Actor Jordan Litz has a bit of a stacked Sunday, what with running the New York City Marathon before performing in the matinee and evening shows of “Wicked” on Broadway and all.
Litz, who joined the Broadway cast of “Wicked” as Fiyero in May 2023, has set a high bar for his marathon Sunday. The actor, along with thousands of others, will run through all five boroughs in New York City, covering 26.2 miles of ground.
Rather than spending the rest of the day resting, instead he’ll leave the finish line in Central Park and head straight to the Gershwin Theatre to hit the stage for the matinee of “Wicked” at 2 p.m. And as if that’s not enough, he’ll do the show all over again at 7 p.m. for the evening performance.
How will he make it, one may ask?
Litz told the The New York Times that if he runs at a pace of seven minutes per mile, he can make it to the finish line around 12:30 p.m., giving him a just over an hour to see his family, fuel up and stretch before hitting the stage.
Litz’s ambitious Sunday plans made it to “Saturday Night Live” during the show’s “Weekend Update” segment Nov. 1.
“Broadway star Jordan Litz announced that he will be running in tomorrow’s New York City Marathon then later star in two performances of ‘Wicked,’ and then after that, die,” co-anchor Colin Jost joked to end the segment.
However, Litz came upon the decision to run the marathon and still perform in the show for a specific reason.
Speaking to NBC News on Nov. 1, the actor explained, “I wanted to do it while I was still at ‘Wicked’ and still part of the Broadway community, and in the heart of New York City.
“Because for the most part, I show up at the Gershwin, I do my job and I take off, but over the course of this year, doing all of these extra races in preparation and running all over the city, I’ve run over every inch of this borough, of these five boroughs,” he added.
As for what inspired his ambitions for a marathon plus a two-show day, Litz joked that he was “crazy.”
The actor and former college swimmer said he “loved to beat up my body and push it to the limits,” adding, “So a marathon seemed like the logical next step for that kind of thing.”
Training for the New York City Marathon while also performing eight shows a week was no small feat for Litz, who is also a father a 2-year-old daughter, Greta, with another daughter on the way in December.
Litz’s training began with five run days and two lift days per week, though he eventually cut back on his runs when he realized his eight shows per week equated to approximately six or seven miles of running.
Training for the marathon has had implications on his body, with Litz joking that his “legs are jelly” on most days.
However, he’s faced tough days as an actor onstage before.
“But I’ve done the show in every condition possible, with my knee hurting, my ankle hurting, my voice hurting,” he explained. “It has made the show not scary, in that, oh my gosh, I just ran 22 miles. All I have to do now is play Fiyero on Broadway. That seems so easy compared to what I just did. So from a mental standpoint, I feel like I can conquer the world because of all this training.”
While thousands of runners make their ways through the streets of the city, New Yorkers line the blocks to cheer them on. As for anyone who spots Litz among the rest of the runners, the actor made “one small request” on Instagram.
“When you see me go by on the course, I want you to give me your best Elphaba ‘No Good Deed’ ‘Fiyero,’” he said, referring to one of the belts from Act 2 of the show. “Hopefully, that gives me a giant jolt of energy to push through and make it through this marathon alive.”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
