Casting announced for Menier’s Color Purple, tickets on sale now
Running from 15 July to 14 September (previews from 5 July), the
production is directed and designed by Tony Award-winner John
Doyle, who previously directed Road Show at the Menier.
The cast will include Cynthia Erivo (Sister Act, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) as Celie, Nicola Hughes
(Porgy & Bess – Olivier nomination for Best Actress in a
Musical) as Shug, Adebayo Bolaji (Ghost the Musical) as Harpo and Abiona Omonua
(Legally Blonde) as Nettie.
The 1930s-set family chronicle, adapted from Alice Walker’s Pulitzer
Prize-winning novel, centres on black teenager Celie as she
journeys from childhood through joy and despair, anguish and hope to
discover the power of love and life in racially divided southern
America.
With a score of jazz, ragtime, gospel and blues, The Color Purple
is adapted for the stage by Pulitzer Prize and Tony award winner Marsha
Norman, with music and lyrics by Grammy award winners Brenda Russell,
Allee Willis and Stephen Bray.
The Color Purple musical premiered in 2004, receiving its Broadway premiere in 2005
and going on to be nominated for ten Tony Awards. It ran until 2008 and
has since been revived for several national US tours.
