A ‘Wicked’ good time

Cynthia Erivo braved frigid weather in a parade through Harvard Square on Wednesday as she was honored as Hasty Pudding’s 2025 Woman of the Year. Later the Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning actor and singer finger-painted and belted out “Defying Gravity” during the theatrical group’s annual roast at Farkas Hall.

Erivo, who captivated movie audiences last year in her role as Elphaba in “Wicked,” was celebrated before previewing Hasty’s 176th production, “101 Damnations.” Hasty Pudding producers Willow Woodward and Daisy Nussbaum, both ’26, co-hosted the roast, which poked fun at Erivo’s close relationship to her “Wicked” co-star Ariana Grande.

The British actor was joined by “Finn Finger Painter” to make a painting for Grande in front of 200 of her “closest friends who have all paid to be here.” To help her along, the theatrical group brought out their own Ariana.

Proving to the audience that she was the “real Wicked Witch of the West,” Erivo delivered an electrifying rendition of “Defying Gravity” from the “Wicked” soundtrack.

Following the roast, Erivo said music and song play an important role when developing her characters. “I love when you can combine both song and acting together because I think you get a bit more insight into who the person is, whether it be the way the melody is written or where the rhythm is written,” she said. “It tells you what they’re feeling on the inside about themselves and about the situation that they’re in.”  

Erivo also reflected on her work in theater and film, noting that there is “something thrilling about the way you have to use your mind and your body to work your way around” things that happen on stage. After spending a long time embodying characters on screen, she said, she laments having to step away from them.

The actor, also known for her work in “The Color Purple” and “Harriet,” will reprise her critically acclaimed role as Elphaba in the sequel to “Wicked” later this year. “I don’t know that any of us could have expected what has happened with ‘Wicked,’” she said. “We knew it was special, but for the world to take it as its own this way has been really wonderful to behold. I hope that there’s more room for that, for the second one. We haven’t even really got halfway through the story, and to feel like this now is really wonderful.”

Erivo teased that audiences may soon see her in something that feels more “comedic.” She currently has five upcoming works that have been publicly announced, including an adaptation of the popular young adult novel “Children of Blood and Bone.”

Hasty Pudding honored the 2025 Man of the Year, Jon Hamm, with a roast and parade on Jan. 31.