Cynthia Onyedinmanasu Chinasaokwu Erivo (born 8 January 1987) is an English actress, singer, and songwriter.
She is known for her performance as Celie in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple, for which she won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical, the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, and the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program, the latter two she shared with the rest of the cast.
Erivo ventured into films in 2018, with roles in the heist film Widows and the thriller Bad Times at the El Royale. In 2019, she portrayed abolitionist Harriet Tubman in the biopic Harriet, for which she earned nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
‘Wicked’ to Become Fourth-Longest Running Show in Broadway History
variety.comRebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Wicked,” the untold story of everything that happened before Dorothy dropped down in Oz, is poised to make Broadway history.
When the hit musical plays its 7,486th performance on Tuesday, April 11, it’ll surpass Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats” to become the fourth-longest running production on the Great White Way. “Phantom of the Opera,” which is closing in April, remains the longest-running show on Broadway with 13,965 performances, followed by “Chicago” with 10,321 performances and “The Lion King” with 9,936 performances. “Wicked” will also celebrate its 20th anniversary this October.
The show opened in 2003, led by Idina Menzel as Elphaba, Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda and Joel Grey as the Wizard. It won three Tony Awards, including best musical.
Since then, it has been performed in over 100 cities in 16 countries — including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan and Brazil — and has been translated into six languages.
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