The Color Purple at the Kennedy Center

[zvi_likes_tv]

I saw The Color Purple musical last night and it was amazing. Fantasia as Celie was excellent, not only did she handle a demanding vocal part with ease and beauty, but she was an excellent actress as well. I want to grow up to be Sophia, as played by Felicia P. Fields. She was strong and domineering, but she was also fat and sexy and funny, and I loved her. And Angela Robinson as Shug Avery impressed me as well. I mean, she has to successfully convince an entire theater of people that she is just that damn fascinating, and it works.

(LaToya London from the same season of American Idol as Fantasia stars as Nettie, but she doesn't make nearly the same impression as most of the other characters. This is partly a function of stage time [it's a smaller part than others], but, also, I think, because her character is almost entirely a foil for Celie. She pretty much just functions to love Celie, or, failing that, to love Celie's children.)

It's also a pretty amazing work of adaptation. The novel covers forty years, and has several characters go through profound changes that the other characters have to buy into. The first half of the first act is a little frenetic, but once Sofia enters the picture, the pacing gets a little better, and it's just a fantastic, fantastic performance. If you can catch it when it comes to your part of the country, you should.

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