The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces Cynthia Erivo and Friends, presented in the Eisenhower Theater on December 6, 2023. Additional artists joining Erivo will be announced at a later date.
Cynthia Erivo is a Grammy®, Emmy®, and Tony Award®– winning actress, singer, author, and producer, as well as an Academy Award®, Golden Globe®, and SAG nominee. Since bursting onto the West End and Broadway stages in The Color Purple, she has taken the world by storm. Erivo has received widespread critical acclaim for her work, including two Academy Award® nominations, two Golden Globe® Awards nominations, and a Grammy Award® nomination for her portrayal of Harriet Tubman in 2019’s HARRIET, in addition to offering her voice to the movie’s title song, “Stand Up,” which she co-wrote. Erivo also received SAG and Emmy Award® nominations for her portrayal of Aretha Franklin in National Geographic’s Emmy®– winning global anthology series, Genius: Aretha.
Erivo can next be seen starring in and executive producing DRIFT, which is directed by Anthony Chen. DRIFT follows a young Liberian refugee named Jacqueline (Erivo) who has barely escaped her war-torn country to a Greek island. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2023 and opened to rave reviews. Erivo also co-wrote and sing the song “It Would Be” alongside Laura Mvula for the film.
She will star in Universal’s film adaptation of the hit musical Wicked, where she will star as Elphaba opposite Ariana Grande’s Glinda in the highly anticipated film from director Jon M. Chu. Part 1 of Wicked will be released on November 27, 2024. Part 2 of Wicked will be released on November 26, 2025.
In addition to her distinguished acting career, Erivo is a Grammy®–winning songwriter and performer, often headlining sold-out shows, symphonies, and music spaces including the Kennedy Center Honors, the 2020 Academy Awards®, the 2017 Governor’s Ball and the 2017 Grammy Awards®.
About The Author
Editor-in-Chief/Entertainment Reporter
I knew early on that I wanted to take my place among the stars. One day, my mother saw me reading The Washington Post at a very young age. Who would have known that it would be the building blocks of my journey? Since that day, I dedicated my life to learn all that is learnable. I read everything from encyclopedias, to books, to dictionaries, to magazines. I’m also an avid consumer of television, with my favorite genre being game shows. If you’ve seen me on Who Wants to be a Millionaire or Wheel of Fortune, then you know that this interest has served me well!
My unique style of reporting began back in junior high school, when I started to chronicle the events that shaped my life. Whether it was the annual family vacation or the local science fiction convention, I shot numerous pictures and recorded my thoughts so I could truly appreciate the history. During my senior year at Friendly High, I wrote what was to be my first masterpiece, “Advanced Space Academy – A One Week Journey.” I sent the eleven-page article back to the U.S. Space Camp staff. The article was highly praised for being “one of the best written articles in the history of U.S. Space Camp.” From then on, I knew what I wanted to do for rest of my life — to be a reporter.
Since then, I have trained in Broadcast Journalism at Bowie State University (2008) in Bowie, MD earning a B.S. in Communications. I gained experience in news production and editing through field experiences with Bowie Community Media Corporation, Prince George’s Community Television, and Bowie State University Television. I also wrote scripts for a variety of quiz shows for over five years.
As a lifelong movie buff, I now see close to 100 films every year. I took this love of movies to the next step when I became a co-host for Eclipse Magazine TV in the fall of 2005. While at EMTV, I interviewed celebrities, worked red carpets, and attended a wide variety of movie screenings. In January 2009, I took a leap of faith and started my own entertainment news magazine, The Rogers Revue. Shortly afterward, my life-long journey of studying the silver screen and writing about what I learned finally earned me a place in the Washington Area Film Critics Association.
All of this has led me here, giving you the latest entertainment news for the DMV and the entire nation, and I am truly excited for whatever will come next.
