Less than 24 hours after crushing a performance of “I'm Here” from her Broadway show The Color Purple on CBS’ The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (watch her her remarkable performance here), leading lady Cynthia Erivo left the musical after Act I May 24, saying she was ill. Standby Adrianna Hicks finished the performance.
Earlier this week Erivo played a two-show day (to which the press was invited) on May 21 after running the Brooklyn Half Marathon. She stopped the show at both performances with her delivery of the show’s emotional pinnacle “I’m Here.”
She earned a 2016 Tony Award nomination as Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance as Celie.
In a subsequent tweet to her fans, Erivo explained,
Thank you for all the well wishes, turns out I'm not superwoman at all, shutdown by sickness. I'm so sorry to not continue. I'll be back 😢
— Cynthia Erivo (@CynthiaEriVo) May 25, 2016
There was no immediate word on whether she will be able to play the May 25 evening show. There is no scheduled May 25 matinee.
