CYNTHIA Erivo ended up in floods of tears after paying a visit to her old school in South London to watch students perform one of the hit songs from Wicked.
Cynthia, 38, took time out of her busy schedule pre Wicked: For Good hitting cinemas to surprise the lucky students of La Retraite Roman Catholic Girl’s School in Clapham Park, who had no idea she would be paying them a visit.
The star made her dazzling entrance in the best possible way: by quietly sneaking into the room as students one by one noticed she was standing there.
The students looked on in utter disbelief, tinged with obvious excitement, before squealing and jumping for joy.
During the surprise gesture, organised by Greg James and his team at Radio 1, Cynthia sat front row in the audience of an auditorium while a starstruck group of teenage girls sang Wicked’s song For Good.
It was a very emotional moment for Cynthia, who couldn’t help but break down in tears.
Speaking about the touching performance once the song had wrapped up, Cynthia described how it was “very overwhelming” for her to be back at the school where she herself performed in a number of stage productions.
“I went to this school and left over 20 years ago so to come back and listen to you singing that song is really wonderful.
“Well done everyone, it’s so nice to see you all and be back here.”
As her voice was breaking, Cynthia told the equally emotional students: “I’m just really glad to have heard that. I’m not OK at all!”
The star then took questions from the teenagers, where one fan asked when she knew she wanted to perform for a living.
Cynthia replied: “I knew when I was five-years-old, there was something I just knew about singing, what it felt like to sing, what it felt like to connect and what it felt like to perform which I’ve always loved. That never changed.
“When I was five I was asked to sing Silent Night at the nativity play, I don’t know why they asked me to sing, I was playing a shepherd.
“But something about the way people reacted sparked a bit of joy. And I loved the fact that something I did made people happy.”
After taking more questions Cynthia, who didn’t have a father figure during adulthood, imparted words of encouragement to the group, encouraging them to never diminish the power of dreaming alongside putting in the work.
“I was right where you were, literally.
“I had some really wonderful teachers who helped and guided.
“Don’t be afraid of dreaming of those things and don’t be afraid of the hard work.”
Cynthia is currently finishing off her leg of premieres for Wicked’s eagerly anticipated sequel Wicked: For Good, set to come out in cinemas on Friday.
Alongside co-lead and pop powerhouse Ariana Grande, she’s walked many red carpets, defended Ari on the Yellow Brick Road from a recent fan attack, and undertaken countless amounts of interviews.
Though the leading ladies have created many unintentional memes during their Wicked days, it’s been a whirlwind of fun, emotion, and amazing talent watching everything unfold.