 In January 2005 , Saycon Sengbloh took over as the standby for Elphaba and became the first African @-@ American woman to play the role of Elphaba . Since then , five other black women have either played or covered the role ( Brandi Chavonne Massey , Dan 'yelle Williamson , Alexia Khadime , Lilli Cooper and Emmy Raver @-@ Lampman ) with Khadime being the first , and so far only , to play Elphaba full @-@ time . 
