Cynthia Erivo turned her own concert into a casting announcement — and the Hollywood Bowl crowd got the news before anyone else on Earth.
During her one-night-only “Let Me Sing to You” concert at the Hollywood Bowl on Thursday night (October 15), Erivo revealed that Kylie Minogue, Jonathan Groff, and Catherine Tate have joined her in “Bad Fairies,” the original animated musical comedy from Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and Locksmith Animation. Erivo leads the film as Jayne Staplegun, a trailblazing fairy leading a gang of delightfully defiant, rule-breaking fairies shaking up their magical world in contemporary London.
The reveal was pure showmanship. The second half of the concert opened with an orchestral piece built on “Hard to Believe,” Jayne’s song from the film. Erivo then announced Groff as the voice of Robin Goodfellow and Tate as the Fairy Gothmother — and saved the biggest surprise for last: Minogue herself was sitting in the audience. Erivo celebrated her as the cast’s newest member, the two shared a hug, and the Bowl roared. Minogue voices Clowder, the Cat Witch — a role she described as a little bit magical, a little bit mischievous, and a whole lot of fun.
The new trio joins a voice cast announced earlier this year: Serrana Su-Ling Bliss as Fei Chang, James Acaster as Stickers, Dee Bradley Baker as Groundbeef, and Ncuti Gatwa as Butterwort. Behind the scenes, the film is directed by Megan Nicole Dong and co-directed by Olivier Staphylas, from a screenplay by Deborah Frances-White. The original songs come from Tony Award-winning duo Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss of “Six: The Musical,” with Isabella “Machine” Summers of Florence + The Machine composing the score and Ian Eisendrath as executive music producer.
Warner Bros. Pictures Animation president Bill Damaschke noted that the film is about characters who break the rules to do some good — and that there was no better way to share the news than in Erivo’s own voice, from that stage. Locksmith Animation CEO Natalie Fischer added that Erivo’s voice has been the soul of the film since she came on board.
Production is underway in London with DNEG Animation, and “Bad Fairies” is the first feature under the first-look deal between Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and Locksmith. The film arrives in theaters May 21, 2027.
A solo concert, a surprise casting reveal, and a pop icon in the audience — Erivo didn’t just sing to the Bowl on Thursday night. She gave it a moment it will be talking about until those fairies fly onto the big screen.
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