THE COLOR PURPLE Previews — Page 9

I have tickets to the show this Friday night 11/20, I'm coming from DC and I really want to see Cynthia and Jennifer... is there any pattern of them NOT performing on Friday? have they all been sticking to 8 shows a week during preview?

Thanks!

I saw this last night (Monday 11/16) and had a wonderful time. It was one of those theatre experiences where you feel it with your whole being and feel very much present - not just watching motions on stage. I had fifth row seats in the orchestra which were actually a tiny bit too close overall, but it was great to be able to see the emotion on the actor's faces. I could see a tear drop fall from Cynthia Erivo's face.

I have seen the movie but this was my first experience with The Color Purple musical. I loved the music and thought it incorporated so well into the story. I think the minimalist set was effective for storytelling, as it allowed you to focus fully on the characters on stage and not the flair around them. I know this is subjective though - the women next to me were enjoying it a lot but said how they missed the turntable and changing sets they had seen when they saw the original version.

Cynthia Erivo is a flat out star. My Lord that woman can SING and act beautifully. I'm so thrilled I was able to see her. I said hi to friends who work at Phantom before the show and they said they can hear her "I'm Here" every night backstage at The Majestic. That made my anticipation grow and it certainly did not disappoint. I was particularly moved by that scene, the finale and the Africa scene to open the second act. I thought it was beautifully portrayed, again in a minimalist way. The show moved me to tears at all three of those points.

Jennifer Hudson was good and I think she'll continue to grow into the role and Broadway in general. I loved Danielle Brooks as Sophia - I'm a fan of hers anyway and it was thrilling to see her on stage. She's a very gifted actress. Even though it's not a spotlight role, I loved Joaquina Kalukango as Nettie - she has wonderful stage presence and her emotions were truly on display.

As others have said the audience last night was great. People were into it but not inappropriately. I loved feeling the energy of others around me who were also clearly transported by the performances. Ushers were adamant about cell phones being turned off, etc. There were no offenses that I could see, but I was pretty far forward.

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"I mean, the fifteenth time we see someone swing a chair around it's like okay..."

This made me laugh. Sweeney Todd worked for me, possibly because that was the first time I'd seen it. Like you, parts of The Visit were great but some of that sparseness felt forced and I never disappeared into the world of the show. Is it really all chairs?

And again, nothing wrong with it. Sometimes they're used very smartly - like when they become a prison cell - and sometimes they're just chairs. Celie has the business of putting chairs away a few times.

I like Doyle's style, but just wish he would open it up a bit more. What really irks me, and the same with Sweeney, is he won't redesign the show for a proscenium. So there are these black runways on either side of the set. It makes it feel like the show doesn't belong totally. I hate that.

And my biggest complaint overall was the band. It just sounded so canned. Why not have them on stage somewhere? Or something? The show is so raw and emotional, and it sounds like they're singing to tracks.

Wow. I was very surprised at how much I really liked this new vision of a very flawed musical.

I love the original novel and the film and was disappointed in the original musical. John Doyle has truly turned this piece on it's head! The original lost me from the beginning by rushing through the first quarter of the novel with such busy staging (a problem throughout) and the characters were stick figures among overblown sets. Stripping it down and slowing the pace a bit (and a stunning central actress) hit all the right notes for me.

The only time the pace was off was when Ms. Hudson was not anchored by Ms. Erivo. It seemed she was uncomfortable if Ms. Erivo was not literally holding her hand or looking directly into her eyes. That made "What About Love" her shining moment for me. Many of her lines were lost and garbled expecially while singing. I appreciated that she kept her incredible voice in check with the character, however...and I believe she is truly trying and invested. She is simply not a strong actor.

The rest of the cast was excellent! One of my biggest disappointments with the original was the lack of connection between Celie and Nettie (the great Renee Elise Goldsberry). If you cant get a tear from me upon the return of Nettie, something is wrong in how you are telling the story. Here, from the beginning, the connection between the two actresses, and therefore the characters, was palpable. Ms. Kalukango was GREAT! With this more abstract revival, Doyle keeps Nettie on stage many times as simply Celie's memory and love for her sister. If any of the actresses deserve a Sup. Actress nomination it is Kalukango, imo.

I have no superlatives that do Cynthia Erivo justice. I went in expecting a lot from her given the reviews here and she surpassed every one. This is a performance not to be missed. It's her journey we are on and, with a glance, this actress welcomes you to share it. It makes me remember seeing Sydney Lucas last year for the first time.

I didn't miss a more elaborate set in the least. The staging was that strong. I felt where we were for every scene. Brilliant, imo. The staging of Adam's delivery was a great example of his talent.

I was disappointed in the sound, however. I could swear that there was a reverb put on Hudson's vocals that the rest did not have. It was odd, clunky and took you out of the moment when that switch happened at the beginning of each of her songs. Anyone else?

I highly recommend this. I couldn't believe when I heard Doyle was taking this on and wondered, why bother? It's not strong enough a piece! I was wrong.

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Thanks...just to clarify, I DID hit return for each paragraph.

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LOL...thanks, NJ!

I just looked around and realized that Erivo wasn't even nominated for an Olivier Award for this role! Was she not eligible?

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^ Right.

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Updated On: 11/18/15 at 12:04 PM

Saw the Wednesday evening performance. Didn't see the original production. Am a general fan of Doyle's work.

The simplified staging here works just fine. There may be a tad too much business with the chairs, but it didn't bother me much.

The singing is spectacular pretty much across the board other than Albert's second act solo. Jennifer Hudson seemed very comfortable on stage and in her role. Cynthia Erivo is truly just a marvel.

The orchestra sound bothered me throughout the show. It sounds fake, synthesized, and piped in from another planet. And the book remains a weakness causing the show to feel choppy as a result, particularly in the second act.

That said, Erivo alone is worth the price of admission and she is surrounded by some fierce women doing great work.

Ugh, this sounds so similar to the piped in and tinny sound of the Night Music revival orchestra. Luckily, the Night Music recording beefed up the orchestra for the cast recording. Hopefully something The Color Purple will do as well.

No clue about Hudson's reverb? I think that's just a you thing. I didn't hear any of that. I thought she was totally restrained vocally.

I actually mentioned that she was restrained, and was one of the good things about her performance.

I'm not sure what a "you thing" is. I heard something I guess you didn't. I guess it's just "not a you thing".

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They aged the actors in the original with greying hair, etc.

I think it's deliberate to keep the minimal feel to this production to not physically alter the actors, but to have the actors act their age. It didn't bother me at all.

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Cynthia did a singular sensations interview before she left and took us through the vocal and posture changes she used to age Celie.

Out of context they were fabulous but I didn't remember it being as dramatic a change watching the show, there would have been an in-between stage I guess.