Cynthia Onyedinmanasu Chinasaokwu Erivo (born 8 January 1987) is an English actress, singer, and songwriter.
She is known for her performance as Celie in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple, for which she won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical, the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, and the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program, the latter two she shared with the rest of the cast.
Erivo ventured into films in 2018, with roles in the heist film Widows and the thriller Bad Times at the El Royale. In 2019, she portrayed abolitionist Harriet Tubman in the biopic Harriet, for which she earned nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Viola Davis, Cynthia Erivo, Sandra Oh And More Sign Open Letter Blasting Theater Industry’s Racism
deadline.comDino-Ray Ramos Associate Editor/ReporterAs protest and rallies against racial injustice and the killing of Black lives continue, there is a seismic shift happening in the country as the civic unrest is shining a blinding light on systemic racism against Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) — and the world of theater is the latest to get that spotlight.An open letter addressed to “White American Theater” was published on Monday demanding change.
The letter was filled with ugly truths that those who have worked in the theater industry have experienced for decades. Among the 300 BIPOCs who signed the letter were Lin-Manuel Miranda, Viola Davis, Sandra Oh, Uzo Aduba, Sterling K.
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