Jake Boyd is Fiyero in “Wicked.” (Photo/Joan Marcus)
Jake Boyd tried for years to get into the cast of “Wicked” before finally getting the role of Fiyero in the high-flying musical about the witches from “The Wizard of Oz.”
“I had been going in for it on and off for about five years, honestly,” says the graduate of the University of Alabama and Tuscaloosa’s Hillcrest High School. “There are a lot of people who want to be in this show. If they like you for it, then it’s mostly waiting for when it’s the right time.”
The right time was about a year ago, when Boyd joined the national tour of “Wicked,” which sweeps into Birmingham for a two-week run beginning June 22. In it, he plays Fiyero, love interest to Elphaba, the “green Witch” in the “Oz” tale.
“It’s an amazingly fun show to do,” Boyd says. “It’s epic, and I’m lucky enough to do a show that people want to see. We sell out the houses. People go wild for this show. I’ve never felt more like a rock star in my life.”
“Wicked” has been on Boyd’s radar since it came out while he was in high school.
“I was like 14 or 15 and a big ol’ musical theater nerd,” Boyd says with a laugh. “I’ve known all of these songs for years. ‘Wicked’ has the ability to transcend above the regular musical theater nerds into pop culture. It’s a really cool moment that I get to play this role that I’ve dreamed of playing.”
Boyd was in theater at UA and Hillcrest, and he performed in one show at Birmingham’s Red Mountain Theatre Company (ironically, that was “The Wizard of Oz”).
“This is the closest I’ve ever been to home performing as a professional,” says Boyd, who was on Broadway in “Rock of Ages” and TV in “Blue Bloods” and other series. “I’m very excited. It’s going to be a really nice, full-circle moment.”
“Wicked” is presented by Broadway in Birmingham June 22-July 3 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Concert Hall. Tickets ($39-$139) are available through Ticketmaster.
