Mary Kate Morrissey Has Defied A Lot More Than Gravity

Mary Kate Morrissey just started wearing “real shoes” again for the first time in more than a year. She lifts her foot in front of the Zoom camera to show me, her dressing room at the Gershwin Theatre behind her. “You have to understand how big this is,” she says of her silver Mary Janes from Bared Footwear.

Before now, Morrissey, who currently plays Elphaba in the Broadway production of Wicked, had almost exclusively worn Hoka sneakers as a result of “unbelievably” painful plantar fasciitis.

It’s one of the countless trade-offs that come with playing one of musical theater’s most challenging roles eight times a week, not to mention on a raked stage. On Instagram and TikTok, Morrissey regularly gives her fans a peek behind the proverbial curtain — her “day in the life” videos are algorithm gold — showing followers how, yes, life on Broadway is unbelievably cool, but it’s also really f*cking hard.

“Well, thank God for my therapist,” says Morrissey, 35, about the mental toll of the job. “I only see my husband one night a week because we have opposite schedules, [and] I never see my family ... I can be super grateful for getting to do it every night, while also being really sad that it costs giving up my holidays.”

Morrissey’s journey to Elphaba began as a childhood theater kid in Pennsylvania, although it wasn’t always perfectly linear. “[Growing up], everybody told me I was going to play Elphaba, and I didn’t believe them,” she says. “Then I went in for my first audition, and they were like, ‘Yeah, you can’t do it.’ At the time, I was like, ‘That’s perfect. Everyone can chill, and I can go find out what my real purpose is.’”

Flash forward to March 2024 — after a run on Wicked’s national tour as both principal and standby Elphaba; playing Janis in the first touring cast of Mean Girls The Musical; plus a turn as Broadway’s Elphaba standby — when Morrissey took her first bow as the principal green witch at the Gershwin.

Now, she’s doing so amid swirling excitement over the big-screen adaptation, out Nov. 22. “I'm so lucky that I get to be the Elphaba as the movie comes out and so many people are rediscovering their love for Wicked,” she adds. “I love that I worked my ass off for it.”

Still, even the most seasoned professionals aren’t immune to the stress of a moment like this. “If I let myself feel the pressure, I feel the pressure,” says Morrissey of the timing, aware that more eyes also means more unsolicited opinions. “Part of me feels a little apprehensive, but I can’t let myself go there. I’m not going to do it the way Cynthia [Erivo] can do it, just like I can’t do it the way Idina [Menzel] did it. I can only do it the way that I have done it for these past almost 10 years.”

Below, Morrissey talks about vocal remedies, Cynthia Erivo, and how she keeps calm when the pressure hits.

On Sharing A Role With Erivo:

I am Cynthia Erivo’s biggest fan. Probably second biggest. Second to Reneé Rapp. I am so excited to see her [play Elphaba]. It feels like it’s going to be easy for her to live in Elphaba’s skin. I love that she has done an eight-show week. I know she’s going to be remarkable. I can’t wait to tell her that, to fangirl over her, and to be the Elphaba on Broadway saying to the Elphaba in the movie, “You did us good. You made good.”

On Calming Mid-Show Nerves:

One of my big fears is forgetting a line or going to “the white room.” No matter how many times you do a show, there’s always the risk of checking out for a second. Sometimes I’ll think, What if I forget something today? Then I always tap my toe twice on the stage. It brings me back. You’ll see even on my shoes, one is clearly the tapping shoe, because I’ll tap the whole show, just to be like, Everything’s fine. You’re not going to forget anything.

On The Most Vocally Taxing Part:

I’ve made sense of the singing, but sometimes they want you to yell. Sometimes the associate director is like, “You could do it like this eight times a week,” and I’m like, “I, Mary Kate, could not.” I know my instrument really well [and have] worked with a speech therapist, Sarah Brown, on the entire book, going through every single line, [with her] being like, “OK, now try it like this.”

On Her Go-To Vocal Remedies:

A saltwater gargle. But if it develops into more than a tickle, I’m like, Peace, love, and modern medicine. Put me on antibiotics and a steroid pack. Get me back in the game. So I have a very intimate relationship with my ENT. Sometimes she’ll give us something called the “Broadway Revival,” which will just be an IV in our arms. I don’t even know what’s in it, but she’s like, “This’ll get you back in the show tonight.”

On Who She Calls When The Pressure Amps Up:

I call my Glinda from tour, Ginna Claire Mason. She’s still my best friend in the world. We’ve been each other’s right-hand man for so long that she knows exactly how to affirm what I’m feeling. She pops my balloon, diffuses me, and sends me back out into the world.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.