Source : the age
Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo will return to the stage for the first time in nearly a decade, taking on the roles of Dracula, Van Helsing, Jonathan Harker and 20 other Bram Stoker characters in Dracula on the West End.
Originally directed and adapted by Kip Williams for the Sydney Theatre Company (where it premiered in 2024 and starred Zahra Newman), Dracula is co-produced by the Michael Cassel Group and will make its international debut in February 2026.
Williams and Cassel are the Australian creators of the West End and Broadway hit The Picture of Dorian Gray, starring Sarah Snook, which won two Olivier Awards last year and this month received six Tony award nominations. The pair will be looking to recreate the success of that show, in which Snook plays all 26 roles, with Erivo.
Wicked star Cynthia Erivo will appear on the West End in Kip Williams’ Dracula.
“If you look at the landscape of the West End, you need a star-driven vehicle, which is what led us to Sarah for Dorian and Cynthia for Dracula,” says Cassel. “I went and saw Dracula in Sydney, and at the end of it I knew it had commercial appeal, and the only name in my head was Cynthia Erivo.”
A Tony, Emmy and Grammy award winner, Erivo was last on stage in 2016’s The Colour Purple (for which she won a Tony award). But it was her role as Elphaba in 2024’s Wicked, alongside Ariana Grande, that catapulted her to a new level of stardom with an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
“We approached Cynthia before Wicked came out, and she was the only person we approached,” says Cassel. “So we were watching Wicked become this huge deal with a mix of excitement and fear.”
Cynthia Erivo (left) with Ariana Grande promoting Wicked in Sydney last year. Credit: Kate Geraghty
Following the announcement, Erivo said: “Returning to the stage feels like a homecoming, one that I’ve been craving for a long time. From the moment I was asked, I could not get the role out of my mind.
“Kip’s vision is thrilling, terrifying and deeply resonant. This show will ask everything of me — and I’m ready to give it.”
Dracula is the third in Williams’ gothic trilogy, following The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. All three debuted at the Sydney Theatre Company, with only The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde yet to be transplanted overseas.
“It’s a brilliant piece of theatre, but I knew Dracula had to follow Dorian,” says Cassel. “If Cynthia had said no, maybe we’d have turned our attention to Jekyll, but this was meant to be.”
Co-produced by Australia’s Michael Cassel Group, Dracula will make its international debut in February 2026.
While the play is not a musical, Erivo will show off her pipes in one original song by composer Clemence Williams near the show’s end. She will next be seen in the Wicked sequel, Wicked: For Good, due in cinemas November 21, before heading into rehearsals for Dracula.
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