![]() Everything has been taken exactly straight from the Harlem Renaissance and through the progression of time. “It's a really cool thing that the production team has done with everything from our costumes to even the actual choreography used in the show. The production team, including scenic designer Rick Dines and senior director Nki Calloway, have tried to incorporate much of that Harlem Renaissance feel into the visual presentation of the show. The SCT production focuses on approximately 1920 into the early 1950s, so about three decades. "The Color Purple" could be told in a variety of different times or eras, Snead says. It's also a timeline of music for a culture, and it captures an era all at the same time. And it's got the gospel and it's got the jazz, ragtime, the influences of blues. So to be able to take a story with this kind of content and be able to put that soulful music behind it, it kind of gives a place for not only the story to be told as a musical, but the soul music to be shared in a musical. Shine, who plays the lead role of Celie, adds, “And when you think about it in terms of when this this story was dated, for the African American community, music was a really big part of our social fabric and our social growth and our communication just in general. It needs to be highlighted and amplified even more.” And although there is a lot of heart in that, I think that shows like ‘The Color Purple’ that highlight, really, the most underrepresented person in media - the Black woman - and has this heart behind it, a story of redemption and freedom and love and strength, needs to have its place. “A lot of what's happening recently in terms of becoming musicals have been the nostalgic, silly, goofy, funny shows, cartoons. Of course, “The Color Purple” is an entirely different kind of story, Snead admits. Snead says, “In the world of musical theater it always fascinates me: What does become a musical? You know, everything from ‘SpongeBob’ to ‘Back to the Future.’ These are all musicals, and I think there's a really good spot for each of these types of shows to have their place in the musical theatre land.” It can be fascinating - and surprising - to see which books, movies, or TV shows have inspired stage musicals. The production’s junior director, Adora Snead, and lead actor, Sadé Shine, who plays Celie, visited “Arts News” to talk about it. It opens tonight - Friday, February 10 - and runs through February 26 at the Fox Theatre in downtown Springfield. ![]() The ground-breaking show is based on the Alice Walker novel and the Warner Brothers motion picture.
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