Last night, my husband and I had the pleasure of attending The Color Purple: The Musical at the Boch Center Shubert Theatre. Clearly, I'm not a theater critic but I found The Color Purple to be profound and uplifting. At times, it was gritty and desperately sad -- Celie's abuse at the hands of her father and husband, the lack of choices for women, especially black women, in the early 20th century, the eventual crackdown on brave and strong Sophia. Due to these adult themes -- and two or three very playful and funny songs about sex -- I'd recommend the show only for kids age 12 and up.
Despite the harsh situations, the main characters found joy where they could ~ in their partners, in their families, in their church and community ~ and prayed and trusted in God. For a time, it seemed that God had deserted Celie and had not answered her prayers to find her family and release her from her harsh marriage. But, ultimately, Celie comes to understand that her beliefs about herself were based on lies others had told her -- that she was ugly, that she wasn't worth anything, that her sister and children were gone. With the help of friends and family, she changes her life, finds her independence and power, and understands that God has created beauty -- namely,. the color purple -- in the harshest of situations, and it's up to us to find it and see it.
The performance was powerful, and Adrianna Hicks (Celie) and Carla R. Stewart (Shug Avery) delivered their songs beautifully. There was a trio of church ladies/gossipers who were absolutely delightful with their quick, round-robin updates. Sophia's performance of "Hell No!" was excellent and brought cheers and agreement from the audience. "Push Da Button" by Shug Avery was funny and fantastic.
Give yourself the gift of a wonderful evening out and see The Color Purple at the Shubert Theatre!
Discount code! Save 20% on tickets to see The Color Purple at the Shubert Theatre! Visit http://bochcenter.org/thecolorpurple and enter code GLORY to buy your discounted tickets. Discount applies to select performances ( Nov 24 2 pm and 8 pm, Nov 26 6:30 pm, Nov 28 7:30 pm, Nov 29 7:30 pm, Nov 30 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm, Dec 3 6:30 pm) while supplies last.
I received free tickets in exchange for promotion. All opinions are my own and no other compensation was received.
