Leicester’s Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome have announced the cast for their co-production of the musical The Color Purple which is to tour England and Wales for the first time.
Leading the company as “downtrodden but full-hearted heroine” Celie is Me’sha Bryan. Her previous roles include Emma Rice’s Romantics Anonymous at Bristol Old Vic in 2020 and she played the Washing Machine in Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tersori’s Caroline, or Change at the Playhouse Theatre in 2019.
The role of singer Shug Avery will be played by Bree Smith. Aaliyah Zhané will be Celie’s sister Nettie, Harpo will be played by Ahmed Hamad and Squeak will be portrayed by Jimand Allotey who will make her professional stage debut.
Several cast members from Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome’s 2021 production will return including Ako Mitchell as Mister, Anelisa Lamola as Sofia, K M Drew Boateng as Pa, Rosemary Annabella Nkrumah as Darlene and Karen Mavundukure as Doris and alternate Celie.
The cast also includes Kyle Birch, Kayla Carter, Joshua Clemetson, Esme Laudat, DeeArna McLean, Monifa James, Nathaniel Morrison, Alex Okoampa and Neil Patterson.
The Color Purple will again be directed by Tinuke Craig, with Lakesha Arie-Angelo as revival director. Resuming their roles on the production team are musical supervisor Alex Parker, orchestrator Martin Higgins, choreographer Mark Smith, designer Alex Lowde, video designer Joshua Pharo, sound designer Tom Marshall and casting director Kay Magson CDG. Musical director Ian Oakley, associate designer Ricardo Pardo and associate choreographers Gail Parmel and Iona Waite join the creative team.
Speaking about the announcement, Curve’s chief executive Chris Stafford and artistic director Nikolai Foster said, “The Color Purple is very close to our hearts and we can’t wait to welcome back familiar faces and new colleagues to take this production on tour.
“We know this extraordinary team will create something truly special for audiences across England and Wales this autumn.”
Based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer prize-winning novel and adapted for the stage by Marsha Norman, Allee Willis, Brenda Russell and Stephen Bray, The Color Purple tells the “powerful and life-affirming story” of Celie. Abused and oppressed throughout her youth, she goes on a journey “through joy, despair, anguish and hope, discovering her own unique voice thanks to the incredible women in her life”.
The tour will open at Birmingham Hippodrome from 13 until 17 September. The musical will then visit Theatre Royal Plymouth (27 September until 1 October), Northampton’s Royal and Derngate (4 until 8 October), The Lowry in Salford (11 until 15 October), Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff (18 until 22 October), Mayflower Theatre Southampton (25 until 29 October) and Norwich Theatre Royal (1 until 5 November).
The original show caused controversy when Seyi Omooba was replaced as Celie, often depicted as being in a lesbian relationship, because of a social media post which attacked homosexuality. A Facebook post said Omooba did not believe people could be born gay and that homosexuality was not “right”. She sued Curve and her former agent Global Artists for discrimination, harassment and breach of contract but lost her case at an employment tribunal.