Me’Sha Bryan will lead the cast of Leicester’s Curve Theatre and Birmingham Hippodrome’s hit production of The Color Purple as it hits the road for the first time across England and Wales this autumn.
Bryan (Romantics Anonymous, Bristol Old Vic, Caroline, or Change, The Playhouse Theatre) will play Celie alongside Bree Smith (The Wiz, Hope Mill Theatre) as Shug Avery, Aaliyah Zhané (The Comedy of Errors, Mercury Theatre) as Celie’s sister Nettie, Ahmed Hamad (The Addams Family, UK Tour, The Boy in the Dress, RSC) as Harpo and Jimand Allotey, who will make her professional stage debut as Squeak.
A number of cast members from Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome’s original award-winning production will return for the tour including Ako Mitchell as Mister, Anelisa Lamola as Sofia, KM Drew Boateng as Pa, Rosemary Annabella Nkrumah as Darlene and Karen Mavundukure as Doris and Alternate Celie.
The cast will also include Kyle Birch, Kayla Carter, Joshua Clemetson, Esme Laudat, DeeArna McLean, Monifa James, Nathaniel Morrison, Alex Okoampa and Neil Patterson.
Tinuke Craig once again directs the production with Lakesha Arie-Angelo as revival director and fellow returning creatives, musical supervisor Alex Parker, orchestrator Martin Higgins, choreographer Mark Smith, designer Alex Lowde, video designer Joshua Pharo, sound designer Tom Marshall and casting director Kay Magson. Joining the team are musical director Ian Oakley, associate designer Ricardo Pardo and associate choreogrpahers Gail Parmel and Iona Waite.
Originally staged in 2019, the award-winning production which was also re-worked as a concert presentation and successful online event during lockdown, will take to the road from 13 September with an opening run at the Birmingham Hippodrome (until 17 September).
Touring with support from Arts Council England’s National Lottery Funding, the critically acclaimed co-production will follow its Birmingham run by visiting Theatre Royal Plymouth (27 September to 1 October), Royal & Derngate Northampton (4 to 8 October), The Lowry in Salford (11 to 15 October), Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff (18 to 22 October), Mayflower Theatre Southampton (25 to 29 October), finishing its run at Norwich Theatre Royal (1 to 5 November).
Announcing the touring cast Curve’s chief executive Chris Stafford and artistic director Nikolai Foster said: “We are delighted to announce our exceptional The Color Purple company, assembled by the brilliant Tinuke Craig. The Color Purple is very close to our hearts, and we cannot wait to welcome back familiar faces and new colleagues to take this award-winning Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome production on tour. We know this extraordinary team will create something truly special for audiences across England and Wales this autumn.
“Our thanks once again to our friends at Theatrical Rights Worldwide and Arts Council England, whose support has made the tour of this production possible.”
Chris Sudworth, director of artistic programme at Birmingham Hippodrome, added: “We are delighted that our very special co-production of The Color Purple will open the musical’s first ever UK tour on the Hippodrome’s main stage, after such a fantastic response from our audiences in 2019. We are committed to making high quality work in the Midlands and delighted the show will be seen so widely thanks to the support of our partner venues and Arts Council England. We can’t wait to welcome this wonderful company to the Hippodrome for rehearsals next week.”
Based on Alice Walker’s 1983 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the musical was adapted for the stage by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Marsha Norman and Grammy Award winners Allee Willis, Brenda Russell and Stephen Bray. The original Broadway production ran from 2005 to 2008 and was nominated for 11 Tony Awards winning one for LaChanze who played the central role of Celie.
The show’s London debut came with the critically acclaimed 2013 Menier Chocolate Factory production which starred Cynthia Erivo as Celie. Erivo reprised the role when the production transferred to Broadway and collected the 2016 Tony award for Best Actress in a Musical. The production which also featured Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson making her stage debut as Shug won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.
Angela Thomas
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