It's storm season these days, with summer squalls and August tempests hitting town with blustery regularity. But a cyclone of a different sort blew into Ravinia last Friday night, when Cynthia Erivo - currently the eye of her own personal celebrity hurricane - performed a sold-out concert (even selling out Ravinia's commodious lawn).
You know Erivo; well, if you don't, you should: Broadway showstopper (Tony award for Color Purple), prestige-TV actress (Stephen King mystery The Outsider, Aretha Franklin bio-series Genius: Aretha), Oscar nominee (biopic Harriet) and now, white-hot star of the Wicked film series. Fresh off her most recent triumph - an acclaimed three-night performance as the lead in Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl (you read that right: she played Jesus) - Erivo came to town to demonstrate her considerable stage powers, backed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of guest conductor Edwin Outwater.
Erivo strode on stage barefoot, clad in a shiny backless charcoal dress and sporting her trademark nails, with another performer's signature tune: an homage to Streisand via "Don't Rain on My Parade." Erivo began the song tenderly, slowly, softly savoring each phrase.... "Don't tell me not to live..." a quiet request, rather than a strident warning. Until she inevitably built, with the swelling orchestra behind her, to the full power of the ballad's declaration of independence: "Nobody, no, nobody is gonna rain on my parade."
That opening number charted the evening's progression, as Erivo inhabited the signature numbers of a parade of divas: Streisand, Nina Simone, Aretha, Dionne Warwick, Shirley Bassey, Etta James, Roberta Flack plus a pair of male R&B legends: Donny Hathaway and Prince. Each and every one big shoes to fill, and yet the (shoeless) Erivo confidently stepped into their spots and made the songs her own - sometimes even abandoning her microphone to fill Ravinia's Pavilion stage with the power of her unamplified voice alone. Few performers can achieve that task.
In the first half of the concert, Erivo carved out a striking tribute to Nina Simone, performing three of her most iconic songs with precision and emotional range. She began with “I Put a Spell on You,” delivering it with theatrical control and a simmering intensity that built phrase by phrase. Her voice moved from smoky restraint to full-throated urgency, matched by the CSO's dark, brooding textures.
“Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” followed, and Erivo shifted into a more introspective mode. Her delivery was understated, almost conversational, drawing out the song’s quiet heartache.
Finally, at the end of her first set, came “Feeling Good." Erivo began in a near-whisper, letting the melody unfold slowly and deliberately. Her voice rose with the orchestra, gaining warmth and force until it filled the Pavilion. At the song's conclusion, both the audience and the musicians stood to acknowledge her performance.
After intermission, the emotional intensity continued. She began with a pair of diva power ballads: Shirley Bassey's "I Who Have Nothing" and Etta James' iconic "At Last." It is a testament to both Erivo’s confidence and ability that she comfortably takes on songs so identified with immortal performers and makes them her own.
In the same vein, Erivo then delivered her own rendition of Roberta Flack's “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” - stripped down and haunting. She lingered on each phrase, letting silence do as much work as sound. The orchestra held back, allowing her voice to float unaccompanied at times, drawing the audience into a shared stillness.
The show climaxed with three songs. First, Aretha's “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” a performance made doubly powerful as Erivo stepped off the stage and into the crowd, barefoot, winding through the Pavilion and out onto the lawn. Her voice carried effortlessly, encouraging a sing-along, and reaching the overflow crowd sprawled on their blankets and folding chairs.
The final stretch of the concert featured two Prince songs that showcased Erivo’s range and reverence. “Purple Rain” was expansive and raw, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra adding a lush, cinematic sweep. (There's no "Purple Rain" like symphony-orchestra-"Purple Rain," with the crowd waving its cellphone lights.) Erivo leaned into the song’s peaks and - while she didn't erase Prince, she perhaps equaled him.
The night closed with his “Nothing Compares 2 U”, quietly devastating, in the mode of the singer who made it famous, Sinead O'Connor. Like O'Connor, Erivo held the song close, and her voice, stripped of ornament, carried the weight of the lyric with clarity and restraint. The orchestra offered a sparse, aching accompaniment, allowing Erivo’s phrasing to land with precision.
Not for the first time, the Ravinia crowd leapt to its feet, recognizing the overwhelming performance Erivo had delivered. Ravinia has hosted many legends and more than a few divas (operatic and otherwise) and in her performance Friday night, Cynthia Erivo claimed her place among the very greatest.
All photos by Kyle Dunleavy / Ravinia Festival.
