'Wicked' star Cynthia Erivo is feted as Harvard's Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year

Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals Woman of the Year Cynthia Erivo smiles while kissed by two character actors during a parade in her honor, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Screaming fans lined the streets in frigid conditions Wednesday to catch a glimpse of Cynthia Erivo, the “Wicked” star who is being celebrated as Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals Woman of the Year.

Erivo, bundled in a parka and donning her trademark long fingernails, blew kisses to the crowd and mouthed “I love you” as the car she and costumed members of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals were in slowly made its way through Cambridge. One fan handed her a red rose and several held up signs praising her star power. She also got a few kisses on the cheek from the two theatrical members.

The half-hour parade also featured marching bands, a mechanical bull in the back of a pickup truck and members of the Blue Man Group, who shot colorful confetti into the air.

“She’s such an icon,” said Onovughakpor Otitigbe, a 21-year-old Harvard student from New York who followed Erivo.

“She’s done so much for Black women, especially in theater,” Otitigbe said. “As a Black woman in theater myself, it was just really amazing to finally see her in person ... Oh my gosh, I got so many selfies. Me and my friend, we were chasing her from the start to the end of the parade.”

A few hours later, Erivo received her Pudding Pot award at a celebratory roast.

She endured a string of comedians that made bad jokes about “Wicked” being long before they were forced off stage. Then she took part in a finger-painting contest, scratching out an abstract painting of what was supposed to be “Wicked ” co-star Ariana Grande. She then pleases a cheering crowd by belting out a few notes in a singing competition before receiving a blue Pudding Pot from members of the Blue Man Group -- one of them dressed as witch and another operating a leaf blower to make the cape flow. The real Pudding Pot followed.

Erivo told the crowd her whole day was “fantastic” and afterward told reporters that it was honor to be recognized by a theater group for her work.

“It means a great deal actually because theater doesn’t really leave you, the craft that you love, the work you are put through, the standard you build,” she said. “It helps to build the work you do on screen ... To be awarded for things I’ve done on stage means a great deal. It means it’s still shining through, which is quite nice.”

Along with starring in the smash hit musical, the British entertainer is a two-time Oscar nominee and an Emmy Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award winner.

Erivo burst onto the scene with her brilliant performance in the Broadway revival of “The Color Purple,” winning her the 2016 Tony for best actress in a musical. She performed songs from the play on the “Today” show, earning the Daytime Emmy for outstanding music performance in a daytime program. The show’s soundtrack won best musical theater album at the 2017 Grammys.

Last year, Erivo starred in and produced “Drift,” which follows a young Liberian refugee who has escaped her war-torn country to a Greek island. In 2021, Erivo was nominated for an Emmy for her portrayal of Aretha Franklin in the National Geographic series “Genius: Aretha.”

“We are holding space for Cynthia Erivo’s arrival,” Man and Woman of the Year Events Coordinator Hannah Frazer said in a statement before Wednesday’s celebrations. “We’re sweeping out our broomstick closets and prepping some wicked smart humor as we eagerly await her in February. Before she flies off with her Pudding Pot, she’ll have to work a little magic to earn it.”

The theater group dates to 1844 and claims to be the world’s third-oldest still operating. After the celebratory roast, Erivo was scheduled to attend a performance of Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 176th production, “101 Damnations.”

Actor Jon Hamm, who came to fame starring as ad executive Don Draper on the AMC series “Mad Men,” is the 2025 Man of the Year. He received his Pudding Pot on Jan. 31.

Every year since 1951, the Pudding has bestowed its Woman of the Year award on actors including Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Scarlett Johansson and Annette Bening.

Michael Casey, The Associated Press