 In January 2005 , <unk> <unk> 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 <unk> Massey , Dan <unk> Williamson , Alexia <unk> , Lilli Cooper and Emmy Raver @-@ Lampman ) with <unk> being the first , and so far only , to play Elphaba full @-@ time . 
