'Purple Rain' Musical To Premiere In Minneapolis Before Heading To Broadway
“Purple Rain” is stepping out of the movie frame and onto the stage.
The beloved Prince classic is getting the Broadway treatment, kicking off in Minneapolis, the city that raised both the icon and the myth.
With the script written and directed by Pulitzer Prize finalist Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins, the new musical promises to honor the soul of the original while giving it a modern heartbeat made for the theater.
"Prince is still here. He's here through the music. That's what he always cared about. He was our Mozart. We're so lucky to have him," said Jacobs-Jenkins told CBS News.
Jacobs-Jenkins was very intentional, making sure the project was shown to fans living in his birthplace before anyone else.
“It just felt right,” he began.
“It was one of the first thoughts we had when we signed onto the show was, 'You have to premiere this in Minneapolis.'"
The Minneapolis State Theatre will host the performance from Oct. 16 to Nov. 23, which will be choreographed by Ebony Williams.
Tony Award winner Jason Michael Webb will serve as the music supervisor.
Webb shared he was “so moved” when he walked past the mural for the first time.
“You can see the love that was poured into that. It reminded me of the love we're mandated to pour into it," said Webb.
“Being here in Minneapolis is being here in a part of his truth," Williams said.
2024 marked the 40th anniversary of the “Purple Rain” film and its accompanying album.
Morris Day spoke to BET.com about the inception of the group.
“We were hanging out and one day I knew he had been writing music because he had these notebooks on him,” Day said.
“He had been writing this film treatment and one day he shows up and he is like we’re going to do a movie. I was like cool. A few weeks later, people started showing up, directors and producers and management started showing up.”
To purchase tickets and learn more information, visit the Hennepin Arts website.
