There’s a coveted collection of awards within the entertainment industry that only a handful of esteemed talent ever collect. The so-called “EGOT” is an acronym for “Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony,” the four most prestigious awards in American popular culture.
Cynthia Erivo, lately of “Wicked” fame (she’s Elphaba, the green witch), has achieved three of four of those trophies. Starring on Broadway as Celie, in the musical adaptation of the Alice Walker novel The Color Purple, Erivo walked away with both a Tony and a Grammy for that performance. She then picked up an Emmy, and all that eludes her now is an Oscar, which we may very well see next year for her part in “Wicked: For Good,” the second part of the two-part film adaptation of the Broadway smash.
Taking to the stage last night under hot lights, she was accompanied by the Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of Edwin Outwater, the current director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Last night was Blossom’s “Day of Giving,” where two members of the orchestra came out to solicit donations. Then, Outwater came out, bowing, and leading the orchestra in an instrumental entr’acte, featuring some familiar music from 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz.”
The concert was divided into two halves, with a twenty-minute intermission. Singing many standards and a smattering of contemporary hits, the evening started off with “Don’t Rain On My Parade,” a crowd-pleaser that showcased her musical theater roots, as well as torch tunes such as “I Put A Spell On You” and “Feeling Good.”
The second half of the show featured the Etta James classic “At Last” and “Natural Woman.” Two songs written by His Royal Badness, Prince. In a ballsy rendition, she offered “Purple Rain” and her encore tune, “Nothing Compares 2 U.”
Much to the disappointment of the sold-out crowd, tunes from either “The Color Purple” or “Wicked” weren’t present anywhere in the show, presumably to rights issues with the copyright holders.
