Tony Awards Host Cynthia Erivo on Wicked, Dracula and Why You Shouldn’t Be Late to the Show

Cynthia Erivo is doing the most—and somehow making it look easy. This week alone, she’s getting ready to host the Tony Awards, release her debut solo album and is currently breaking the internet with the Wicked trailer. This summer, she’ll headline Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl. And next year, she’s taking on a bold new stage version of Dracula.

“Yes. I have a lot going on,” she says, laughing. “But all good fun things. I'm very, very excited about what the year is going to bring.”

Hosting the Tonys might send most people into a stress spiral, but Erivo is calm. “I feel quite relaxed,” she says. “Everything is sort of falling into place the way I want it to. My Capricorn brain is pleased because things are coming together how I have envisioned.”

She’s not interested in fitting into any preset mold of what a Tony host is supposed to be. “That's right,” she says with a smile, when told the most important thing is doing it as herself. “I'll bring something different. Just me being sort of very English and a little bit punk—from my tattoos and my bald head—is going to be something added extra.”

While she’s keeping the details quiet, she offers one clear instruction: “Don’t be late because you'll be mad at yourself. Stick with me. I promise it'll be fun. I’m giving you a full meal.”

Erivo’s glam is always part of the experience. “When it comes to the nails, the only detail I will ever input on is maybe the color and the length, and that's it,” she says. “If you could be here, you'd smell my perfume.”

She’s also been making the rounds through all the Broadway theaters. “I do it anyway,” she says. “But this was just an excuse to actually really blitz everything and see everything I could possibly see—and I think I made it. It was a big part of the process to make sure that I could be personally invested in all the things that are going to be on the stage.”

She’ll return to the stage herself next year in Dracula, directed by Kip Williams. “I wanted to do this because it scared the s*** out of me,” she says. “Usually the things I pick are the things that I know are going to challenge me. It wouldn’t go away. And because it wouldn’t leave me, I thought, I think I am going to have to do it.”

And then there’s November's Wicked: For Good, where she once again plays Elphaba opposite Ariana Grande’s Glinda, this time singing the iconic titular friendship ballad.

“Bring a packet of tissues,” she says. “It’s not a one-tissue situation. But bring a friend. Don’t do it on your own. You might need a hug afterwards.”