#1
Posted: 3/2/06 at 1:25pm
I don't think I've had such inexplicably high expectations for a show before this. I have been waiting to see TCP brought to life on stage forever. The book is brilliant and the movie is an achievement of which no words can give justice. I thought the show would be a revelation. And while it's not groundbreaking or epic, it is a wonderful, truly excellent musical. I had an excellent time and enjoyed the show very very much. The cast is absolutely brilliant from chorus to principals. Book to stage shows (at least nowadays) usually don't work very well and ones in the recent past have flopped miserably but there is something undeniably raw and origincal about The Color Purple that makes it such a moving experience that stays with you. And that is what works best in the show. That all of the aspects and messages it sends stay with you unlike other book musical shows like Little Women in which you thought "oh that's a nice message" and then ten minutes later forgot what it was. The Color Purple has impact in all the places that you wouldn't expect. It packs emotional punches at the very beginning of the show and at random points througout the entire production. That there are so many one-two emotional punches is shocking and moving and powerful. And that Marsha Norman, the bookwriter and the songwriters Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray all manage to write material that delivers these emotional punches with precision and winning ease makes these moments all the more powerful.
For those of you who don't know, The Color Purple is about a young girl named Celie and basically, her struggles through her life as she searches to find her sister who is also her best friend and companion in life. It's heart-rending and moving and a wonderful story.
It's a hard story to tell too with a lot of details that are significant and much ground to cover but shockingly, Norman deals with this obstacle winningly. Her book is simply excellent (although it does drag a little at the beginning of Act I and Act II). It's flawed no doubt but it is really well done. She had the daunting task of telling this story in a way that would resonate with audiences and she did as good a job as anyone could have done I think. She is masterful at giving gritty, in-depth character development as all of the characters grow and become stronger throughout the show. She did a great job.
Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray have created a phenomenally eclectic score that ranges from pop to R&B to jazz to swing to classic Broadway to blues....the list goes on. Even more shockingly than Norman's book, the threesome's score is really entertaining and well-done. Most scores nowadays strive to be eclectic and at the same time, entertain and tell a story. Most scores also fail at this. But the score for The Color Purple achieves this task perfectly. There are some cheesy lines but the music is, for the most part, entertaining AND eclectic AND it manages to tie into the story brilliantly. And "The Color Purple REPRISE" is the most moving moment I've seen on stage this season so far. "I'm Here", "Hell No", "What About Love", "Push Da Button", and "Mysterious Ways" are all standouts with gorgeously poignant lyrics (or if needed, uproarious ones) and beautiful music to match.
Now onto the cast. Honestly, I can't rave about this cast enough. The ensemble is working so amazingly hard and doing such an incredible job so I'd like to recognize each and every ensemble member and name them. They all are astounding. James Brown III, Jeannette L. Bayardelle (who went on as the Church Soloist and was simply sublime), Eric L. Christian, Latrisa A. Coleman, Bobby Daye, Carol Dennis, Anika Ellis, Doug Eskew, Bahiyah Sayyed Gaines, Zipporah Gatling (who is adorable and very talented), Charles Gray, Stephanie Guiland Brown, James Harkness, Francesca Harper, Kimberly Ann Harris, Chantylla Johnson (again, adorable and very talented), Grasan Kingsberry, Corinne McFarlane, Kenita R. Miller, JC Montgomery, Lou Myers, Angela Robinson, Nathaniel Stampley, Jamal Story , Leon G. Thomas III, Maia Nkenge Wilson, and Virginia Ann Woodruff. You are all incredible. Special note to the three choir women. Virginia Ann Woodruff, Maria Nkegne Wilson, and Kimberly Ann Harris are HYSTERICAL and wonderfully entertaining and perfect in their roles. Now onto the principals.
LaChanze as Celie: This has to be one of the toughest parts for a woman to play ever. In a movie, on stage, anywhere. Celie is so incredibly complicated and layered and multi-faceted and hard to figure out. She is quiet yet bold, meek yet strong, dumb yet wise. LaChanze is just as good if not better than Whoopi Goldberg was in the movie. And that is the highest praise I can give. She is astonishing. Having now seen Patti in Sweeney, Maria in TWIW, and LaChanze in TCP, I can honestly say (after a looooonnggg time of debating) that LaChanze deserves it. She is so incredible in her role and bring a lifetime of hurt and anguish and pain to the role that you can truly feel what she is feeling. She's powerful even without saying a word. Her performance is so heartfelt and moving and touching. She IS Celie. She's simply extraordinary.
Elisabeth Withers Mendes as Shug: Sultry, sexy, funny, and sintilatingly entertaining. She's really good and very entertaining and makes you forget she's acting. She becomes Shug and can display character depth with a simple movement or line deliverance. She's very good and I really hope she at least gets a nod for Best Featured Actress.
Felicia Fields as Sophia: The best link in the chain of amazing performers this show offers. She is hysterical, deeply affecting, moving beyond words, and simply first-rate from start to finish. She brings power and might to the role that could rival Oprah's performance in TCP (and I thought Oprah was incredible *I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E* in the film). Fields is making her Broadway debut here (as is Mendes) and it is shocking how seasoned a performer she seems to be. She's wonderful and I am pulling for her to win Best Featured Actress this year. An accolade she deserves 150%.
Darlesia Cearcy as Nettie: She's wonderful. Really, really bright and joyful and soul-stirring. She isn't on stage much (I know the show is about Celie but we never really see enough Nettie in Act I but she becomes of much more importance throughout the second act) but when she is, she's divine. She really knows where she's taking the character and steers it in all the right directions.
Kingsley Leggs as Mister: Vicious, evil, and perfect in every way. He is awful and wonderfully over-the-top cruel. And by the end *SPOILER ?* He is moving and you really feel and understand his character and why he is the way he is *END SPOILER ?* He's excellent.
Brandon Victor Dixon as Harpo: Another wonderful performance. He could give a bit more insight into the role but he's very good. He works splendidly with Fields.
Krisha Marcano as Squeak: Perfectly annoying, insanely irritating and brilliant in every way. She makes the small part so memorable and irrisistable yet irritating. She's great.
Right behind the cast was the show's second best asset, its designs and technicalities. John Lee Beatty's set design is absolutely breathtaking and dark and perfect for this show. I am hoping another Tony will go to him for his spectacular work here. Paul Tazewell's costumes are colorful when needed, dark when needed, over-the-top when needed and are perfectly designed for every character, scene, song etc. I really hope he'll win the Tony as well. Brian MacDevitt's lighting design is one of the best I've ever seen on the stage. Tony-worthy as well. Jonathan Tunick's orchestrations are excellent and Tony-worthy as well. So, basically, all of the shows technical aspects deserve Tonys. Here's hoping they'll win...
I am also pulling for Donald Byrd to win for his awe-inspiring choreography. The African Homeland number is great and he does a good job of adding the elements of good dancing and keeping the story-line in tact.
Finally, there's Gary Griffin's direction. In all honesty, this is one of the best directorial stage debuts I've seen in some time. It's not perfect but it's excellent beyond words for someone making their Broadway debut. He deserves the Tony but a win is doubtful which is very sad.
Honestly, I enjoyed myself to the point of no return at this show. I hope it wins Best Musical (I'll be seeing Jersey Boys in April...), Best Score, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, as well as Tonys for it's choreography and four main technical aspects and possibly even direction. It will, IMO, win Best Musical as well as probably four or five more awards. I have a good feeling about this show and how it will fare at the Tonys this season. But honestly, it doesn't matter because the show is a hit in every sense of the word and it only recently reached its 100th performance. The Color Purple is truly and really a great new musical that had the audience bawling, laughing, cheering, and by the end, truly moved. To me, that is the ultimate achievment. To move an audience is a daunting task but The Color Purple pulls it off like nothing.
***1/2 out of **** (B+/A-)
For those of you who don't know, The Color Purple is about a young girl named Celie and basically, her struggles through her life as she searches to find her sister who is also her best friend and companion in life. It's heart-rending and moving and a wonderful story.
It's a hard story to tell too with a lot of details that are significant and much ground to cover but shockingly, Norman deals with this obstacle winningly. Her book is simply excellent (although it does drag a little at the beginning of Act I and Act II). It's flawed no doubt but it is really well done. She had the daunting task of telling this story in a way that would resonate with audiences and she did as good a job as anyone could have done I think. She is masterful at giving gritty, in-depth character development as all of the characters grow and become stronger throughout the show. She did a great job.
Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray have created a phenomenally eclectic score that ranges from pop to R&B to jazz to swing to classic Broadway to blues....the list goes on. Even more shockingly than Norman's book, the threesome's score is really entertaining and well-done. Most scores nowadays strive to be eclectic and at the same time, entertain and tell a story. Most scores also fail at this. But the score for The Color Purple achieves this task perfectly. There are some cheesy lines but the music is, for the most part, entertaining AND eclectic AND it manages to tie into the story brilliantly. And "The Color Purple REPRISE" is the most moving moment I've seen on stage this season so far. "I'm Here", "Hell No", "What About Love", "Push Da Button", and "Mysterious Ways" are all standouts with gorgeously poignant lyrics (or if needed, uproarious ones) and beautiful music to match.
Now onto the cast. Honestly, I can't rave about this cast enough. The ensemble is working so amazingly hard and doing such an incredible job so I'd like to recognize each and every ensemble member and name them. They all are astounding. James Brown III, Jeannette L. Bayardelle (who went on as the Church Soloist and was simply sublime), Eric L. Christian, Latrisa A. Coleman, Bobby Daye, Carol Dennis, Anika Ellis, Doug Eskew, Bahiyah Sayyed Gaines, Zipporah Gatling (who is adorable and very talented), Charles Gray, Stephanie Guiland Brown, James Harkness, Francesca Harper, Kimberly Ann Harris, Chantylla Johnson (again, adorable and very talented), Grasan Kingsberry, Corinne McFarlane, Kenita R. Miller, JC Montgomery, Lou Myers, Angela Robinson, Nathaniel Stampley, Jamal Story , Leon G. Thomas III, Maia Nkenge Wilson, and Virginia Ann Woodruff. You are all incredible. Special note to the three choir women. Virginia Ann Woodruff, Maria Nkegne Wilson, and Kimberly Ann Harris are HYSTERICAL and wonderfully entertaining and perfect in their roles. Now onto the principals.
LaChanze as Celie: This has to be one of the toughest parts for a woman to play ever. In a movie, on stage, anywhere. Celie is so incredibly complicated and layered and multi-faceted and hard to figure out. She is quiet yet bold, meek yet strong, dumb yet wise. LaChanze is just as good if not better than Whoopi Goldberg was in the movie. And that is the highest praise I can give. She is astonishing. Having now seen Patti in Sweeney, Maria in TWIW, and LaChanze in TCP, I can honestly say (after a looooonnggg time of debating) that LaChanze deserves it. She is so incredible in her role and bring a lifetime of hurt and anguish and pain to the role that you can truly feel what she is feeling. She's powerful even without saying a word. Her performance is so heartfelt and moving and touching. She IS Celie. She's simply extraordinary.
Elisabeth Withers Mendes as Shug: Sultry, sexy, funny, and sintilatingly entertaining. She's really good and very entertaining and makes you forget she's acting. She becomes Shug and can display character depth with a simple movement or line deliverance. She's very good and I really hope she at least gets a nod for Best Featured Actress.
Felicia Fields as Sophia: The best link in the chain of amazing performers this show offers. She is hysterical, deeply affecting, moving beyond words, and simply first-rate from start to finish. She brings power and might to the role that could rival Oprah's performance in TCP (and I thought Oprah was incredible *I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E* in the film). Fields is making her Broadway debut here (as is Mendes) and it is shocking how seasoned a performer she seems to be. She's wonderful and I am pulling for her to win Best Featured Actress this year. An accolade she deserves 150%.
Darlesia Cearcy as Nettie: She's wonderful. Really, really bright and joyful and soul-stirring. She isn't on stage much (I know the show is about Celie but we never really see enough Nettie in Act I but she becomes of much more importance throughout the second act) but when she is, she's divine. She really knows where she's taking the character and steers it in all the right directions.
Kingsley Leggs as Mister: Vicious, evil, and perfect in every way. He is awful and wonderfully over-the-top cruel. And by the end *SPOILER ?* He is moving and you really feel and understand his character and why he is the way he is *END SPOILER ?* He's excellent.
Brandon Victor Dixon as Harpo: Another wonderful performance. He could give a bit more insight into the role but he's very good. He works splendidly with Fields.
Krisha Marcano as Squeak: Perfectly annoying, insanely irritating and brilliant in every way. She makes the small part so memorable and irrisistable yet irritating. She's great.
Right behind the cast was the show's second best asset, its designs and technicalities. John Lee Beatty's set design is absolutely breathtaking and dark and perfect for this show. I am hoping another Tony will go to him for his spectacular work here. Paul Tazewell's costumes are colorful when needed, dark when needed, over-the-top when needed and are perfectly designed for every character, scene, song etc. I really hope he'll win the Tony as well. Brian MacDevitt's lighting design is one of the best I've ever seen on the stage. Tony-worthy as well. Jonathan Tunick's orchestrations are excellent and Tony-worthy as well. So, basically, all of the shows technical aspects deserve Tonys. Here's hoping they'll win...
I am also pulling for Donald Byrd to win for his awe-inspiring choreography. The African Homeland number is great and he does a good job of adding the elements of good dancing and keeping the story-line in tact.
Finally, there's Gary Griffin's direction. In all honesty, this is one of the best directorial stage debuts I've seen in some time. It's not perfect but it's excellent beyond words for someone making their Broadway debut. He deserves the Tony but a win is doubtful which is very sad.
Honestly, I enjoyed myself to the point of no return at this show. I hope it wins Best Musical (I'll be seeing Jersey Boys in April...), Best Score, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, as well as Tonys for it's choreography and four main technical aspects and possibly even direction. It will, IMO, win Best Musical as well as probably four or five more awards. I have a good feeling about this show and how it will fare at the Tonys this season. But honestly, it doesn't matter because the show is a hit in every sense of the word and it only recently reached its 100th performance. The Color Purple is truly and really a great new musical that had the audience bawling, laughing, cheering, and by the end, truly moved. To me, that is the ultimate achievment. To move an audience is a daunting task but The Color Purple pulls it off like nothing.
***1/2 out of **** (B+/A-)
