Leicester’s Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome are joining forces to co-produce the Broadway musical The Color Purple, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker.
The production, the first in the UK to be created outside London, will be directed by Tinuke Craig, winner of the 2014 Genesis Future Directors Award.
Curve’s chief executive Chris Stafford and artistic director Nikolai Foster said, “The Color Purple celebrates remarkable women telling incredible stories from author Alice Walker, her courageous creation in heroine Celie to Oprah Winfrey who had the vision to make the story into a Broadway musical. We’re thrilled to introduce our equally astonishing director Tinuke Craig and welcome her to Curve.
“As we embark on our second decade as a theatre in Leicester and our friends at Birmingham Hippodrome celebrate their 120th year, our co-production of this beautiful, moving musical feels like a fitting way for us to mark these celebratory years.”
Fiona Allan, artistic director and chief executive of the Hippodrome, added, “this is the first time that Birmingham Hippodrome has actively co-produced a main stage musical and we couldn’t have better partners than Chris Stafford and Nikolai Foster at Curve and director Tinuke Craig.
“The Color Purple is an epic and timeless story that will appeal to audiences young and old. It’s long overdue for a UK tour and I’m proud that the Hippodrome will play a part in bringing it to life in Birmingham.”
The Color Purple will run at Curve from 28 June until 13 July 2019 and at the Hippodrome from 16 until 20 July.