The Color Purple is making a return to Broadway, this time with Jennifer Hudson in one of the major roles. The American Idol alum and Oscar winner will make her Broadway debut in the Oprah Winfrey production.
.JPG)
Hudson will star as Shug Avery, the same role played by Margaret Avery in Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film, which also starred Winfrey. According to Broadway.com, no further casting has been set, but Winfrey, Scott Sanders and the show’s other producers are hoping to get Cynthia Erivo to play Celie.
The Color Purple was recently staged in London, directed by John Doyle. This stip-downed version was met with acclaim and featured Erivo. It appears that the producers intend to bring that production to the U.S., since Doyle is going to direct the new Broadway production as well.
This is the second time an American Idol star is appearing in The Color Purple on the Great White Way. As E! News points out, when the show first opened on Broadway in 2005, Fantasia Barrino played Celie. In addition, a 2007 national tour starred another Idol competitor, LaToya London, and Destiny’s child singer Michelle Williams.
The musical is based on Alice Walker’s 1982 novel. It features lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray and music by Russell and Willis. The book is by Marsha Norman.
Hudson won her Oscar for Dreamgirls and was recently in Sex and the City and Winnie Mandela. She also won a Grammy for her 2008 self-titled album.
image courtesy of INFphoto.com
There has been a critical error on your website.<\/p>
Learn more about debugging in WordPress.<\/a><\/p>","data":{"status":500},"additional_errors":[]}