The Color Purple is unforgettable at the Goodman Theatre through August 3rd!

Paul Lisnek Behind the Curtain

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-8of-u0B_E?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent&w=900&h=507]

The Goodman Theatre’s production of The Color Purple directed by Lili-Anne Brown is truly stunning. A show you will want to see over and over for the music, for the power and for the essential message about powerful women.

Joining in the conversation are Nicole Michelle Haskins who plays Sofia and Aerie Wiliams who plays Shug Avery. The actors discuss their roles and how they interplay with the main character Celie, and ponder whether this story could have been set in a different time period.

It’s a conversation that goes beyond the basics…..some thought provoking discussion you won’t want to miss…

You can purchase tickets for The Color Purple, playing through August 3^rd at www.GoodmanTheatre.org

https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7520880/7520880_2025-07-14-200720.64kmono.mp3

Here is Paul’s review of the production:

REVIEW: The Color Purple

By: Paul Lisnek, WGN+ and WGNRadio.com

****/4

Goodman’s The Color Purple is Magnificent!!

Not too often, you see a production that blows you away! It’s theater magic; it’s theater at its best and the way it was intended to be. Candidly, Goodman Theatre is among the best to reach that high bar show after show, season after season…. and the current version of the Color Purple has raised that bar for shows to follow.

The power of the voices, the ensemble, the subtle re-telling of the classic Alice Walker story… all adds up to a night you will NOT forget.

This show centers around the life of Celie brought to life by Brittney Mack, in ways better than any Celie I have seen in this role. Mack is no stranger to the big stage having played the original Anne of Cleves in Broadway’s SIX…but in THIS show, Mack blows the roof of the theater. She’s WAY beyond SIX….she’s a TEN plus!

Let there be no doubt: Brittney Mack is what every Broadway star hopes to be. She’s got the voice, the stage presence…She slays the role in the very best way, with a range of emotions, her relationship with other characters…but always, your eyes remain on this amazing talent who takes in every moment with her inner strength and unmatched talent.

The power and impact of this production is in its portrayal of strong women. Past productions I’ve seen often focus on the horrible ways in which men treated women….but here, director Lili-Anne Brown insures that we get that the story is here is not as much about the men, as it is about the strong women who truly possess the strength and power…it just took them some time to reach their individual moments and for the men in their lives to wake up to it.

I can’t recall a show in recent memory where every scene, every song, triggers the huge and extended ovations that greet the actors in this show. And they are all well deserved.

The set is on the simple side…no grand set changes for which Goodman is well known, but that works just fine. In this show, the focus remains on the actors, the characters, and that is where it belongs.

It’s hard not to compare this version to those on Broadway, national tours and finally the movies….and Goodman’s production outshines them all (and I say this with great respect for the fine actors who have played these roles before).

And certainly the well deserved attention goes to the amazing cast, but the work of the play’s director Lili-Anne Brown is stellar. Brown blew me away with her The Nacirema Society among her other works…but she just topped them all. Brown’s vision for this production is perfect and I’m just proud to say that she, like much of this stellar cast, is a Chicagoan!!

I bet if you asked author Alice Walker what she thinks of this production…..she’d say… “This…THIS is what I mean!!”

The Color Purple, simply put, is NOT to be missed.

Color Purple run through August 3^rd and tickets can be purchased at: www.GoodmanTheatre.org/Purple.