The Book of Mormon's Nikki M. James brings a sentimental charm to the raunchy musical thanks to her solo number "Sal Tlay Ka Siti," a song in which she dreams of moving to the safe harbor of Salt Lake City, so it's fitting that the 2011 Tony winner landed on O magazine's "The O Wow! List," which salutes 15 of today's foremost "dreamers, thinkers and doers."
"We are made from stronger stuff than any of us knows," the actress, who plays African villager Nabalungi, told the magazine when asked the most valuable lesson she's learned over the years. "The number one thing is not even just to keep going but to trust that there's something more. Always."
James also noted that the biggest hurdle she ever had to overcome was passing up a job at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival when her newborn nephew was diagnosed with kidney disease. "There was no guarantee that another job was going to come, but my family needed me," she said of the experience. "That's when I realized there are more important things than being on a stage. A year later, I'm a Tony Award winner and my nephew is getting a new kidney."
Also featured on the list are sex columnist Dan Savage (who was the subject of the 2010 off-Broadway musical The Kid), Oscar nominee Edward Norton (who serves on the Board of Trustees for off-Broadway's Signature Theatre Company) and musician Bjork (who starred in the 2000 movie musical Dancer in the Dark.)