Cynthia Erivo Once Ran a Half-Marathon Before Doing 2 Broadway Shows in Same Day: 'Painful but Glorious'

Mar. 15, 2025

Cynthia Erivo.Photo:Neil Mockford/WireImage

Neil Mockford/WireImage

Cynthia Erivo’s days on Broadway were exhausting, some more than others.

TheWickedactress, 37, starred in the Broadway revival ofThe Color Purpleas Celie, a role for which she won a Tony in 2016 for best actress in a musical.

In an interview with theLos Angeles Times’The Envelope, Erivo was asked to confirm a story “that sounds so nuts”: that she ran a half-marathon the same day she had both a matinee and an evening performance ofColor Purple.

“I made myself a promise that if I was able to finish this marathon in Brooklyn with enough time to get home and get myself ready, I’d do it,” Erivo said. “I finished it in an hour, 37 minutes.”

Cynthia Erivo on Oct. 2, 2023.Julien M. Hekimian/Getty

Julien M. Hekimian/Getty

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Each show ran for roughly two-and-a-half hours. Erivo said that night’s performances after completing the 13.1-mile race were “painful … but glorious.”

“The first thing I do in the show is get down on my knees,” she recalled. “And after you’ve been running that amount and you’ve never done it before, your body is like, ‘What the heck is going on?’ "

The star also shared in theEnvelopeinterview the lengths she goes to preserve her voice. “I think about it daily. I’ve been using it for such a long time and she — I call her ‘she’ — has been really good to me.”

“She doesn’t have a name. But she’s temperamental,” Erivo continued of her voice, adding, “I lie. She’s not temperamental, but she’ll tell me when she needs something. I’m a stickler for taking care of her. I always have water with me. I always have tea with me. There’s always a lozenge in my bag, just in case. And if it’s time to be quiet, it’s time to be quiet.”

Cynthia Erivo on Oct. 29, 2024.Noam Galai/Getty

Noam Galai/Getty

Erivo stars as Elphaba opposite Ariana Grande as Glinda in the film adaptation of the Broadway showWicked,in theaters Nov. 22.

source: people.com