Photo by Aiyanna Ojukwu '26
As we all know, the best part of Harvard is how we can skate by on a seemingly endless frozen Charles of prestige, luring important people into talking to us by tricking them into thinking we too are important. And this week, we got yet another celebrity to let us gawk at her: the WICKEDly talented Cynthia Erivo. Since The Advocate has its finger on the pulse, I, alongside our storied Notes editor, Aiyanna Ojukwu, made sure to attend both the parade and the roast to let you, the dozen or so readers of Notes from 21 South Street, feel like you were there too.
The parade was far more of a spectacle than we expected: the free mini-cannolis were flowing, IGP improv had a float for some reason, and the Blue Man Group provided the necessary person-painted-an-unnatural-color representation. There were high school marching bands (?) and a mechanical bull (??). There was a dog wearing dog headphones (!)
And, most importantly, there was Cynthia Erivo.
Everybody and their mother had their phones out. I had my phone out, even as I hated myself for doing it. But importantly, your phone can go higher up than your regular eyes. I didn’t really see Cynthia’s face, but my phone did, as did Aiyanna’s camera. It raises the classic northern-lights-in-Massachusetts question: if you can only see something through your phone, is it really different from just googling a Getty image?
Finally, we observed Erivo doing the classic HPT kickline outside of Farkas from the advantageous position of the Smith Center Commons. Her coat was preventing any discernible kicks. But you can’t have everything. She did also do the riff, which we couldn’t hear since we were inside. Also, the Lampoon threw a stuffed pig at her from the roof. It seemed like a thematic nonsequitur.
Erivo was very much having her people’s princess moment. If you saw Pinocchio (2022), you’d recognize her magnanimous smile from her characterization of the Blue Fairy. I suppose if one throws a full parade for a private citizen, one can expect the private citizen to be pretty happy about it. To have a couple dozen Harvard students dancing in your honor? That’s better than any EGOT. Well, no it’s not. But you get the point.
Speaking of—at the post-roast press conference, Erivo claimed she didn’t even know what an EGOT was when she started her career. I call bullshit. But I digress.
That evening, The Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ roast went exceptionally easy on Erivo. The biggest “roast” was pointing out that she has played two of the same roles as Whoopi Goldberg, which is just objectively true and surely something of which Erivo is aware. Cast members also impersonated famous comedians John Mulaney, Jerry Seinfeld, and Bill Burr (?) offering jokes about the movie Wicked being long (?). Erivo did not seem to understand the joking implication that she won her daytime Emmy for Boss Baby: Back in Business. You can’t blame the Pudding for being scared of her notorious sincerity, but also it’s not like they can invite her back as WOY next year, so what was really at stake?
Erivo, needless to say, did the famous riff again during the roast. She really is that good.
The best/worst/most cringe-inducing moment of the roast was at the very end, when the two clearly anxious emcees who I will not name here for their own protection were addressed by Erivo.
“I have it on authority that the two of you were nervous for today,” Erivo said to them, in front of an audience of 200 people. “You shouldn’t be. You did fantastic.” And to think they could have emerged unscathed otherwise! I hope for their sakes they got lots of Pudding-funded champagne later that night.
The press conference was also full of softballs. The Lasell University reporter sitting next to me implied to Erivo that she was, pre-Wicked, more famous for stage than screen, with which Erivo took a bit of umbrage. I unfortunately did not get the chance to ask her about her favorite novel, but she probably would have just plugged Gregory Maguire’s book, since she’s rumored to have recorded an audiobook of Wicked for Audible. To close the night, NBC asked Erivo to do the riff one more time, which she did. Mid-sentence. Again, she really is that good.
I am currently writing my thesis on celebrity, though I’m writing about early 20th century opera singers more so than early 21st century musical theater movie stars. So, I’ll offer my reading of the day:
Boorstin’s tautology of celebrity states, put simply, that ‘celebrity’ occurs when one is famous for being famous. On HPT day, Erivo was clearly marketed as such, down to the photoshop of a cannoli in her palm. But with each effortless riff, she broke out of the Boorstin tautology, proving that her skill actually merits fame. And to extend the connection to my thesis: Willa Cather, according to my analysis, thinks that being famous is only acceptable if you’re both a good singer and gay. Cynthia Erivo, you’ve passed the test.
2025