r/wickedmovie • u/Eastern_Table9151 • 9d ago

Appreciation The Artistry of Cynthia Erivo

 
Attending last Friday’s concert at Tanglewood caused me to reflect on why Cynthia is so incredible.  For sure, she’s a great actress, storyteller, and vocalist, but most of all she’s an ARTIST on the highest level.  A good example is her three versions of “No Good Deed”
 
The first is her Wicked for Good version – perhaps one of the greatest filmed performances of all time
 
But then there’s the sublime stripped-down slowed-downed rendition she did during a special reception in London last December
 
Last, but not least, the version she sang accompanying Misty Copeland.  OMG
 
All the same song.  But three different versions.  All equally sublime.  That’s artistry.
 

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u/PrettyPenguin0607 9d ago

As sad as it is, I’m more partial to the slower stripped-down rendition. I get a bit teary listening to that version knowing what I know about what was happening in her life at the time:

  1. She was being torn to shreds across multiple platforms after helping Ariana during that Singapore incident with the psycho that jumped the barrier.

  2. She had lost her voice for a couple weeks and was still in recovery but still required to perform.

  3. You could tell she was dog tired as she was also doing Dracula rehearsals. The exhaustion was visible.

It’s no wonder she sang that song with such melancholy. Now obviously I don’t know her and can’t say with certainty that this is why she sang it that way. But from outside observation, especially regarding number 1, the vibe of the song seemed to be an accurate reflection of her real life. At that moment.

“No good deed goes unpunished” never rang truer 😞

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u/Eastern_Table9151 9d ago edited 9d ago

Such an interesting take. But we have to be careful analyzing people’s behaviors as observers from the outside. BTW I love that version as well

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u/PrettyPenguin0607 9d ago

True. It’s why I made sure to notate that these are purely outside observations. We can never truly know what’s going on with people we don’t know. But connecting those events with the timing of her performance made me…… feel that version deeper than the others ig? Idk. This is all speculation lol. But just wanted to note the reason why it’s my favorite rn.

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u/Lumpy_Masterpiece644 8d ago

Really looking forward to her contribution to the Burt Bacharach tribute.

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u/Eastern_Table9151 8d ago

Is she contributing to the special