Kimber Elayne Sprawl, as Othello's Emilia, Brings Her Musicality to Broadway's Shakespearean Hit

The Broadway revival of Othello is the starriest of star vehicles, so it’s a pleasure to report that the supporting cast—notably Kimber Elayne Sprawl as Emilia—more than holds up its end of the show. Cast as the wife of Iago, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, Sprawl’s character gets an upgrade in Kenny Leon’s production from ladies’ maid to lieutenant in the army of title star Denzel Washington. Her fiery performance at the climax of Shakespeare’s tragedy is all the more notable because she is best known for her work in musicals.

After creating the role of adoptee Marianne in Girl from the North Country, featuring the music of Bob Dylan, she became the first Black actress to play Nessarose in Wicked. Her North Country stage dad, Jay O. Sanders, recognized that Sprawl could do much more than sing beautifully, and he and his wife, Tony winner Maryann Plunkett, mentored her on the road to Othello. The friendly, grounded Cincinnati native spoke about this high-profile production—and life as a newlywed—in a recent conversation with Broadway.com.

Othello is breaking attendance records, a rarity for a production of Shakespeare. Can you sum up what the experience has been like so far?

It’s been surreal. It’s not lost on me how grand this opportunity is, getting to work with Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal. I look over at Mr. Washington and think, “Wow, I can’t believe it’s him” and that I’m in his orbit. Working with Kenny Leon has been a dream of mine. I’ve sat in those seats at Purlie and Topdog/Underdog just praying that I could get on a stage with him. I’m super grateful.

You’re also a newlywed. [Sprawl married real estate agent Zach Crowley, a classmate from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, last October.]

Yeah! I’m very blessed. I got to marry my college sweetheart. We actually met in high school and dated in college, then we broke up for five years and the pandemic brought us back together. I feel like we’ve been dreaming together, and now we get to live out our aspirations together. He never stopped being an artist, but we’ve got a corner on two markets right now. He’s been my biggest supporter.

You received some of the revival’s strongest reviews. Had you ever performed Shakespeare?

No. My degree was in musical theater, and I felt this inferiority complex that I couldn’t act as well as people who studied acting solely. It wasn’t until I did Girl from the North Country that I felt like an actress. It was really a play with music, and Mare Winningham and Jay O. Sanders were the best scene partners, the best teachers. That’s when I started thinking, “Maybe I can do this in a real way.” During the pandemic, I was doing media work at the Public Theater, and we asked actors—Sterling K. Brown, Audra McDonald—to submit a “To be or not to be” monologue from Hamlet. [My bosses] kept saying, “You really have an ear for this. You understand the musicality of it. We can’t wait to get you into Shakespeare in the Park.”

We love a shoutout for Jay O. Sanders, who has had an incredible career doing Shakespeare, Chekhov and Richard Nelson’s “Apple Family” plays.

I call Jay my theater dad. He and [his wife] Maryann Plunkett became my professors, and I was their apprentice. I would go to their beautiful house in the West Village and read Shakespeare and different scripts. I studied for six months to prepare for this moment. It started when I was in Wicked and I auditioned for [Kenny Leon’s 2024 Broadway revival of] Home. Jay and Maryann helped me with that, and I didn’t get it. Jay said to me, “Just understudy! You’re learning, and it will be good for you to work with Kenny.” I told my agent I wanted to be considered for the understudy role, and he said, “No, you’re not doing that.” [laughs]

How smart were you to overrule your agent? Now you’re in Othello, and you’re not an understudy.

I’ve learned that when you put in the work and the opportunity comes and you’re ready, everything falls into place.

Kenny Leon is a master at diverse casting, as we saw earlier this season in Our Town. Did you two discuss any subtext in you playing the wife of Iago, a character who has always been considered not only a villain but a racist?

We talked about it. I think it’s very plausible for a [Black] woman to be married to a white man that has undertones of racism. There’s more of a vocabulary and a consciousness around that now, but before, there was not. I’m in an interracial relationship, and my husband is the furthest thing away from that, but there is a certain experience he lacks that I’ve been able to share with him. Emilia is very ambitious, and we talked about what kind of relationship [she and Iago] might have. Kenny also wanted to focus on her as a truth-teller, and being the only woman of color present with these powerful men. He wanted to uplift me in that way.

It's fascinating to see Emilia in camouflage gear, rather than as Desdemona’s maid.

I think that brought more depth. She’s a loyal wife, but she’s also an austere and powerful lieutenant, very proud of her work. And she’s a good friend, willing to risk everything for the truth. I think that sheds light on women in general—how we’re able to carry so much, to balance so much, and do it with grace.

What are Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal like as company leaders?

They’ve been very generous, on and off stage. Denzel loves talking about his career and being the uncle figure; he reminds me of a lot of Black men in my life—my father, my uncle, my cousin. I think this is Jake’s first time doing Shakespeare, as well, so the work made all of us humble and collaborative. We wanted the show to succeed, and we wanted to rise to the occasion. It feels very communal.

I had forgotten the three-part saga of Girl from the North Country. [After a 2018 run at the Public Theater, the musical opened on Broadway in March 2020, a week before the COVID shutdown. It returned for two brief Broadway engagements in the truncated 2021-2022 season.] How do you look back on that experience?

Ah, it was a crazy time. The show meant so much to all of us at the Public, and we were ready to give it a bigger audience. Coming back into the world of the Great Depression after COVID made the experience way more poignant. If we had something to say before, we really had something to say now. I’ll always be grateful for that time in my life. Bob Dylan is a philosopher, a lyrical genius, and the show brought me closer to God in a way. It made me feel like a real survivor and a real artist.

The Broadway production was filmed at the end of the run, but it hasn’t been released on a streaming platform.

I’ve never seen it. The last we heard, it was going to be released at the end of the year, but we haven’t heard anything lately. I’d be excited to see it. [Update: The film is scheduled to run on PBS in May 2025 as part of a “Great Performances” Broadway series; check local listings.]

Wicked alums are very loyal to each other and the show. What are your favorite memories of playing Nessarose?

Oh, I love Wicked! It keeps the musical theater nerd in me alive. My favorite memory was just being with the cast. It’s such a revolving door, and I loved seeing different types of people come in and make their mark on it. Allie Trimm, who is now the full-time Glinda, was my standby, and we became really close. At the time, she was trying to get Glinda and I was trying to expand into plays, so she would help me with my lines—she knows Home like the back of her hand!—and I encouraged her to go after the main role. Building those relationships was important to me. And as you say, Wicked people are very loyal and love the community.

Speaking of classic musicals, is playing Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton still on your bucket list?

I would love to be Angelica. She’s one of the greatest musical theater characters, and she definitely aligns with my philosophy on life. Hamilton will always be there, so when the time is right, hopefully they’ll call. [laughs] My dream role is always the one I am playing. I never thought I would get to play Emilia, and now I’m in love with her. I just want to continue to expand as an artist, whatever that looks like—Broadway, television, film, producing, directing. I want to tell my story on higher levels.