“I don’t think it’s disappearing from my life anytime soon,” Cynthia Erivo tells me, just four days before the UK premiere of Wicked: For Good. She’s reflecting on her time in the Land of Oz coming to an end.
It’s 5pm in London – characteristically grey; already dark – but the Tony-winning and three-time Academy Award nominee speaks with warmth and colour as she reassures me that the movie will always remain a part of her world. “I think this is something that’s just going to be a part of the story of my life, just like The Colour Purple was a part of the story of my life.”
How, I ask? “Well, I definitely still will be talking around the movie,” she says, contented. And she will work with her fellow cast members again, she hopes (“I still have their numbers; no one’s running away”). Elsewhere, she can dress as Elphaba (“there’s a couple scenes where she wears this really beautiful, grey, knitted cardigan – that came with me; it’s now a part of my clothing collection”). Oh, and thanks to a very exciting new project, Cynthia will be able to spend time in Elphaba’s real-life retreat, too.
Yep: Airbnb has today announced that Cynthia Erivo will be inviting up to 20 guests to book the chance to step inside a fully immersive recreation of Elphaba’s Retreat. That is: the space in which we’ll see Elphaba spend “a lot” of her time in the upcoming film. On the outskirts of sparkling Los Angeles, guests will be able to step into a refuge in the woods made of twigs and flora – where they’ll share tea and chat with Cynthia, uncover Wicked: For Good easter eggs, sing along to the film’s soundtrack, capture photos, and craft a keepsake witch’s broom (“I have my broom {in my house}” Cynthia blushes).
In addition to the experience, two lucky guests will have the chance to request to book an overnight stay at Elphaba’s retreat, enjoying a full day (and night) in her boots (though Cynthia won’t be around for that part). To my mind, and Cynthia’s, there is no more magical way to keep the charm of the Golden Globe-winning film in our hearts.
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Universal Pictures
“I had lots of lovely conversations with the designers and set decorators about what I sort of wanted to see in the space for Elphaba – so her personality is sort of infused in the space,” Cynthia tells me of her involvement in this most unique project. “Whether it be her, sort of… talent for planning, her talent for magic, her want, her warmth… It’s all in that space. Her whole personality is definitely all over that space.”
The launch comes at a lovely time – not only to allow the character of Elphaba to live on, but to aid the movie release in allowing fans to feel closer to Cynthia’s often-misunderstood character.
“I think most people see Elphaba as someone who is fighting and hard – and and we don’t necessarily get to see her in a place where warm and soft and vulnerable,” she reflects.
This space – both IRL and in the movie – will “speak to a softer side of who she is, which I’m really excited for people to see,” Cynthia says. “Just because of how it is, and how it’s laid out; the creature comforts that are in there – the little fire pit; the warm chairs. I tell people that it’s cosy, that it is protective, that it’s organic, woodsy; very much of the forest. It’s a little bit like a hideaway, like a, it’s like a glamorous treehouse almost, you know.”
Aside from Elphaba’s softness, is there anything else that Cynthia is excited for Wicked fans to see of her character in Wicked: For Good? “I think what I’m really excited for people to see is how she sort of dealt with the decision that she made from the first film – and how she’s living with it now in the second,” Cynthia says. “These decisions aren’t just decisions that affect her. These are decisions that affect everyone around her.”