Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, Broadway’s longest-running show, is making its way to Chicago and bringing a new rising star with it: stage actor Derrick Davis. Though Davis isn’t the first African-American actor to don the Phantom mask—preceded by Norm Lewis and Robert Guillame—he is the first black Phantom to be chosen for the U.S. tour. And with the success of Hamilton, and shows like Allegiance and The Color Purple revival, the theater may have never been so rich with opportunities for actors of color.

Morning Shift talks to Derrick Davis about landing the iconic role and the future of diversity in the theater.