INTERVIEW: Jordan Barrow makes Broadway debut in ‘Wicked’
Photo: Jordan Barrow stars as Boq in Broadway’s Wicked. Photo courtesy of Joan Marcus / Provided by Polk & Co. with permission.
Jordan Barrow has had quite the winter season these past few weeks. The accomplished actor made his Broadway debut in the hit musical Wicked, playing the part of Boq. He did this at a tough time for the Broadway industry when many shows were canceled due to the surge of COVID-19 cases. Barrow and the company persevered, and now after weathering that storm, the actor can focus on what he does best: portraying a beloved character for thousands of audience members on a weekly basis.
Barrow, who is the first Black actor play the part of Boq, still remembers his debut performance in December. It was a special night with a lot of family and friends in the crowd.
“For the first performance, I ended up having a pretty large group of people,” Barrow said in a recent phone interview. “My parents were able to fly in for it, which I was really, really happy about. They live in Georgia, which is not where I’m from, but it’s where they live now. And that performance was sort of out of body, but also there are parts that I really, really remember.”
Barrow said he remembers his bow at the end, looking out at the audience members rising to their feet at the Gershwin Theatre. He felt the love of the Broadway community, from the fans in the theater to the company of actors behind him. Up until that point in the process, he had been rehearsing behind the scenes largely by himself, but in that moment he felt supported and happy.
“Sometimes you get up there and you’re like, oh, I don’t feel like I’m supposed to be here,” he said. “But nobody ever made me feel out of place. I fit in so easily, so the whole night was just a dream and a bit of a blur.”
Before taking over the role of Boq, he had seen Wicked several times. He remembers catching the first national tour at the Kennedy Center in 2005. The experience was transformative. “I begged my parents to take us to go,” he said. “I was a huge, huge fan. I used to spend hours on YouTube watching ‘Defying Gravity’ videos, more than I like to admit probably.”
The character of Boq, a fan favorite for sure, has quite the arc in the show. Barrow said he loves that the audience gets to see many sides to the character. In the first act, he has a huge heart and wants to help everyone around him. He is enamored of Glinda and having a great time on stage. However, then Act II brings uncertainty to the land of Oz.
“There’s a new governor in town, and things are changing,” Barrow said. “You see him at his low. It’s nice that he gets to have so much heart, but also you do see what happens when he gets a bit taken advantage of. It’s just been fun to explore that and the many sides of him.”
Amidst Barrow’s Broadway debut, he had to endure the COVID-19 surge in New York City. The actor said December and early January were a little difficult, and everyone needed to stay on their toes. In fact, Wicked had canceled some performances right before his big debut, and his first performance was the first performance back for the entire musical.
“The moving parts around me have been changing daily,” he said. “But it’s been nice to really explore the character in that way. … It’s nice that Wicked has the capacity and the energy to be able to bring people in that way, that they have a lot of people on reserve.”
Perhaps the best memory of Barrow’s time with Wicked involves those audience members, especially the young ones who may be similarly making their Broadway debut. Many families take their children to see the beloved musical, and it serves as the entry-point for a lifetime of theatrical offerings in Midtown Manhattan.
“I remember seeing my first and recognizing that this was something so much bigger than me,” Barrow said. “Just the other day, I saw a coach bus of children with their parents. I was like wow. These kids were all dressed up. It was a big day for them. It’s such an honor to know that I’m a part of that experience with these people, [and] 15 years from now, when they’re starring in a Broadway show or wanting to go to school for this, they’ll remember they saw Wicked and they have the Playbill still. I have all my Playbills for years and years now. I get pretty overwhelmed when I think about the fact that my face will be in a Playbill that so many people will have for the next 20 years of their life.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Wicked, featuring Jordan Barrow, is now playing at the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway. Click here for more information and tickets.
