Assorted ramblings from the world of entertainment:

• Cynthia Erivo will be in movie theaters locally and nationwide this weekend as Elphaba in part one of the big-screen adaptation of the musical “Wicked.”

Northeast Ohio fans will have a chance to see Erivo in person before part two of “Wicked” opens next year. She’ll perform with the Cleveland Orchestra and conductor Edwin Outwater on July 27 at Blossom Music Center.

The orchestra usually includes a Broadway star on its summer Blossom schedule — Leslie Odom Jr. was there this year and Audra McDonald sang with the ensemble in 2023 — but Erivo feels like a big get.

Starring in what’s expected to be one of the year’s most successful films — Variety is predicting its opening weekend domestic box office between $100 and $110 million, Deadline is predicting an even higher $125 to $150 million — will raise her profile beyond theater fans.

Erivo already has Tony, Emmy and Grammy awards. I’m not sure if she’ll get her EGOT with “Wicked,” but she seems to be the most likely performer in the film to earn an acting Oscar nomination.

Erivo is one of three events the orchestra announced this week for its 2025 summer season at the Cuyahoga Falls amphitheater.

The orchestra will perform John Williams’ score accompanying screenings of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” on July 5 and 6, and it will play Hans Zimmer’s Oscar-winning score for the Disney animated hit “The Lion King” on Aug. 29, 30 and 31.

Both of those films have Mahoning Valley connections. Chris Columbus, who grew up in Champion and graduated from John F. Kennedy High School, directed the first two Harry Potter films (“Sorcerer’s Stone” and “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”).

Youngstown’s Jim Cummings provides the voice of Ed, one of Scar’s hyena henchmen, in “The Lion King.” Cummings has more than 600 acting credits on his IMDb page.

Tickets for those three events go on sale at 10 a.m. today at clevelandorchestra.com and by calling 216-231-1111. Also available will be lawn ticket books for $180, which are good for admission to all orchestra Blossom concerts.

The rest of the summer season will be announced at a later date.

• Those 600 acting credits weren’t enough to get Cummings in the Ohio Movie Database, which was created to highlight Ohio’s connections to the movie industry. It’s part of Ohio Goes to the Movies, which is planning movie-related events leading up to the celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary in 2026.

The group will release a trailer later this month featuring Columbus native Beverly D’Angelo that was created to encourage Ohio Goes to the Movies events at historical theaters and commercial cinemas, drive-ins, art house and community auditoriums.

Cummings isn’t the only Youngstown omission. The list also doesn’t include Elizabeth Hartman, an Oscar nominee in 1965 for “A Patch of Blue”; Joe Flynn, best known for his work on the television series “McHale’s Navy” but also an actor with dozens of screen credits; or Victor Slezak, an actor with nearly 100 film and television credits (he also appeared in the episode of “Treme” I watched Tuesday). At least the Warner brothers are included.

Columbus is on the list of directors, and Warren native and Modern Props founder John Zabrucky made the cut as well in the category Behind the Camera. Also included are Howland native Jeff Schaffer, who directed “Eurotrip” and was a writer on “Bruno” and “The Dictator”; Niles native Dominic Sena, whose directing credits include “Kalifornia,” “Gone in 60 Seconds” and “Swordfish”; and Warren native Earl Derr Biggers, whose books inspired the Charlie Chan films.

The database can be found at ohiogoes

tothemovies.org.

Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com.