The Color Purple

Steven Spielberg had a hit on his hands with his 1985 film version of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple. Now Oprah Winfrey (who played Sofia in Spielberg’s film) has turned the complex tale about a brutally oppressed black woman trying to survive in the early twentieth century into a splashy Broadway musical. Domestic violence, racism, infanticide, rape, mind-numbing anger — all these troubles are part of Walker’s rich tale that spans four decades. The Color Purple gives us such wonderful characters as Celie, Shug and Sofia, who all come to musical life in a book by Marsha Norman (of Pulitzer Prize-winning ‘night, Motherfame) and songs that have been called “tasty melodies adorned with spicy regional accents” by The New York Times. Despite its somber themes, The Color Purple manages to capture a relentless sense of hope. See Celie make her life her own at 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays. Through September 28. Hobby Center, Sarofim Hall, 800 Bagby. For information, call 713-558-8887 or visit www.tuts.com. $32 to $80.50.
Sept. 16-28, 2008