As the calendar rolls into the festive season of 2023, movie enthusiasts and fans of the original book anticipate the arrival of a cinematic gem – the new movie adaptation of the beloved musical The Color Purple.
The highly anticipated release promises to captivate audiences with its powerful storytelling, exceptional cast, and a vibrant celebration of the human spirit.
The Color Purple started as an incredibly important book, and back in the ’80s, it was turned into an equally-as-meaningful movie. Years later, it found its way to Broadway as a musical (winning a Tony during its revival). Now, the musical version of the story is a movie once again.
Some will be unhappy to see that a large portion of the lesbian love story — which made this tale of particular interest to the LGBTQ community — has been removed from this version, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth seeing. For more of that, check out the other version of The Color Purple.
Before you head to theaters to see the film, let’s delve into everything you need to know.
What Is The Color Purple About?
The Color Purple is a poignant and emotionally charged tale that focuses on the life of Celie, an African American woman in the early twentieth century who has to endure incredible suffering, but who also finds love and happiness in unexpected places and ways.
Adapted from Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the story unfolds against a backdrop of racial and gender inequality, chronicling Celie’s journey from oppression to empowerment. With themes of sisterhood, love, and the enduring strength of the human spirit, The Color Purple is a timeless narrative that continues to resonate with audiences worldwide — and even find new people to reach as it continues to be adapted in new ways.
Leading the ensemble is the incomparable Fantasia Barrino, one of the former winners of American Idol. The Grammy-winning singer takes on the main role of Celie, and she does so beautifully. Alongside Barrino, the film also stars Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R., and even the Little Mermaid herself, Halle Bailey.
When Is The Color Purple’s Release Date?
The musical film The Color Purple will officially be released to theaters nationwide on Christmas Day — December 25, 2023.
Where Is The Color Purple Streaming?
Since The Color Purple hasn’t even been released to theaters just yet, it doesn’t have a home on any streaming platform. Warner Bros. is the distributor, so chances are good it will land on HBO and Max.
Steven Spielberg’s 1985 movie is currently streaming on Max, and is available for purchase or rental through Vudu, iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon.
Who Worked On The Color Purple?
The Color Purple was directed by the brilliant Blitz Bazawule, a Ghanaian talent who is very much on the rise in Hollywood. He is perhaps best known for directing Beyoncé’s Black Is King, for which he earned a Grammy nomination.
The movie was produced by some of the top heavyweights in the entertainment industry, including Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders, and Quincy Jones — many of whom were involved in the original film as well. The movie’s screenplay was penned by Marcus Gardley.
The Who's rock opera Tommy is back on Broadway, and the result is a high-speed, full-throttle revival that leaves audiences so riveted they need hours to unwind.
Unquestionably, there's been a ton of mileage used for this franchise. After the critically acclaimed album's release in 1969, it went on to become a ballet, an opera, a symphonic version, a motion picture (featuring Elton John and Tina Turner), and several iterations of stage shows, first in 1993 (Broadway and national tour), later in 2013 at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, and now, back on Broadway after a lauded run at Chicago's Goodman Theatre last year. Why all the hype?
Two men meet at an automat in Greenwich Village. Seated alone at separate tables, spaced not too far apart, one is eating a sandwich, although, apparently, both men have more than a quick nosh in mind. This little luncheonette, we learn, is a known cruising spot for gay men.
The men who seek men know it, and so do the cops who frequently raid the place, according to the older of the two gentlemen, Chauncey, dynamically portrayed by Michael Russotto in 1st Stage's moving production of The Nance, directed by Nick Olcott.
With careful discretion, Chauncey arranges an assignation for later with the younger man, Ned, a whippersnapper fresh from Buffalo played with aw-shucks joie de vivre by Patrick Joy.
"Depending on the cities that we're in, people have more or less familiarity with the piece, and with the song specifically," says Matt Rodin of the Stephen Sondheim classic "Getting Married Today."
The showstopper is a highlight of the composer's Tony Award-winning musical Company, and Rodin, who performs it in the production now at the Kennedy Center, refers to it as a "rollercoaster."
Company debuted on Broadway in 1970 with music and lyrics by Sondheim and a book by George Firth. Director Marianne Elliott conceived of this production before the pandemic as a way to mark the musical's 50th anniversary.
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