Finally Saw The Color Purple... — Page 2

She acutally didn't choose to leave "The Color Purple". Out of all the principles the producers wanted to go a different direction for the roles of Shug and Nettie. Nettie was orginally performed by Saycon Sengbloh(Wicked,Rent, Aida). Ms. Lenox was pretty good in the role but Elisabeth gave it more life and sex appeal. But it ended up being a good move cause she got a Tony Award.

"I found The Color Purple kind of dull, especially compared to The Drowsy Chaperone."

Ditto that. The "African" number with the 80s Valley Girl costumes was humorous, though. Color Purple has a couple of good moments, but it's a pretty weak show, especially the overly gratuitous finale, which shows off a fine voice, but is staged in such a disingenuous cloying demonstrative way, I was expecting the ushers to start passing out the tithe baskets up and down each row.

"Ms. Lenox was pretty good in the role but Elisabeth gave it more life and sex appeal. But it ended up being a good move cause she got a Tony Award."

She got a Tony nom. Beth Leavel won the award for Drowsy Chaperone.

Speaking of Drowsy Chaperone, I'm not sure how it became the show to which Color Purple is measured against, but I saw Drowsy last week and it was in terrific shape. Glover is not the best choice for Man in Chair, but he wasn't bad at all. JoAnne Worley was a perfect fit for the Vaudevillian team and the rest of the cast was wonderful, with Danny Burstein delivering one of the most brilliant comedic perfomances I've ever seen.

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I enjoyed both shows very much.

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Crafty Marley -

My same response as yours -What?

I actually thought the costuming was very good. What I didnt care for in that number was the sloppy choreography and the length of it.

They seemed to have tightened up that number since the first time I saw the show - its a little sharper - and somehow Fantasia brings more life into it. Before it was very boring.

But overall I don't know in whole how a show about rape, incest,abuse and redemption can be boring.

THE COLOR PURPLE began Broadway previews after Lenox won her Tony and after her first contract was up. If she would have had the option to stay with PURPLE, she still would have had a Tony for DOUBT.

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craftymarley - Matching headbands, miniskirts and legwarmers were all the rage when I was in Junior High in 1981. (The top resembles a throwback to the popular women's casual clothing phenomenon known as "Units", a trendy suburbian mall women's clothing store, a few years later, though it was more commonly worn as a waistband over a fashion t-shirt with stirrup pants, but that's not relevant.) As soon as I saw those dancers, I immediately had a flashback to Tracy Nelson in Square Pegs, which reminds me of something. I remember the first time I ever saw leg warmers, this girl Christine Something, who was totally stuck up, walked by wearing them with her miniskirt and matching top with one of those twisted headbands and I said, "Those are the biggest socks I've ever seen!" She laughed smugly and said, "They're leg warmers. I got them in Los Angeles over the summer." Then she said something about a valley and I had no idea what she was bragging about. She was the first to catwalk the Valley Girl look through the halls of lockers at Hildebrandt Intermediate. Leg warmers in Houston in September. And she thought I was stupid. Anyway, the women's dance costumes for the African number in Color Purple look like that. Christine Something. 1981. Hildebrandt Intermediate.

Maybe you had to be there.

atlsuperstar - I see what you mean. The way I read the sentence, it sounded like you meant Elisabeth won the Tony. My misunderstanding. Maybe it didn't need to be said, but I said it and it's too late. It's out there now for all to see.

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Updated On: 8/28/07 at 06:08 PM

This was two months ago.

They've had help since then.




I think.

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