“As a little black kid, I was never like, ‘I’m gonna go to theatre’, it didn’t feel like it belonged to me. “So why does our theatre and our art not reflect that? I think that’s what’s key to keeping theatre alive. “When we walk outside we don’t see all the same race, gender or body type,” Wallace said. It even inspired show runners from HBO’s Euphoria to include Oklahoma! in their plot. The actor and singer, who has starred in stage hits including Aladdin, Dreamgirls and Hairspray, as well as onscreen in Netflix’s Feel Good, said the new “sexy” Oklahoma! was a reimagination of the show for the 21st century. It was like, ‘Wow, I don’t have to be the random black girl who sings and then leaves and no one ever knows what ever happened to her’.” Wallace, 36, first played Ado Annie in an all-black version of Oklahoma! in the US, the first time she was cast in a lead role. “I know it’s going to inspire a lot of women out there who may feel like their body type or how they look isn’t accepted or worthy of love.” “Ado Annie is the town’s object of love and affection so to have a plus-sized black woman playing her is incredible, I’d never seen it on stage before. “It’s a role I never thought I could play because it’s usually played by very thin white women,” Wallace said.
