Review: Cynthia Erivo Brings Her Star Power to OPENING NIGHT AT POPS

Conductor Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops set the mood for the recent Opening Night at Pops, featuring the luminous Cynthia Erivo, with a rhythmic “The Club” from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights” and the rousing “Gotta Dance” medley from “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway.”

When it came time for Lockhart to introduce the special guest and the star didn’t immediately appear, the sold-out Symphony Hall audience held its collective breath. Lockhart didn’t skip a beat, however, before heading backstage to retrieve Erivo.

The 2025 nominee for Best Actress for “Wicked” may have been a moment late, but when she did take the stage, she owned it, starting with a spectacular “Don’t Rain on My Parade” that likely had Jule Styne looking down approvingly and Barbra Streisand glancing over her shoulder.

For much of the rest of her two sets, the British actress and singer kept the focus on songs made famous by some of the most legendary Black female pop, jazz, and soul singers of all-time – a pantheon the daughter of Nigerian immigrants seems poised to one day join. There were terrific takes on two Nina Simone classics, “I Put a Spell on You” by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Herb Slotkin, and “Feeling Good” from the 1965 Broadway musical “The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd” by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. In versions that differed from the originals, Erivo also did three Aretha Franklin covers – “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You),” “Ain’t No Way,” and a sensual “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” by Carole King and Gerry Goffin.

Barefoot and garbed in a sleeveless two-piece black crepe de chine ensemble that moved with her even as she made her way off the stage and into the warmly welcoming audience at one point, Erivo lent her stunning soprano and unique style to glorious versions of Etta James’ “At Last” and the contemplative ballad “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” which won Roberta Flack the 1972 Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

Erivo also offered up a splendid “Alfie,” written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and first recorded by Cher for the soundtrack of the 1966 film of the same name, and then by many others before Dionne Warwick took it to the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1967.  Erivo – who performed “Alfie” when Warwick received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2023 – wisely gave the song her own sound, since trying to capture the feeling of Warwick’s singular vocals would have been a Herculean task even for the in-her-prime Erivo.

After a “Stormy Weather” that left some longing for the Lena Horne original, Erivo quickly turned up the heat for full-out versions of three crowd-pleasers, “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” originally recorded by Ann Peebles, Prince’s “Purple Rain,” and, for her encore, his “Nothing Compares 2 U.”

While no one can argue with the powerful appeal of Prince, many in Erivo’s rapturous audience still wondered aloud, as they made their way to the exits post-show, why the singer hadn’t done anything from “The Color Purple,” especially because she had the won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for that show’s 2016 revival. And why would she leave her “Wicked” signature song, “Defying Gravity,” off her set list? Two questions that will linger for some amidst memories of a thrilling evening.