Cynthia Erivo Stuns Mahaffey Theater Audience with Amazing Performance
The Florida Orchestra gave the Tampa Bay area a huge gift in bringing the mega-talented Cynthia Erivo to a SOLD-OUT St. Pete show to kick-off her series of tour dates across the U.S. over the summer months. Erivo is extremely busy; her new album, “I Forgive You” drops on June 6 and she is hosting the Tony Awards on June 8th. She will be playing “Jesus” in a production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” in August at the Hollywood Bowl in L.A. Wicked: For Good will open in November and once again she will play “Elphaba” but on Friday night she was Cynthia Erivo with her magical voice and an incredible orchestra to back her.
The Florida Orchestra CEO Ignacio Barron Viela opened the show to welcome the audience and introduce the Mayor of St. Petersburg, Ken Welch, who spoke briefly. The orchestra opened the show with a Gershwin instrumental. Conductor Michael Francis introduces Erivo, who walks out in a royal blue gown and barefooted! Opening with the Barbra Streisand classic “Don’t Rain on My Parade” which set the tone for the show and the many standing ovations over the next two hours. The setlist of standards and pop songs Erivo personally chose for the night. She thanked the audience in advance for “indulging her to sing some of her favorites.” Next was “I Put a Spell on You”, the 68-piece orchestra was simply superb hitting every note perfectly.
A beautiful cover of the Etta James “At Last” was moving and one of the showstoppers of the night was a cover of the late Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” that had some audience members teary-eyed. There were several Aretha covers but Cynthia brought the audience into the act with the Carole King written Aretha hit (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman) After the brief intermission, Cynthia returned to more unbelievable performances, and the best was yet to come. Cynthia decided to pull out the great Burt Bacharach tune “Alfie” that she performed at the Kennedy Center Honors for Dionne Warwick! (you’re crying, not me) It was a wowzer! Be sure to check that performance out on www.youtube.com
Fresh off her Weekend 2 appearance at Coachella where she performed the iconic Prince cover of “Purple Rain” she brought it to the Mahaffey with the Florida Orchestra rockin’ and clearly having a good time that included a smokin’ hot guitar solo which brought Erivo down on her knees! After a five-minute ovation, she returned to the stage for the encore of another Prince penned tune, a jaw-dropping cover of Sinead O’Connor’s, “Nothing Compares to U.” What a way to end such an amazing show!
Tampa Bay audiences will have one more chance to see Cynthia and The Florida Orchestra team up when she comes back on September 3rd to play Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater! You can purchase tickets at www.floridaorchestra.org
Vicky Sullivan Photos for The Suncoast Post