Cynthia Erivo is transitioning from her role as a witch in Wicked to embodying the iconic figure of Count Dracula, along with Van Helsing, Jonathan Harker, and 20 other characters from Bram Stoker’s classic.

In this ambitious stage adaptation of Stoker’s 1897 gothic horror masterpiece, Erivo will perform 23 distinct roles, joining the ranks of renowned artists undertaking the formidable challenge of a one-woman show in the West End.

At 38, Erivo returns to the London theater scene after an impressive decade navigating Broadway and Hollywood, where she garnered three Oscar nominations alongside winning a Tony, Emmy, and Grammy.

The south London native expressed her excitement about this return on Tuesday, stating that “returning to the stage feels like a homecoming, one that I’ve been craving for a long time.”

Producers confirmed that the production, set to launch in London in February, coincides with the film awards season, suggesting that Erivo may miss performances to attend award ceremonies.

No details have been provided regarding an understudy for the role.

Erivo is not the first performer to embrace the challenge of a one-woman show. Australian actress Sarah Snook, recognized for her portrayal of Shiv Roy in Succession, won the Olivier Award for Best Actress last year with her solo performance in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.

The 37-year-old actress, who performed all 26 characters, discussed the significant challenge of memorizing a “60,000-word monologue” just eight months after becoming a mother.

Additionally, Andrew Scott has brought his one-man rendition of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya to New York following a successful London run and an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor.

Critics hailed Scott as a “human Swiss army knife” for his portrayal of Vanya and the other roles he took on in the production.

On Tuesday, Erivo shared that the idea of undertaking this project is daunting, recognizing that it would demand a “huge challenge … and will ask everything of me.”

She noted, “It’s a rare gift for an actor to inhabit so many voices and perspectives in one piece.”

Erivo initially rose to fame on stage, featured in musicals such as Sister Act and The Color Purple before transitioning to film, with notable performances in Widows and Harriet. Her role as Harriet Tubman earned her two Oscar nominations—one for Best Actress and another for Original Song for a piece she co-wrote for the film.

This year, she received her second Oscar nomination for her lead role as Elphaba in Wicked, with a sequel also featuring her and Ariana Grande as Glinda set to release in November.

After completing the promotional tour for Wicked: For Good, Erivo will immediately begin rehearsals for Dracula, as confirmed by the producers.

Recently, she announced a new studio album while also working on an upcoming film, Children of Blood and Bone, and expressed a strong desire to return to the stage.

Erivo remarked, “To do so with a story as rich, complex, and haunting as Dracula offers a beautiful opportunity to delve into character, into myth, and into the heart of what makes us human.”

She praised the “thrilling, terrifying, and deeply resonant” vision of Kip Williams, who is adapting and directing the Dracula stage production.

Williams, known for adapting The Picture of Dorian Gray featuring Snook, emphasized that there are many “iconic characters” in Dracula for Erivo to portray.

He mentioned that the stage adaptation aims to expand upon Stoker’s themes of fear and desire, presenting a modern view of the vampire as a monster that resides not just externally, but within ourselves.