Hasty Pudding Theatricals Honors Cynthia Erivo as 2025 Woman of the Year
By Bailule Hadgembes
The Hasty Pudding Theatricals at Harvard University is the oldest collegiate theatrical organization in the country. Every year, the group honors both a man and a woman who have made lasting and memorable contributions to the entertainment world.
Last Friday, the theatre group honored actor Jon Hamm, best known for his roles in Mad Men, Baby Driver, and The Town. On Wednesday night, Emmy, Grammy, Tony winner, and Oscar-nominated Cynthia Erivo swept in— no, not on a broomstick— to receive Hasty Pudding’s 2025 Woman of the Year Award.
Erivo, who recently starred in the 2024 live-action movie musical, Wicked, was greeted by members of the Hasty Pudding Theatrical Group for a full day of festivities including a parade down Harvard Square, where the crowd turnout was grand despite freezing cold temperatures.
The star later attended a comedy roast where several members of the group took a light jab at her and even did some challenges, including a painting contest against the woman of the year and a singing contest where two cast members and Erivo each attempted to sing the iconic, closing riff of “Defying Gravity” from her memorable role as Elphaba Thropp, a misunderstood but gifted witch. And to no surprise, Erivo soared above.
The Blue Man Group members even made an appearance, dressed in a long black cape and crooked, pointed hat, paying homage to Erivo’s character. They even gifted her with their own blue version of the Hasty Pudding pot.
Erivo’s love for the performing arts shined through not only during the parade and roast but also at the short press conference that followed.
“I have to say I’m deeply, deeply grateful for the experiences that I’ve had, some of which are [my] first time,” Erivo said.
“We knew [Wicked] was special but for the world to take it as its own this way has been really wonderful to behold,” she added. “We only got halfway through the story, and to feel like this now is wonderful,” as the movie’s second part releases later this year.
She then belted the “Defying Gravity” riff again. What’s a performance without an encore?
Erivo is no stranger to performing. Besides Wicked, she is well known for her role in the Broadway show, The Color Purple, and starred in National Geographic’s 2021 anthology series Genius: Aretha, where she played the late “Queen of Soul,” Aretha Franklin, which she later won an Emmy for.
With her bright, soulful voice and wide-range vocals, Erivo has also graced stages such as the Kennedy Center Honors, where she sang “Alfie” for 2023 honoree Dionne Warwick, or in 2022 when she belted Aretha Franklin’s “Ain’t No Way,” at Royal Albert Hall in London for the BBC Proms. More recently, Erivo did a rendition of “Fly Me to the Moon” at the Grammys, honoring music producer Quincy Jones, who passed away in November.
Erivo told the press that “songs are for when the words are not enough anymore” adding that when it comes to theatre, she “ love[s] when you can combine both song and acting together because I think you get more insight into who the person is. The best kind of musicals are when the songs are there because there just isn’t anywhere else you can go. You have to sing. There is nothing else you can do because the emotion is too big just for words.”
As the conference ended, Erivo held the golden pudding pot award up and kissed it. Two cast members of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals group then sandwiched together to give this year’s honoree a small kiss on her cheek.
Erivo strutted off to the next and final event for the day, a viewing of The Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 176th production, “101 Damnations.”
Erivo is expected to attend the Oscars on March 2nd where she is nominated for Best Actress for her role as Elphaba in Wicked.