28 | EXPRESS | 04.04.2019 | THURSDAY
weekendpass
Valery Gergiev, Artistic Director of the Mariinsky Theatre Yuri Fateev, Acting Director of the Mariinsky Ballet
Le Corsaire
Renata Shakirova and David Zaleyev, photo by Natasha Razina
Begins next week!
April 9–14 | Opera House with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra Vladislav Karklin, conductor See website for star-studded principal casting Groups call (202) 416-8400
Kennedy-Center.org (202) 467-4600
For all other ticket-related customer service V[^bV_VR` PNYY aUR .QcN[PR @NYR` /\e <¦PR Na (202) 416-8540
Support for Ballet at the Kennedy Center is generously provided by Elizabeth and C. Michael Kojaian. International Programming at the Kennedy Center is made possible through the generosity of the Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts.
The many voices of Cynthia Erivo The singer honors the women who’ve inspired her with an NSO show
MUSIC Cynthia Erivo is not the Queen of Soul. She’s not Queen Bey, either. And she’s OK with that. “I can’t do what Aretha Franklin has done because she is Aretha Franklin and I am not,” says the London-born actress and singer, who, at 32, is an Oscar short of an EGOT. “I’m going to sound like me.” Erivo will showcase songs popularized by the late Franklin, Beyonce, Tracy Chapman and other renowned female singers when she returns to the Kennedy Center on Friday and Saturday to perform “Legendary Women’s Voices” with the National Symphony Orchestra. “These are women who’ve influenced the sound that I make and my musical tastes. I want to pay tribute to that,” says Erivo, who appeared on screen last year in “Widows” and “Bad Times at the El Royale.” “And then there are songs that I’m secretly in love with but have not had the chance to sing yet, and I wanted to take this opportunity with a full orchestra to do so. There are pieces that I haven’t revisited since I was in college.” Though the setlist for “Legendary Women’s Voices” includes beloved works like Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” Chapman’s “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” and Etta James’ “At Last” — songs most of the audience will have heard before — Erivo doesn’t worry about having to compete with the original versions. “The only stress or pressure is to make sure I’m giving everything of myself,” she says. “And when I think I don’t, then I have
GETTY IMAGES/EXPRESS ILLUSTRATION
Mariinsky Ballet
“These are women who’ve influenced the sound that I make and my musical tastes. I want to pay tribute to that.” CYNTHIA ERIVO, on her Kennedy Center show “Legendary Women’s Voices”
something to worry about.” Erivo is used to singing in front of an audience — she won a Tony in 2016 for her performance as Celie in the revival of the musical “The Color Purple” — but there’s something special about doing this kind of show, with no character or costume to protect her. “It’s really hard to hide when you’re singing because
you’re completely open,” she says. “I love that real connection between myself and an audience when they see me sing live, because they know I mean it. When you sing, you’re at your most vulnerable.” KRISTEN PAGE-KIRBY (EXPRESS)
Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW; Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m., $29-$109.