Cynthia Erivo and Jennifer Hudson star in The Color Purple on Broadway
© Francis Loney
It has been confirmed that Cynthia Erivo and Jennifer Hudson will star in the Menier Chocolate Factory's production of The Color Purple when it transfers to Broadway later this year.
Both actresses will be making their Broadway debuts in the production, which sees Erivo reprising her role of Celie and Hudson playing Shug Avery – played at the Menier by Nicola Hughes.
The revival opens on 9 November 2015 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater, with an official opening date of 3 December.
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.
