The Color Purple Tickets

The Color Purple stage play is based on the best-selling 1982 novel by Alice Walker. Walker was the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize, as well as the first black woman to win the National Book award.

The Color Purple has sold over five million copies, and the film adaptation, produced by Quincy Jones and directed by Steven Spielberg, was also a major success, grossing nearly a $100 million, and earning eleven Academy Award nominations. Ironically, the play also earned eleven Tony nominations. Alice Walker was at first unsure about Spielberg directing, but was won over after seeing E.T., feeling Spielberg could bring the right sensitivity to the story.

The Moving Experience of the Color Purple

The Color Purple musical is presented by Oprah Winfrey, who along with Whoopi Goldberg, had a major breakthrough role in the film (it was the first big screen roles for both, and both were nominated for Academy Awards). The idea for a stage play of The Color Purple began with producer Scott Sanders, who previously worked at Radio City Music Hall as Executive Producer, reportedly saving the venue from going out of business.

The Color Purple wasn’t an easy book to adapt even for a filmmaker as skilled as Steven Spielberg, and it took many years for the musical to come together. Alice Walker finally gave Sanders her blessing, and when The Color Purple premiered in Atlanta, Sanders knew the difficulties of mounting the play, but once he clearly pulled it off he called it “more white knuckle than I’d like, and the most fun I’d ever had.” Once the play went on tour, first stop was Winfrey’s home town of Chicago, which surely had to be a wonderful homecoming.

The Color Purple's Scott Sanders is also a Tony winner for producing Elaine Stritch: At Liberty. Music and lyrics for The Color Purple were written by Brenda Russell, a renowned R&B singer who has also written songs for Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, and Earth, Wind and Fire to name just a few. Music was also written by Aliee Willis, who wrote the theme song for Friends, “I’ll Be There For You,” and Stephen Bray, who worked extensively with Madonna. One of the many Tonys The Color Purple was nominated for included a nod for Best Original Score.

Gary Griffin made his Broadway directing debut with The Color Purple, when the play hit Broadway in 2005. Griffin has also directed revivals of A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, A Little Night Music, West Side Story, and My Fair Lady. The play book for The Color Purple was written by Marsha Norman, also a Pulitzer Prize winner for her play ‘night, Mother (she also wrote the play The Secret Garden).