Cynthia Erivo - Upcoming COLOR PURPLE Absences — Page 2

I was at the Sunday matinee. For me, I sensed a heightened excitement, compared to the one time I saw the show with Cynthia before. Some differences from my experience at the previous show: The audience applauded when Cynthia came onstage. (This also happened on Sunday with other performer entrances.) There was a more extended standing ovation at the end of the show. Cynthia’s performance was different at certain moments throughout the show. One such moment was at the beginning of “I’m Here.” Before she starting singing, there were tears streaming down her face. The first few 30 seconds or so, she was singing through her tears. The strong emotion was there, but her voice did not waver. When she moved to and faced the back of the stage during the early part of the song, I felt she took a few more moments there than she did last time. I think she wanted to take a deep breath. There was another moment in the last show I saw when she had a tear streaming down her face, On Sunday, at the same point, there was a steady stream and Cynthia took a moment to wipe her eyes at the end of the song. I have only the one other live performance to compare it to and what I experienced may be just the variation from show to show, but to me Cynthia's performance and the show felt special, that umami quality. Those who are performers will be better able to explain this.