Her rendition of “I Put a Spell on You,” in Nina Simone’s version, was sultry and expansive. Erivo stretched her voice into daring scat lines, showing off stunning flexibility and control, while Meadows answered with a blistering solo.

A mid-set tribute to Aretha Franklin reminded the audience of Erivo’s own history with The Color Purple — where Franklin herself once came to witness her performance. “Listening to Aretha always brought me joy,” Erivo shared, “so this is an ode to her — for all the joy she put into the world, and into me.” With that, she poured gospel grit and vulnerability into “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)” and followed with a heart-wrenching “Ain’t No Way.”

She then pivoted to Dionne Warwick with a tender “Alfie,” recalling her own performance of the song at the Kennedy Center Honors. Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” closed the first half with defiant triumph. The audience — which had gone from hushed reverence to mid-song applause and waves of shouted bravos (“Yaz Queen!”) — made its first full standing ovation, the cheers and stomps echoing long after she left the amphitheater.

The second act revealed Erivo’s most intimate artistry. “At Last” shimmered with timeless romance, but she deepened it by sharing that whenever she sings the song, she “sees lights” in her mind — usually magenta, though once they were blue. She turned the standard into something mystical. “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” was breathtaking in its simplicity: beginning a cappella, barely above a whisper, then slowly unfolding into orchestral lushness. She suspended us in stillness until the final note.

One of the night’s most thrilling moments came with “A Song for You,” written by Leon Russell but forever tied to Donny Hathaway. Just as Meadows was about to begin his solo, a phone in the audience beeped. Rather than ignore it, he seized on the note and rhythm as the launch point for his improvisation, staying in that key for nearly the entire solo. The audience laughed in delight at the quick thinking, then marveled as the improvisation blossomed. His solo unfolded like a cadenza in a piano concerto — first playful, then grand — before he and Erivo traded improvised phrases, building the song into a breathtaking dialogue.

Throughout, Erivo kept the night personal and communal. She exchanged smiles and waves with little girls in the front rows and invited everyone into a sing-along of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.” She coached the crowd on the first line — “Looking out on the morning rain… aaah oooo” — and thousands of voices joined her, the night sky swelling with sound. The joy was palpable.

The evening built toward a cathartic “Purple Rain,” with local virtuoso guitarist John Lee unleashing a searing solo that intertwined with Erivo’s voice in a soaring call-and-response. The performance was truly electrifying.

For the encore, Lee returned to add aching guitar lines to “Nothing Compares 2 U,” sung in the spirit of Prince’s original version. The National Symphony Orchestra wrapped Erivo in a cushion of sound, while Meadows and Lee added intimacy and bite. The song closed the evening on a note of aching beauty — grand yet deeply human. For a moment after her final note, there was silence, as if no one wanted to break the spell. Then, a thunderous standing ovation, with cheers, whistles, and ovations that felt like they might never stop.

Cynthia Erivo proved, once again, that she is more than a vocalist: she is a storyteller, a conjurer of emotion, and a fearless collaborator. With the NSO’s sweep, Meadows’ inventive brilliance, and Lee’s fiery guitar, she created a night at Wolf Trap that was both spectacular and soul-baring — an unforgettable communion of voice, orchestra, and audience under the stars.