San Diego Native Comes to Play Glinda, the Good Witch

For San Marcos native Chandra Lee, performing on Broadway for five years as the good witch Glinda was a dream, but now she will really be enjoying the spotlight when she comes to her home town for the first time, performing at the San Diego Civic Theatre as she takes over the role of Glinda in the national tour of “Wicked.” She was thrilled that she landed the part she first auditioned for in 2004 after the 1999 graduate had previously been ‘too young,’ by casting agents. “I’m really so happy to be doing this in my hometown,” she said in a phone interview before rehearsals to the North County Times. “It’s as if the stars have aligned correctly.”

Born and raised in San Marcos, she did some acting in the city’s Theatre West youth drama company before spending her teenage years singing with a band. She graduated from high school and performed at Palomar College, THEATRX and PATH theatre before moving to New York to begin a professional career. She found success quickly there, working at Gateway Playhouse and landing a speaking role alongside Bernadette Peters in the Broadway revival “Gypsy.” Later she starred as Penny in the national tour of “Hairspray” and Sharpay  in “High School Musical’s” national tour. ”I consider myself a comic actress, and this is a nice soprano part. It’s kind of rare to find those kinds of roles because usually the comic roles are low and belty,” she said. ”There’s a certain outline I have to follow for continuity, but they’re very encouraging about making her my own,” she said. “I’m still just getting to know Glinda, but I think of her as a very loving, vivacious person who’s dynamic and who people flock to. What are viewed by others as her faults —- that she’s shallow and conceited —- are just who she is and how she’s been raised. During the course of the show, she gets to the see the other side of things and she changes through her relationship with Elphaba.”

See the star of the San Marcos theatre make her San Diego debut with Wicked tickets today!

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