The Color Purple is the Broadway hit that takes to the stage in Leicester & Birmingham in 2019.
We visited this 5* vocal masterclass at Curve tonight and was wowed by a flawless company, their magnificent talent and a very special star.
T’Shan Williams steals the show with a mesmerizing 11 O’Clock number in Act 2 – this is literally worth the ticket price alone. What a divine subtle star with a faultless & breathtaking gift!
Alongside a killer cast, you cannot fail to be impressed by their remarkable delivery of this never ending tricky, complicated and wordy score.
Sadly however, the cast are much better than the show…
Color Purple continues at Curve before heading to Birmingham Hippodrome July 16th.
Get tickets for COLOR PURPLE HERE!
Standing Ovation opening night @ Curve via YouTube:
This show isn’t about feel-good escapism as it is driven by a story of domestic violence, incest, racism, sexism during the darkest time in American history. The multi-Oscar-nominated movie by Steven Spielberg made Oprah Winfrey & Whoopy Goldberg household names.
The Color Purple is a compelling, credible, relevant, immersive & polished story….but I just didn’t feel invested or moved right until the end tonight. In fact at times I was bored and more than a little confused in Act 1. It’s terribly ‘busy’ at times.
The book and even the movie is soooo moving. This musical is not. Tinuke Craig didn’t capture the magic of this story in my opinion for several reasons…
The set is dull and irritating although the projections are nice, the lighting is OK but basic and the few moments of choreography are acceptable – but nothing is breathtaking.
The only thing that was consistent was the stunning vocal talent.
Enjoy this review via YouTube:
I wish this show had been staged as a concert – I think it would have worked much better in front of this fantastic orchestra. It’s basically a sung piece (all be it repetitive to begin)….little else felt necessary.
The show is more or less people just running on and off stage for little or no reason in front of two huge Venetian blinds that wont stop opening and closing. Dizzying at times.
I’m not going to hammer home the point but if you like the book & movie you’ll probably have a great night at The Color Purple Musical, if not it might feel a tough slog.
However, congratulations T’Shan and a stellar cast of 17 magnificently talented pros. There’s no weak link in this company.
Special nods to Danielle Fiamanya as Nettie, Ako Mitchell who got to shine in Act 2, Karen Mavundukure as Sophia as well as Joanna Francis who owned the role of Shug.
Bravo to the orchestra although I found myself struggling to hear dialogue and diction at times due to the ‘subtle’ mix throughout.
I wanted to love this. Sigh.
Review by Alex Belfield for Celebrity Radio 3rd July 2019.
Couldn’t possibly disagree more… A phenomenal production. Inspired staging, that doesn’t distract from the beautiful performances and seemlessly moves from scene to scene.