Alexia Khadime

From The Lion King straight into Wicked: that must be any West End or musical theater performer's dream.
Oh, it is. I mean, doing something like The Lion King, you feel like part of a big family and then Wicked has so many different companies around the world that you suddenly feel part of the Wicked family.

I would imagine that this is a qualitatively different experience.
It does feel very different, because of the role. I was singing Nala before, and now it's as if I'm on this train that is speeding past: doing something like Elphaba is just on a different scale altogether. I never in my wildest dreams thought this would happen. It's kind of like, “Pinch me! I can't believe this is happening to me!”

Unlike some Elphabas, you didn't rise through the ranks of the production.
No, that's right, and when I got to the final audition, I didn't know what they were going to say. You can never tell if they really like you. I'd had about five or six auditions but the actual irony is that I never saw anybody else who was going up for the same thing that I was; only at the final audition did I see the other girls, and there were 11 of us, I think, in the end.

And here you are the first black actress to be put straight into the part.
Yes, they've had understudies before and standbys who have gone on to do it, but I hadn't ever been in the show prior to taking over from Kerry. I was still in The Lion King at the time that I was auditioning. I think it [having a black Elphaba] kind of adds a little something, in some respects. But there are three of us in the London production who are black, so I'm not the only one.

Alexia Khadime in Wicked

Of course. And there's no reason why your Elphaba can't be just as green.
[Laughs.] Absolutely.

How does your youthfulness affect the role of a woman who, after all, we first really get to know while she is at school?
I did a bit of research and Elphaba is actually 18 at the start and then between Acts I and II, a year and a half goes by, so she doesn't even get into her mid-20s, hich is where I am. I think I do play her younger, maybe, than some of the other girls, though obviously she does grow up, so Elphaba has to be a bit older and a lot more mature than your average 18 year old. She's had to encounter a lot of things in her life but at the heart of it is that she wants to be accepted. I think we can all relate to that.

Did you know the show well already from having seen it?
I first saw Wicked in Chicago in 2005 when I was out there visiting a friend who was in the touring company of The Lion King, and I was going from family to family. I thought at the time that I would go hear this show that I had been hearing a lot about, and I really did think it was a fantastic piece. But when it came here with Idina [Menzel, the Tony winner who went on to open the London production], of course I went to see it, but it didn't cross my mind to think that I could possibly be cast in the role. And I certainly wasn't thinking of it for myself. I didn't think I would even be considered.

It's quite a different task from Nala.
It's completely different. This part really needs a lot of rest, and just maintaining it kind of takes over your life: eating well, getting the vitamins and the rest and all that kind of thing—the preparation before the show. It is very hard, but it's good fun, as well. It's hard not to get into it and give your all when you're up there.

Have you missed any shows yet?
Just the Saturday just gone. I wasn't feeling well for one and kind of with the heat and everything that we've been having in London and the fact that the theater is air conditioned ever so slightly though you can't really feel it—it was just that the heat kind of affected me. Being kind of asthmatic myself, I'd been feeling quite tight-chested and it just took its toll.

Those costumes must heat you up, as well.
My Act II dress is quite a weighty dress, and there are all these individual ribbons that are sewn on—it's amazing, the work that goes into it. But they are pretty warm, and they're all high-collared.

Alexia Khadime in Wicked

Do you have much scope to make Elphie your own, or is there a set template that you are told to follow?
There is a structure as to how Elphaba is, and everyone's take is going to be different. What I would say is that Elphaba is very sort of on the defense all the time, and maybe one person's playing of that defense isn't the same as someone else's. They do let you find your feet and what works for you.

Tell me about your fabulous name.
[Laughs.] I dropped my actual surname, which is Facey, because I thought Khadime had a little bit more of a ring. I prefer Khadime; I've always liked it. My actual full name is Alexia Khadime Siobhan Facey. Siobhan is the midwife who delivered me and she said to my mom, “Please call her Siobhan,” and my mom said, “I already have a name for her.” So I got both.

How did you get into acting?
When I was younger, I was always there singing in front of the mirror, always mimicking. I did things like ice skating and ballet, and my mom would kind of inject me into classes, trying to encourage my interests, so to speak. I went to a few drama classes after school, growing up mainly in Kenton, northwest London. When I was 15, I began to get my voice trained in opera. That was cool!

Opera? That would be an interesting next step.
I could probably do it, but I'd be very scared.

What was your first theatrical break?
Cinderella, with Clive Rowe and Sharon D. Clarke, at the Hackney Empire in 2000. After that, I got a job playing Ronnie Spector for nine months on tour in Leader of the Pack and I did Whistle Down the Wind [on the road] in 2003, before it came into the Palace Theatre. Anything that comes my way, I'm really up for it. I don't want to limit myself to doing one thing. If you have the opportunity to do different things, go for it.

Those sound like sentiments of which Elphie herself would be proud. Do you have any message or parting words for Wicked's—and Elphaba's—many fans?
I don't know what to say; I always get really shy when they're around. [Laughs] Keep enjoying the show, really.