 The Color Purple
A Musical in 2 Acts. Based on the novel by Alice Walker
and the motion picture.
Book by Marsha Norman. Music by Brenda Russell, Allee
Willis and Stephen Bray. Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick.
Premiered at the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia.
Opened at the Broadway Theatre, New York - 1 December,
2005.
"Celle is the kind of hero we all have a chance to be whatever happens
to us in this life. She bears her own suffering
with grace, and reaches out to others to provide fo their
needs and spare them harm. Our love for Celle grows as
she makes her way through a perilous journey, as she prays without
ceasing for some assurance that God sees her."
— Marsha Norman
SYNOPSIS
ACT ONE As the story begins, it is Sunday morning in rural Georgia,
1909. "Po
chile' Celie, 14 years old and pregnant for the second time, is playing
a clapping game with her beloved sister, Nettie.
When she comes to church with her sister and their Pa, Celie goes
into labour before the service ends. Later, Pa
takes Celie's baby from her arms
saying he is going to get rid of it, "same as the last one," and
that she better not tell anybody except God what happened.
Celie asks God for a sign, something that will let her know what ís
happening to her.
A few years later, when a local farmer, Mister, needs
a wife to take care of his children, Pa says Nettie is too young,
but offers him Celie instead, and throws a cow into the bargain.
Although the girls vow never to be parted, Celia goes with Mister
to save Nettie's dreams of becoming a teacher. As the local Church
Ladies cluck their disapproval. Mister's field-hands
introduce Celia to her life of hard work at Mister's.
Nettie
arrives one day, fleeing from Pa's lecherous attentions, and asks
if she can stay. Mister agrees, but then attacks Nettie on her way
to school. When she fights back, he throws her off his property,
swearing that the girls will never see each other again. Nettie has
promised to write, so Celia tries to check the mailbox, but years
go by, and Mister won't even let her open it.
Mister's son, Harpo, grows up and brings home Sofia,
a strong-willed woman whom he loves and marries. But eventually,
Harpo can't take being bossed around by Sofia. Mister tells him he
has to beat Sofia if he wants her to mind. Even Celia agrees this
is the only way to make a woman "jump when he says to." But
Sofia gives as good as she gets. Not long after
that, Sofia's sisters arrive to take her away. Sofia tries
to convince Celia to come with her, but she can't. Left alone, Harpo
turns their house into a jukejoint, and hires a new waitress, Squeak,
to work there. Squeak soon moves in with Harpo.
The whole town prepares for the arrival of Shug Avery,
a sexy singer who is Mister's longtime lover. But when
Shug arrives, she is in such bad shape that in spite of local disapproval,
Mister brings her home where Celie nurses her back to health. As
Celie takes care of Shug, she begins to experience feelings of affection
and tenderness for the first time, as Shug befriends her.
When Shug sings at Harpo's Juke Joint Sofia returns
with her new boyfriend and gets into a fight with Squeak.
In Mister's house, Shug and Celle explore their newfound love for
each other. Shug gives Celia a letter she has
found from "someone
in Africa, goin' by the stamps." Celie recognises Nettie's
handwriting and knows instantly that her beloved sister is alive.
ACT TWO
Celia finds the rest of the letters Mister had hidden
over the years, and learns that Nettie went to Africa with the missionary
family who adopted Celie's babies, and that they are all now in Africa
in a refugee camp. In Georgia, Sofia has been beaten
and thrown in jail for punching the mayor. (His wife had invited
her to be their maid, and wouldn't take no for an answer.) Celia
goes to the jail to comfort her, and learns that Sofia will have
to serve out her sentence in the custody of the Mayor's wife, as
her maid.
Twelve years later, Sofia and Shug both return home
for Easter. Shug discovers the extent of Celie's anger toward God
and invites her to come live with her and her new husband in Memphis.
After Easter dinner Celia tells Mister she
is leaving. He protests and she finally confronts him about the way
he treated her. Squeak is off to Memphis too,
saying she wants to sing. Harpo defends her choice to his father,
then after they leave, he invites Sofia to come back and live at
the Juke Joint.
Mister soon feels the effect of Celie's curse. He's
drunk all the time and is shunned by everyone. Harpo challenges him
to make things right with Celie, and Mister tries to understand what
that would mean. At Shug's house in Memphis, Celie
discovers she has a gift for making pants. When she inherits the
house she grew up in, she goes home and starts a business selling
her unique designs. Mister tries to help Sofia's
sickly youngest child Henrietta, and even Celie has to admit that
Mister is trying to change.
Harpo and Sofia are spending a pleasant night at home
when Mister comes to tell them that he has found Nettie, but she
is having some trouble getting home from Africa. Shug tells Celia
she has fallen in love with a young flute player, and asks Celle
to let her have a fling with this boy.
Walking home, Celia realises she isn't destroyed by this, and feels
a deep love for herself, for the first time.
1949. As the whole community is gathered for a Fourth
of July picnic at Celie's house, Celie hears a car door slam, then
a familiar song from her childhood. Nettie runs up to the house,
with Celie's grown children behind her. Mister and Shug have made
this reunion possible, and Celle thanks them, and God, for the safe
return of her family.
ORIGINAL CAST
(in order of stage appearance)
Young Nettie, Mister Daughter - Chantylla Johnson
Young Celie, Mister Daughter, Young Olivia, Henrietta - Zipporah G.
Gatling
Church Soloist - Carol Dennis
Church Lady/Doris - Kimberly Ann Harris
Church Lady/Darlene - Virginia Ann Woodruff
Church Lady/Jarene, Daisy - Maia Nkenge Wilson
Preacher, Prison Guard - Doug Eskew
Pa – J.C. Montgomery
Nettie - Renée Elise Goldsberry
Celie - LaChanze
Mister - Kingsley Leggs
Young Harpo, Young Adam - Leon G. Thomas III
Harpo - Brandon Victor Dixon
Sofia - Felicia P. Fields
Squeak - Krisha Marcano
Shug Avery - Elisabeth Withers-Mendes
Ol' Mister - Lou Myers
Buster, Chief - Nathaniel Stampley
Grady - JC Montgomery
Bobby - James Brown III
Older Olivia - Bahiyah Sayyed Gaines
Older Adam - Grasan Kingsberry
ENSEMBLE:
James Brown III, laTrisa A. Coleman, Carol Dennis, Anika Ellis, Doug
Eskew, Bahiyah Sayyed Gaines, Zipporah G. Gatling, Charles Gray,
James Harkness, Francesca Harper, Kimberly Ann Harris, Chantylla
Johnson, Grasan Kingsberry, Jc Montgomery, Lou Myers, Angela Robinson,
Nathaniel Stampley, Jamal Story, Leon G. Thomas III, Maia Nkenge
Wilson, Virginia Ann Woodruff
SWINGS:
Jeannette L. Bayardelle, Eric L. Christian, Bobby Daye, Stephanie Guiland-Brown,
Corinne Mcfarlane
TIME: 1909-1949 / PLACE: Georgia, USA
MUSICAL NUMBERS
- Overture - Orchestra
- Huckleberry Pie - Young Nettie & Young Celie
- Mysterious Ways - Church Soloist, Church Ladies & Ensemble
with Pa, Preacher, Nettie & Celie
- Somebody Gonna Love You - Celie
- Our Prayer - Nettie, Celie, Mister, Doris, Darlene & Jarene
with Pa
- That Fine Mister - Doris, Darlene, Jarene
- Big Dog - Mister, Celie & Male Ensemble with Young Harpo,
Young Nettie & Church Lady
- Lily of the Field - Celie with Nettie & Mister
- Dear God — Sofia - Celie
- A Tree Named Sofia - Doris, Darlene & Jarene
- Hell No! - Sofia & Female Ensemble with Celie
- Brown Betty - Harpo, Squeak & Male Ensemble with Celie
- Shug Avery Comin' to Town - Mister, Celie & Ensemble
- All We've Got to Say - Doris, Darlene, Jarene
- Dear God — Shug - Celie, Shug Avery
- Too Beautiful for Words - Shug Avery
- Push Da Button - Shug Avery & Ensemble with Harpo
- Uh Oh! - Sofia, Squeak & Female Ensemble with Celie & Buster
- What About Love? - Celie & Shug Avery
- Act I Finale - Orchestra with Shug Avery, Celie & Nettie
- African Homeland - Nettie, Celie & Ensemble
- The Color Purple - Shug Avery with Celie
- Church Ladies' Easter - Church Ladies
- I Curse You Mister - Celie with Mister
- Celie's Curse - Mister
- Miss Celie's Pants - Celie, Shug Avery, Sofia & Female
Ensemble
- Any Little Thing - Harpo & Sofia
- What About Love? (reprise) - Celie & Shug Avery
- I'm Here - Celie
- The Color Purple (reprise) - Celie, Nettie & Company
ORCHESTRATION
Trumpets I, II, III; Trombones I, II; Woodwind I, II, III; Keyboards
I, II; Drums; Percussion; Bass; Guitar; Violins I, II, III, IV; Violas
I, II; Cello I , II
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