Menier Chocolate Factory’s The Color Purple is a radiant, sparkling treat stuffed with jazzy songs that flutters into your heart and doesn’t leave – from the first downbeat to the final image of Celie, the show’s then triumphant lead standing on her own two feet, finally, after the two hour musical scrapbook of Alice Walker’s famous staple in American Literature.
The Color Purple follows Celie, a young woman treated like dirt before she was old enough to drive a car, and her treacherous journey to independence and discovery of self-worth. Battling the all-righteous Mister, her husband by her father’s demand, Celie spends her days doing laundry, cleaning and dirty work under Mister’s beck and call. Mister, however, spends his days cowering in the corner because of his ultimate disappointment that Celie isn’t Nettie, her apparently more “beautiful” sister that he would’ve preferred to take Celie’s place as his wife. It’s only when the light of everything Mister is denying her of slips through the crack that his all-powerful hold on young Celie is broken as her voice fills her life, metaphorically and literally. Celie also takes care of Harpo (Mister’s son), who marries Sofia, a brassy and sassy woman that Celie looks up to because of her definitive and firm grip on her husband – an exact opposite of Celie and Mister. This incredible foil only creates an even more rich and artistically fascinating backdrop for Celie’s story. There’s only a matter of time until Celie realizes that she’s the outsider when Shug Avery, the singer and beautifully enchanting woman, comes to town. Shug is everything Celie is not: beautiful, confident and strong, and has Mister under her thumb. Shug and Celie form an unlikely friendship and is the first person to tell Celie that she is indeed beautiful. Although Shug and Celie’s romantic relationship ends up as a small part of Celie’s journey, Shug does do one thing for Celie, and it’s create a bridge for her and her sister, Nettie. Nettie, chased away by Mister after she denied him as a husband, wrote hundreds of letters that Mister hid in his spite. It’s when Shug leaves Celie for the final time that Celie performs the thunderous “I’m Here”, the show’s anthem that spreads the universal lesson of self-worth that has no stipulations.
Celie is brought to life in a raw and real way by Broadway newcomer Cynthia Erivo, who originated the role in the production’s London production. Cynthia does not try to imitate the words that Alice Walker has written, because she merely “is” them. With each word, breath and movement that Celie makes, it is clear that we as an audience are watching the same journey that the character is going through before our eyes. It doesn’t feel like a terrific portrayal of Celie; it feels like Celie. Her voice reaches the back of the house and blows through the wall. Erivo’s rich and full voice, pared with a thick vibrato, has a clarity that resonates in one’s brain in a way that is rare enough that it brings the audience to tears. As Mister denied Celie of so many of her human rights for so many years, when Celie opens up her own “pants-making” business in the second act, it’s a literary parallel to Mister and Celie’s marriage; how Mister wore the pants in their relationship – so when Celie says “But look… I said look! Are you lookin’? Look! Who’s wearing the pants now?”, the audience roars with joy. Celie’s music is arguably the most brilliant and expressive music written for any African-American woman in the theatre, because it transcends all emotions: Celie gets to sing in pain, when she’s hurt, when she’s happy and full of pride and everything in between.
Jennifer Hudson shines as Shug Avery. Seductive and soothing are a few words to describe Hudson’s Shug. Or perhaps it’s Danielle Brooks’ Sofia, which brings the show to a screeching halt, when we finally see a female character in the show put their male counterpart in its place. But the true star of Color Purple is not any of the three leading ladies.
It is the mere fact that there are three black women as the leads in the show itself. We are led forth with joy by three African-American women. This is far too uncommon, but they’re here and they’re shining bright. The music, stripped down so we can better hear Hudson and Erivo’s soulful sound, goes hand-in-hand with the set that is simpler than can be because the story supports itself with its structure. The women, the set, the music – the show is terrific because of what is written on the page, and the beautiful dessert that is The Color Purple when it comes out of the oven.
The Color Purple on Broadway is Broadway’s brightest show right now, not because of the beautiful stars and the true rarity of its excellence in all facets, but because it’s a story that needs to be told. Open up any newspaper in the world, and you’ll see that the world is in, well, kind of a rough patch. The Color Purple’s story of Celie, who is able to find self-worth and brush the mud off her heart in a world that has only told her she was ugly, is truly something that the world needs right now. Sometimes theatre is a guilty pleasure and sometimes it has definitive purpose. Purple’s purpose is to tell the story of all the young people that had to face adversity in every single aspect of their life inside a soulful and jazzy musical.
The Color Purple performs 8 times a week at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. Tickets range from $75-$145 and are available at Telecharge.com.