Cynthia Erivo to Bring A Night of Broadway and Pop Hits to Ridgefield Playhouse

Cynthia Erivo rose to fame with her star-making performance as Celie in the hit Broadway revival of The Color Purple, earning Tony, Grammy and Emmy Awards all in the same year! Backed by a five-piece band, Erivo will sing Broadway and pop songs from shows and artists including The Color Purple, The Wiz, Annie Lennox, Etta James, The Beatles, Aerosmith, Aretha Franklin, Ariana Grande and more!

A new name to many at the time of her debut in The Color Purple, the Nigerian-British actor and singer quickly caught the attention of Broadway fans, critics and celebrities alike. Oprah Winfrey, Anna Wintour, and Diane Von Furstenburg are just a few of those who sing Erivo's praises, with Oprah calling Erivo's performance as Celie "transcendent." Erivo performed alongside John Legend at the 2017 Grammy Awards and performed at The 39th annual Kennedy Center Honors for an audience including President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. Don't miss Cynthia Erivo at The Ridgefield Playhouse Sunday on September 16 at 7:30pm, part of the Ridgefield Magazine Broadway & Cabaret Series and Northeast Builders of Ridgefield Emerging Artist Series.

After her Broadway and West End success, Erivo is set to take the big screen by storm. This fall, she will star in two major films for 20th Century Fox: Drew Goddard's Bad Times at the El Royale, with Chris Hemsworth, Jon Hamm, and Dakota Johnson and in Steve McQueen's drama, Widows, opposite Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, and Daniel Kaluuya. Upcoming, Erivo will be seen starring alongside Daisy Ridley and David Oyelowo in in the highly anticipated sci-fi thriller, Chaos Walking, from director Doug Liman. She will also bring the legacy of Harriet Tubman to the big screen in Seith Mann's Harriet, which tells the story of Harriet Tubman, who helped free hundreds of slaves from the South after escaping slavery herself in 1849.

Erivo made her Broadway debut reprising her starring role as 'Celie' in the critically acclaimed revival of "The Color Purple." She first played the role in 2013 in London, earning rave reviews and an Evening Standard Theatre Award nomination for Best Musical Performance and a WhatsOnStage Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Her performance on Broadway earned her several awards, including the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, a Grammy Award as a principal soloist on original cast recording of The Color Purple (Best Musical Theater Album), a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program, the Drama Desk Award, Theatre World, and Outer Critics Circle Awards. Well known to London audiences by this time (A UK native, Erivo graduated from the famed Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, RAD, in 2010) with a long list of credits, Erivo appeared as 'Puck' in the Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse production of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and in 2014, returned to her classical roots in The Donmar Warehouse's acclaimed all-female production of Henry IV, opposite Dame Harriet Walter. In addition to her stage career, Erivo is an accomplished songwriter, having written the song, "Fly Before You Fall," for the 2014 feature film Beyond the Lights. In March 2015, she made her solo concert debut with the show entitled Hear My Soul at Kings Place in London.

For tickets ($86), call the box office at 203-438-5795, or visit ridgefieldplayhouse.org. The Ridgefield Playhouse is a non-profit performing arts center located at 80 East Ridge, parallel to Main Street, Ridgefield, CT.

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