a stranger in a strange place. You can learn so much about yourself in the way you explore a new place.

It’s a gift to be on the road in a show that is so celebratory and beloved like & Juliet. Every city we played embraced the show with so much enthusiasm. That can make life on the road a little kinder: eight shows a week, often losing your day off to travel; fighting different environments, dealing with new allergies in vastly different climates; trying to maintain some sort of health and wellness routine when you’re constantly in a new place. And being away from your loved ones for long stretches of time. It’s hard. And it’s not for everyone. But with the right show that brings you joy as a performer and that is celebrated by audiences across the country, it can be really rewarding.

What does it mean to you to be returning to Broadway in this role? Do you have a favorite moment in the show for Anne Hathaway?
It’s very meaningful for me to be back on Broadway in this show, in this role that I adore. And to be the third Anne Hathaway in the third year of & Juliet on Broadway has a little bit of magic to it.

Betsy [Wolfe] and Alison [Luff] are such incredible performers and women on and off stage, so to share the legacy of Anne with them is very special to me.

Favorite moments in the show? Depends on the day. [laughs] It’s one of the hardest numbers and absolute chaos, but I love "Blow." The frenetic energy of it all is what I love about it; it takes me back to my nights out in my younger days. Just out for a good time, just want to dance and let loose. And then someone ends up on a chandelier. Classic night out on the town.

You also played Elphaba for many years all around the country. What was your reaction to the Wicked film? Have you seen the second part yet?
Oh, loved the Wicked film! I haven’t seen part two yet.

I feel like the film is just such a love letter to the musical, to the original Gregory Maguire book, and the Wizard of Oz. It felt like it was made with such love and care for these characters as they have existed in their respective forms before this film. I love the time spent to show more backstory for Elphaba and the animals. And the journey in "Dancing Through Life" to the Ozdust Ballroom is straight out of Maguire’s book.

And Cynthia’s Elphaba is just exquisite.

Can you recall a favorite memory, either on stage or backstage, from working on The Cher Show?
Sooooo many great memories from The Cher Show. There were a lot of firsts for me: first time doing an out-of-town production that was so different from the final Broadway production; first time in a Vanity Fair spread; first time on the Tonys; first time on The Tonight Show, sitting on the couch and performing with Cher!

But my favorite memories are with my cast. During rehearsals we had these wonderful “Cher-apy” (as we lovingly called it) sessions, where us four Chers (me, Steph [J. Block], Micaela [Diamond], and Dee [Roscioli]) would work with our dialect coach Kate Wilson on finding the connective tissue of our shared Chers—sorry! We did script work and movement work, and it all felt like a sacred little space to discover these characters together. And then any time we would be onstage together, through all the chaos of putting up a big show under a body of work of a huge icon like Cher, we could connect back to those sacred moments in our tiny rehearsal room, look each other in the eye, and know that we’ve got each other's backs.

Also, hanging out with Cher in my dressing room at the Neil Simon, sharing stories of the musical artists that inspired us, was also pretty epic.

Do you have any dream stage roles and/or actors you would like to work with?
The dream roles are always evolving. You’re always discovering new ones or letting go of the ones that maybe have passed you by. Right now I would love to jump into a play like Liberation. I’m obsessed with everybody involved in that play.

I would love to work with Audra McDonald. My first Broadway show was the original Ragtime, and it was her final performance. I didn’t register the impact of that moment at the time, but I was in awe of her performance as Sarah. And I continue to be in awe of everything she’s done since. Her album Happy Songs also was a big inspiration to me in my college days—I discovered the music of Harold Arlen through her. To be in a rehearsal room with Audra and to witness her work in crafting a character, a song, to see how she finds her way into the story would just be a dream.

Tell me about a job/opportunity you really wanted but didn’t get. How did you get over that disappointment?
Oof, after 20 years in this biz, that list is quite long. But the first really big one was for the revival of Hair for Sheila. I had just worked with Diane Paulus on a show at Bay Street Theater; she casually mentioned she was going to direct something at the Public that I might be interested in. But I had two other jobs lined up and fully missed out on Hair in the Park. We did Hair in college, I played Sheila, it was magical 'cuz what college kid doesn’t want to do Hair?

So when I heard it was going to Broadway, I thought for sure this would be my moment. I auditioned, flew back to NYC for final callbacks (I was still in L.A. doing Wicked), and obviously didn’t book it. I was devastated, and part of me still wishes I had been a part of that company because it’s such a beautiful group of humans who have now become great friends of mine. But the only way to get over that disappointment is to trust it wasn’t the path for me, not doing that show opened up other opportunities that have led me to where I am today. And maybe I wasn’t ready to be on Broadway at that time—it was still early in my career, and I had a lot to learn about what it means to carry a show.  My Broadway debut as Elphaba was incredible, and that might not have happened if I booked Hair. 

Losing any role that you’ve invested time and energy into is hard, it will always be hard, but there is a long road ahead of you in this wild career that you have to stay open to and keep moving forward. You never know where the next fork in the road will lead you.

What do you consider your big break?
Stephen Schwartz! Whether he knows it or not, he was the thread throughout most key moments at the beginning of my career. OK, ready?…

My first job in NYC was as an usher at the Little Shubert Theatre on 42nd Street for the musical Captain Louie by Stephen Schwartz.

My first professional acting job, which got me my Equity card, got me my agents, and sent me out on my first national tour was Pippin at Goodspeed.

My first big gig was Elphaba in the L.A. production of Wicked, which led me to open the San Francisco company of Wicked.

My first time originating a role in a new show (and it’s still one of my favorite shows I’ve done) was The Blue Flower, produced by Stephen Schwartz.

And, of course, my Broadway debut was Elphaba.

So thank you, Stephen Schwartz!

What advice would you give your younger self or anyone starting out?
I wish I could give my younger self that confidence to let go and move on from all the extreme emotions of not getting the job, but that’s not realistic because you have to go through that pain to come out of it and rise above it.

But what I really wish I could do is go back in time and buy an apartment in NYC after my almost three-year stint with Wicked. Ugh, just knowing what I could have afforded at the time compared to what it would be worth now is so annoying.

In such difficult times in this country and around the world, how do you think theatre can play a positive role, either for yourself and/or the community at large?
The theatre is a very special place where we can come together in person and create a community of strangers for a few hours. Living and breathing in the same space together, witnessing a shared story, and suspending our disbelief for a short period of time. It’s rare and special and I believe benefits all of us.

When I discovered theatre, it opened up a whole new world to me, it helped me dream big and wild dreams. To see so many different worlds inhabited by so many different people come to life in front of me on stage was absolutely magical. And it makes it possible to imagine what could be. Cultivating imagination and supporting creative processes allows us to dare to believe that we can create something new, something hopefully better than what we’ve done before.

You know, like, “Look I made a hat. Where there never was a hat.” (sincerely your unapologetic theatre nerd, Teal Wicks).

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& Juliet Broadway Celebrates Third Anniversary On Broadway

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