At the heart of The Color Purple, the musical based on novel by Alice Walker, is a story about learning how to love yourself. The touring show, which will be in Jacksonville through Nov. 22 as part of The Artist Series at the Times Union Center, is simply fantastic.
The Color Purple opened on Broadway in December 2005. Produced by Scott Sanders, Quincy Jones and Oprah Winfrey, the show was nominated for numerous Tony awards that year and began touring in 2007.
The story centers around Celie, who at the opening of the play is 14 years old and pregnant. The only person who shows any love to Celie is her sister, Nettie. Celie is forced into marrying Mister, who treats her like dirt and works her to the bone.
Mister does not allow Celie to correspond with her sister and Celie spends the years doing right by everyone, including Mister, his children and the folks in town, until Shug Avery comes back to town.
Shug, Mister’s lover, warms to Celie and they strike up a unique friendship that allows Celie, for the first time, to feel love. Through the years, and even more trials in her life, Celie finds a love for herself that helps her uncover her inner warrior, just as her sister Nettie has, as a missionary in Africa.
I’m sorry to admit that I had no background with the story of The Color Purple before seeing this musical. I’d never read Walker’s book, nor seen Spielberg’s movie adaptation and was slightly apprehensive that I would get lost in a story I was not familiar with. Thankfully, that was not even remotely the case.
The show, from start to finish, was fantastic. It opens big, as most musicals do, and moved with speed and precision through four decades of life in rural Georgia and countless relationships between characters.
As Celie, Phyre Hawkins is astounding. As she transforms from a meek 14-year-old girl to a bold and confident woman, Hawkins commands attention on the stage and effortlessly moves through complex and intense emotions and. Her voice is piercing and so incredible, I found myself tearing up at certain points. As Nettie, former American Idol contestant La Toya London, was also amazing to watch. I’ve been a fan of London since her American Idol days, but to see how well she captured the spirit of Nettie takes my appreciation of her as an entertainer to another level.
Angela Robinson, who plays Shug Avery, is a Jacksonville native and graduate of Raines High School, and she certainly makes Jacksonville proud. Her incredible stage presence (and phenomenal voice) blew me away.
There are so many facets to The Color Purple that make it wonderful — the lighting and set design are flawless, the choreography authentic and beautiful and the collection of strong, rich voices that create the musical backbone is inspiring.
The Artist Series, which has been bringing entertainment to Jacksonville for more than 40 years, is a fantastic way to see Broadway entertainment right in our backyard. The Color Purple is something worth running to see, as are most of the shows that come through via this series. I loved the show and can’t wait for the opportunity to see it again (or, at the very least, listen to the sound track over and over.)
November 20th 2009 - 11:08AM