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The Color Purple
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Jump to: navigation, search

For the color, see Purple.
For other uses, see The Color Purple (disambiguation).
The Color Purple
ColorPurple.jpg
First edition cover

Author
Alice Walker
Country
United States
Language
English
Publisher
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

Publication date
 1982
ISBN
0-15-119153-0
OCLC
8221433

Dewey Decimal
 813/.54 19
LC Class
PS3573.A425 C6 1982
The Color Purple is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.[1][a] It was later adapted into a film and musical of the same name.
Taking place mostly in rural Georgia, the story focuses on the life of African-American women in the southern United States in the 1930s, addressing numerous issues including their exceedingly low position in American social culture. The novel has been the frequent target of censors and appears on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000-2009 at number seventeen because of the sometimes explicit content, particularly in terms of violence.[2][3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot summary
2 Themes 2.1 Sexism and racism
2.2 Disruption of traditional gender roles
3 Motifs 3.1 Letters
4 Character analysis 4.1 Celie
4.2 Nettie
4.3 Shug Avery
4.4 Albert (known as Mr.___)
5 Film, theatrical, and radio adaptations
6 Boycotting Israel
7 Editions
8 See also
9 Notes
10 References
11 External links

Plot summary[edit]
Celie, the protagonist and narrator, is a poor, uneducated, fourteen-year-old black girl living in the American South. She writes letters to God because the man she believes to be her father, Alphonso, beats and rapes her. Alphonso has already impregnated Celie once, a pregnancy that resulted in the birth of a girl. Alphonso takes the girl away shortly after her birth. Celie has a second child, a boy, whom Alphonso also abducts. Celie's ailing mother dies after cursing Celie on her deathbed.
Celie and her younger sister, Nettie, learn that a man identified only as Mister wants to marry Nettie. Alphonso refuses to let Nettie marry, instead arranging for Mister to marry Celie. Mister, needing someone to care for his children and keep his house, eventually accepts the offer. Mister and his children, whose mother was murdered by a jealous lover, all treat Celie badly. However, she eventually gets Mister's squalid living conditions and incorrigible children under control.
Shortly thereafter, Nettie runs away from Alphonso and takes refuge at Celie's house. Mister makes sexual advances toward her. Celie then advises Nettie to seek assistance from a well-dressed black woman that she had seen in the general store a while back; the woman had unknowingly adopted Celie's daughter and was the only black woman that Celie had ever seen with money of her own. Nettie is forced to leave after promising to write. Celie, however, never receives any letters and concludes that her sister is dead.
Time passes and Mister's children begin to grow up and leave home. Harpo, the only child of Mister who becomes a major character, falls in love with an assertive girl named Sofia. Sofia becomes pregnant with Harpo's baby and, despite initial resistance from Mister, marries Harpo. Harpo and Sofia have five other children in short order.
Celie is amazed by Sofia's defiant refusal to submit to Harpo's attempts to control her. Harpo, kinder and gentler than his father, feels emasculated due to his inability to get Sofia to "mind." Celie advises Harpo not to try to dominate Sofia; she also tells Harpo that Sofia loves him, admitting that she only obeys Mister out of fear. Harpo temporarily follows Celie's advice but falls back under Mister's sway. A momentarily jealous Celie then advises Harpo to beat Sofia. Sofia fights back, however, inflicting serious injuries on Harpo.
After Sofia confronts her, Celie, who was already feeling guilty about what she had done, apologizes and confides in her about all the abuse she suffers at Mister's hands. She also begins to consider Sofia's advice about defending herself against further abuse from Mister.
Shug Avery, a lounge singer and Mister's long-time mistress, falls ill and Mister takes her into his house. Celie, who had been fascinated by the photos of Shug she found in Mister's belongings, is thrilled to have her there. Mister's father expresses disapproval of the arrangement, reminding Mister that Shug has three out-of-wedlock children. Mister proudly states that he knows for certain that all the children have the same father, indirectly admitting to being their father. Mister's father leaves in disgust after drinking a glass of water that Celie spit in. Shug is initially rude to Celie, who has taken charge of nursing her, but the two women become friends. Celie soon finds herself infatuated with Shug.
Frustrated by Harpo's domineering behavior, Sofia moves out, taking her children with her. Several months later, Harpo opens a juke joint where Shug, who has fully recovered from her illness, sings nightly. Shug decides to stay when she learns that Mister beats Celie when she is away. Shug and Celie's relationship grows more intimate.
Sofia returns for a visit and promptly gets into a fight with Harpo's new girlfriend, Squeak, knocking the other woman's teeth out. In town one day, the mayor's wife, Miss Millie, asks Sofia to work as her maid. Sofia rudely refuses. When the mayor slaps Sofia for "insubordination", Sofia returns the blow. Sofia is subsequently sentenced to twelve years in jail.
Squeak, a mixed-race woman, is Sheriff Hodges' illegitimate niece. Her attempt to blackmail the sheriff into releasing Sofia result in her being raped by the sheriff. Squeak cares for Sofia's children while she is incarcerated and the two women develop a friendship. Sofia is eventually released six months early and begins working for Miss Millie, a job that she detests.
Despite being newly married, Shug instigates a sexual relationship with Celie upon her next visit. One night Shug asks Celie about her sister. Shug helps Celie recover letters from Nettie that Mister has been hiding from her for decades.
The letters indicate that Nettie befriended a missionary couple, Samuel and Corrine, the well-dressed woman that Celie saw in the store. Nettie eventually accompanied the two to Africa to do missionary work. Samuel and Corrine have unwittingly adopted Celie's son and daughter, Adam and Olivia. Corrine, noticing that her adopted children resemble Nettie, wonders if Samuel fathered the children with her. Increasingly suspicious, Corrine tries to limit Nettie's role within her family.
Through her letters, Nettie reveals that she has become disillusioned with her missionary work. Corrine becomes ill with a fever. Nettie asks Samuel to tell her how he adopted Olivia and Adam. Realizing that Adam and Olivia are Celie's children, Nettie then learns that Alphonso is her and Celie's stepfather. Their biological father was a store owner whom white men lynched because they resented his success. She also learns that their mother suffered a mental collapse after the death of her husband and that Alphonso exploited the situation in order to control their mother's considerable wealth.
Nettie confesses to Samuel and Corrine that she is in fact their children's biological aunt. The gravely ill Corrine refuses to believe her until Nettie reminds her of her previous encounter with Celie in the store. Later, Corrine dies, finally having accepted Nettie's story. Meanwhile, Celie visits Alphonso, who confirms Nettie's story. Celie begins to lose some of her faith in God. She confides in Shug who explains her own unique religious philosophy to Celie.
Celie, having had enough of her husband's abuse, decides to leave Mister along with Shug and Squeak, who is considering a singing career of her own. Celie puts a curse on Mister before getting in the car and leaving him for good.
Celie settles in Tennessee and supports herself as a tailor. Celie learns that Mister, suffering from a considerable decline in fortunes after Celie left him, has changed dramatically. He gives Celie permission to call him by his first name, Albert. Albert proposes that they marry "in the spirit as well as in the flesh," but Celie declines.
Alphonso dies unexpectedly and Celie inherits the land and moves back into her childhood home. Around this time, Shug falls in love with Germaine, a member of her band, and the news of this crushes Celie. Shug travels with Germaine, all the while writing postcards to Celie. Celie pledges to love Shug even if Shug does not love her back.
Meanwhile, Nettie and Samuel marry and prepare to return to America. Before they leave, Adam marries Tashi, an African girl. Following African tradition, Tashi undergoes the painful rituals of female circumcision and facial scarring. In solidarity, Adam undergoes the same facial scarring ritual.
Just after Celie realizes that she is content in her life without Shug, Shug returns, having ended things with Germaine. The end of the novel has Nettie, Samuel, Olivia, Adam, and Tashi arriving at Celie's house. Nettie and Celie embrace, having not seen each other for over thirty years. They introduce one another to their respective families as the novel ends.
Themes[edit]
Sexism and racism[edit]


 This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (January 2015)
Themes of sexism and racism are prevalent in the entire novel, probably as a reflection of the social contexts surrounding the novel's setting. Celie, as the main protagonist and narrator, shows some form of internalized oppression when she advised her Harpo to beat Sofie as this was how she was treated by Mr. ____. Shortly after, however, it is revealed that Celie merely advised Harpo in doing that as she was jealous of Sofie's strong-mindedness and assertiveness. Later on in the novel, Celie also begins to find strength within her to reject the violent advances of Mr. _____. Racism as an issue is seen in how Sofie was imprisoned and violently beaten for rejecting the white mayor's wife's offer to be her maid (where the offer in itself was a reflection of racist thinking). Nettie, in her letters, also indicates her reflecting the racial stereotypes held by American Blacks against their African counterparts. Inscribing a copy of the novel for a PEN auction in 2014, Alice Walker wrote on the half-title: "I was mistaken. There is nothing more for me to say about this book."[4]
Disruption of traditional gender roles[edit]

Question book-new.svg
 This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2015)
Many characters in the novel break the boundaries of traditional male or female gender roles. Sofia's strength and sass, Shug's sexual assertiveness, and Harpo's insecurity are major examples of such disparity between a character's gender and the traits he or she displays. This blurring of gender traits and roles sometimes involves sexual ambiguity, as we see in the sexual relationship that develops between Celie and Shug. Disruption of gender roles sometimes cause problems. Harpo's insecurity about his masculinity leads to marital problems and his attempts to beat Sofia. Likewise, Shug's confident sexuality and resistance to male domination cause her to be labeled a tramp. Throughout the novel, Walker wishes to emphasize that gender and sexuality are not as simple as we may believe. Her novel subverts and defies the traditional ways in which we understand women to be women and men to be men. Throughout the novel, the assertion of what the African-American femininity is compared to is the exploration of African-American male struggle with masculinity. The idea of femininity among African-American women is focused around the abilities of the husband to care for the wife and family. Men's normative roles are viewed as the source of oppressive male behavior. Therefore, if the African American male is not fulfilling his role, it is unlikely for the African-American woman to fulfill her role of femininity because she is predicated on his abilities.
Motifs[edit]
Letters[edit]
Alice Walker highlights the power of communication through the characters' letter writing form.[5] The letters that Celie writes to God, and later to her sister Nettie, symbolize a certain voice that only Celie has, and through which she is able to express her true desires in her letters. These letters are very personal to her, and allow her to display any emotion she wants to convey. In the beginning, when she was writing letters only to God, the letters were very private and Celie would not have wanted anyone to see them. The letters are the only way she can represent her true feelings and despair as she is abused. Later, the letters she gets from Nettie give her hope that she will be reunited with her sister again.
Celie writes to God for a lack of someone else to write to. She writes to her sister because she is angry at God because of her past and the people who have been hurt because of it. She asks God "Why?" which is a question that cannot be answered. The last letter she writes is to everyone, including God showing that she has forgiven Him, and that her story has gone through a full circle of maturation.
Character analysis[edit]
Celie[edit]
Celie is the main character and has been oppressed by men her whole life. She is raped by her step father with whom she has two children during her adolescence. Her step father gives away her two children. Her father gives her away to be married to Mr.___ He is in love with Shug Avery, a blues singer. Shug stays with Mr. ___ and Celie, this leads to a sexual relationship between Celie and Shug. Shug has a significant influence on the protagonist and Celie begins to model herself after following her views and opinions, leading her ultimately to a life of independence. Shug influences not only the way that Celie allows Mr.___ to treat her, but also her showing Celie that it is all right to commit actions which others may call 'sin', but still believe in and live for God, she broadens Celie's views on religion and ethics. It is also Shug who frees Celie from Mr.___'s bondage, first by loving her, then by helping her to start a custom sewing business. From Shug, Celie learns that Albert has been hiding letters written to her from Africa by her sister Nettie, a missionary. These letters, full of educated, first hand observation of African life, form a moving counterpoint to Celie's life. They reveal that in Africa, just as in America, women are persistently oppressed by men.[6]
Nettie[edit]
Nettie is Celie's younger sister, whom Celie loves and saves from living the tragic life that she had to endure. Because Nettie is prettier than Celie, who has been deemed ugly, Mr.___ is originally interested in Nettie as a wife, but settles for Celie. Nettie runs away from home to be with Celie, but is unable to stay with Celie as Mr.___ tries to get physically attached to her again. As a result Nettie leaves home and before leaving she promises to write to Celie and tells her that only death can keep them apart. Nettie is eventually taken in by Samuel and Corrine, a missionary couple, with whom she travels to Africa as a missionary. While in Africa, Nettie becomes the caregiver of Samuel and Corrine's children and faithfully writes to Celie for decades. Nettie marries Samuel after Corrine's death and moves back to America with Celie's children. Through explaining her experiences to Celie, Nettie encourages Celie to be more enthusiastic and optimistic about life. Nettie finds that while there is not racial disparity in Africa, gender disparity exists. The women of the tribe are not treated as equals, and are not permitted to attend school.
Shug Avery[edit]
A sultry blues singer who first appears as Mr.___'s mistress, Shug becomes Celie's friend and eventually her lover. Shug remains a gentle mentor who helps Celie evolve into an independent and assertive woman. At first, Shug doesn't appear to be the mothering and nurturing kind, yet she nurtures Celie physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Shug helps Celie discover the long lost letters from her sister Nettie that Mr.___ had been hiding for decades. In allowing Celie to view these letters, Shug is supplying her with even more hope and inspiration, letting Celie see that in the end, everything works out for the best.
Albert (known as Mr.___)[edit]
Mr.___ is the man to whom Celie is married. Originally, he seeks a relationship with Nettie but settles for Celie. Mr.___ mistreats Celie just as her father had although Celie does not understand that she doesn't have to tolerate the abuse. Mr.___ uses Celie to help raise his children, who give her a hard time because she is not their biological mother. When Shug Avery comes to town, Mr.___ falls for her and makes her his mistress. Through Shug's seductive and manipulative influence, Albert begins to treat Celie better. In the end Albert realizes that he has mistreated Celie and seeks a friendship with her.
Film, theatrical, and radio adaptations[edit]
Main articles: The Color Purple (film) and The Color Purple (musical)
The novel was adapted into a film of the same name in 1985. It was directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Whoopi Goldberg as Celie, Danny Glover as Albert, and Oprah Winfrey as Sofia. Though nominated for 11 Academy Awards, it won none. This perceived snubbing ignited controversy because many critics considered it the best picture that year,[7] including Roger Ebert.[8] Others were upset by the film's depiction of the black male as abusive, uncaring, and disloyal. Other critics felt that Steven Spielberg, then most associated with films such as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Indiana Jones, was a poor choice for such a complex social drama, and that the film had changed or eliminated much of the book's defense of lesbianism.
On December 1, 2005, a musical adaptation of the novel (based on the film) opened at The Broadway Theatre in New York City. The show was produced by Scott Sanders, Quincy Jones, Harvey Weinstein, and Oprah Winfrey, who was also an investor.[9] It garnered five 2006 Outer Critics Circle Award nominations, including Outstanding Broadway Musical and Outstanding New Score. That same year, the show was nominated for eleven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Original Score Written for the Theater, and Best Leading Actress in a Musical (LaChanze). LaChanze did win the Tony Award, though the show itself won no other awards. LaChanze's win was attributed to the variety of roles for which she had garnered positive attention, as well as for a powerful backstory. In April 2007, Fantasia Barrino took over the role. The Broadway production ended its run on February 24, 2008.[10]
In 2008 BBC Radio 4 broadcast a radio adaptation of the novel in ten 15-minute episodes as a Woman's Hour serial, with Nadine Marshall as Celie. The script was by Patricia Cumper, and in 2009 the production received the Sony Radio Academy Awards Silver Drama Award.[11]
Boycotting Israel[edit]
As part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), the author declined publication of the book in Israel[12] in 2012. Walker, an ardent pro-Palestinian activist, said in a letter to Yediot Books that Israel practices "apartheid" and must change its policies before her works can be published there.[13][14]
Editions[edit]
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
1982
ISBN 0-606-00587-0 (prebound, 1985)
ISBN 0-671-61702-8 (mass market paperback, 1985)
ISBN 0-671-64745-8 (mass market paperback, 1987)
ISBN 0-671-66878-1 (paperback, 1988)
ISBN 0-15-119154-9 (hardcover, 1992, Anniversary Edition)
ISBN 1-56849-628-1 (library binding, 1995, reprint)
ISBN 0-671-01907-4 (paperback, 1998)
ISBN 0-7641-2064-6 (paperback, 2002)
ISBN 0-15-602835-2 (paperback, 2003)
ISBN 0-671-72779-6
ISBN 0-7043-3905-6
ISBN 978-0-7538-1892-3 (paperback, United Kingdom, 2004)
See also[edit]

Portal icon Novels portal
Feminist literature
Black feminism
African-American literature
Notes[edit]
a.Jump up ^ Walker won the 1983 award for hardcover Fiction.
 From 1980 to 1983 in National Book Awards history there were dual hardcover and paperback awards in most categories. Most of the paperback award-winners were reprints, including the 1983 Fiction.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "National Book Awards - 1983". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
 (With essays by Anna Clark and Tarayi Jones from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.)
2.Jump up ^ "The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000–2009". American Library Association. Retrieved January 2013.
3.Jump up ^ "Alice Walker – biography". Retrieved April 12, 2012.
4.Jump up ^ http://pen-auction.org/book/the-color-purple/
5.Jump up ^ Edited by Dieke, Ikenna. Critical Essays on Alice Walker. Greenwood Press, 1979, p. 43.
6.Jump up ^ Magill Book Reviews The Color Purple
7.Jump up ^ Rotten Tomatoes page for The Color Purple
8.Jump up ^ Roger Ebert's review of The Color Purple
9.Jump up ^ John Fleming. "Passion for ‘Purple' has Local Roots". "Saint Petersburg Times". Dec. 12, 2005
10.Jump up ^ The Color Purple to Close on Broadway Feb. 24
11.Jump up ^ Sony Radio Academy Awards 2009: Dramas
12.Jump up ^ Letter from Alice Walker to Publishers at Yediot Books
13.Jump up ^ http://news.yahoo.com/alice-walker-rejects-israeli-translation-book-100016509.html
14.Jump up ^ http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4245040,00.html
External links[edit]
Alice Walker discusses The Color Purple on the BBC's World Book Club
New Georgia Encyclopedia
Photos of the first edition of The Color Purple
The Color Purple student and teacher guide, analysis, quotes, multimedia
"Alice Walker on 30th Anniv. of "The Color Purple": Racism, Violence Against Women Are Global Issues", from Democracy Now! September 28, 2012.

Awards
Preceded by
Rabbit is Rich
John Updike National Book Award for Fiction
 1983
With: The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty
Eudora Welty Succeeded by
Victory Over Japan: A Book of Stories
Ellen Gilchrist
Preceded by
So Long, See You Tomorrow
William Maxwell


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Categories: 1982 novels
Bisexuality-related fiction
Epistolary novels
Feminist novels
Womanist novels
National Book Award for Fiction winning works
American novels adapted into films
Novels by Alice Walker
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction-winning works
Novels about racism
American LGBT novels
Novels set in Georgia (U.S. state)
Harcourt (publisher) books









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The Color Purple
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

For the color, see Purple.
For other uses, see The Color Purple (disambiguation).
The Color Purple
ColorPurple.jpg
First edition cover

Author
Alice Walker
Country
United States
Language
English
Publisher
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

Publication date
 1982
ISBN
0-15-119153-0
OCLC
8221433

Dewey Decimal
 813/.54 19
LC Class
PS3573.A425 C6 1982
The Color Purple is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.[1][a] It was later adapted into a film and musical of the same name.
Taking place mostly in rural Georgia, the story focuses on the life of African-American women in the southern United States in the 1930s, addressing numerous issues including their exceedingly low position in American social culture. The novel has been the frequent target of censors and appears on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000-2009 at number seventeen because of the sometimes explicit content, particularly in terms of violence.[2][3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot summary
2 Themes 2.1 Sexism and racism
2.2 Disruption of traditional gender roles
3 Motifs 3.1 Letters
4 Character analysis 4.1 Celie
4.2 Nettie
4.3 Shug Avery
4.4 Albert (known as Mr.___)
5 Film, theatrical, and radio adaptations
6 Boycotting Israel
7 Editions
8 See also
9 Notes
10 References
11 External links

Plot summary[edit]
Celie, the protagonist and narrator, is a poor, uneducated, fourteen-year-old black girl living in the American South. She writes letters to God because the man she believes to be her father, Alphonso, beats and rapes her. Alphonso has already impregnated Celie once, a pregnancy that resulted in the birth of a girl. Alphonso takes the girl away shortly after her birth. Celie has a second child, a boy, whom Alphonso also abducts. Celie's ailing mother dies after cursing Celie on her deathbed.
Celie and her younger sister, Nettie, learn that a man identified only as Mister wants to marry Nettie. Alphonso refuses to let Nettie marry, instead arranging for Mister to marry Celie. Mister, needing someone to care for his children and keep his house, eventually accepts the offer. Mister and his children, whose mother was murdered by a jealous lover, all treat Celie badly. However, she eventually gets Mister's squalid living conditions and incorrigible children under control.
Shortly thereafter, Nettie runs away from Alphonso and takes refuge at Celie's house. Mister makes sexual advances toward her. Celie then advises Nettie to seek assistance from a well-dressed black woman that she had seen in the general store a while back; the woman had unknowingly adopted Celie's daughter and was the only black woman that Celie had ever seen with money of her own. Nettie is forced to leave after promising to write. Celie, however, never receives any letters and concludes that her sister is dead.
Time passes and Mister's children begin to grow up and leave home. Harpo, the only child of Mister who becomes a major character, falls in love with an assertive girl named Sofia. Sofia becomes pregnant with Harpo's baby and, despite initial resistance from Mister, marries Harpo. Harpo and Sofia have five other children in short order.
Celie is amazed by Sofia's defiant refusal to submit to Harpo's attempts to control her. Harpo, kinder and gentler than his father, feels emasculated due to his inability to get Sofia to "mind." Celie advises Harpo not to try to dominate Sofia; she also tells Harpo that Sofia loves him, admitting that she only obeys Mister out of fear. Harpo temporarily follows Celie's advice but falls back under Mister's sway. A momentarily jealous Celie then advises Harpo to beat Sofia. Sofia fights back, however, inflicting serious injuries on Harpo.
After Sofia confronts her, Celie, who was already feeling guilty about what she had done, apologizes and confides in her about all the abuse she suffers at Mister's hands. She also begins to consider Sofia's advice about defending herself against further abuse from Mister.
Shug Avery, a lounge singer and Mister's long-time mistress, falls ill and Mister takes her into his house. Celie, who had been fascinated by the photos of Shug she found in Mister's belongings, is thrilled to have her there. Mister's father expresses disapproval of the arrangement, reminding Mister that Shug has three out-of-wedlock children. Mister proudly states that he knows for certain that all the children have the same father, indirectly admitting to being their father. Mister's father leaves in disgust after drinking a glass of water that Celie spit in. Shug is initially rude to Celie, who has taken charge of nursing her, but the two women become friends. Celie soon finds herself infatuated with Shug.
Frustrated by Harpo's domineering behavior, Sofia moves out, taking her children with her. Several months later, Harpo opens a juke joint where Shug, who has fully recovered from her illness, sings nightly. Shug decides to stay when she learns that Mister beats Celie when she is away. Shug and Celie's relationship grows more intimate.
Sofia returns for a visit and promptly gets into a fight with Harpo's new girlfriend, Squeak, knocking the other woman's teeth out. In town one day, the mayor's wife, Miss Millie, asks Sofia to work as her maid. Sofia rudely refuses. When the mayor slaps Sofia for "insubordination", Sofia returns the blow. Sofia is subsequently sentenced to twelve years in jail.
Squeak, a mixed-race woman, is Sheriff Hodges' illegitimate niece. Her attempt to blackmail the sheriff into releasing Sofia result in her being raped by the sheriff. Squeak cares for Sofia's children while she is incarcerated and the two women develop a friendship. Sofia is eventually released six months early and begins working for Miss Millie, a job that she detests.
Despite being newly married, Shug instigates a sexual relationship with Celie upon her next visit. One night Shug asks Celie about her sister. Shug helps Celie recover letters from Nettie that Mister has been hiding from her for decades.
The letters indicate that Nettie befriended a missionary couple, Samuel and Corrine, the well-dressed woman that Celie saw in the store. Nettie eventually accompanied the two to Africa to do missionary work. Samuel and Corrine have unwittingly adopted Celie's son and daughter, Adam and Olivia. Corrine, noticing that her adopted children resemble Nettie, wonders if Samuel fathered the children with her. Increasingly suspicious, Corrine tries to limit Nettie's role within her family.
Through her letters, Nettie reveals that she has become disillusioned with her missionary work. Corrine becomes ill with a fever. Nettie asks Samuel to tell her how he adopted Olivia and Adam. Realizing that Adam and Olivia are Celie's children, Nettie then learns that Alphonso is her and Celie's stepfather. Their biological father was a store owner whom white men lynched because they resented his success. She also learns that their mother suffered a mental collapse after the death of her husband and that Alphonso exploited the situation in order to control their mother's considerable wealth.
Nettie confesses to Samuel and Corrine that she is in fact their children's biological aunt. The gravely ill Corrine refuses to believe her until Nettie reminds her of her previous encounter with Celie in the store. Later, Corrine dies, finally having accepted Nettie's story. Meanwhile, Celie visits Alphonso, who confirms Nettie's story. Celie begins to lose some of her faith in God. She confides in Shug who explains her own unique religious philosophy to Celie.
Celie, having had enough of her husband's abuse, decides to leave Mister along with Shug and Squeak, who is considering a singing career of her own. Celie puts a curse on Mister before getting in the car and leaving him for good.
Celie settles in Tennessee and supports herself as a tailor. Celie learns that Mister, suffering from a considerable decline in fortunes after Celie left him, has changed dramatically. He gives Celie permission to call him by his first name, Albert. Albert proposes that they marry "in the spirit as well as in the flesh," but Celie declines.
Alphonso dies unexpectedly and Celie inherits the land and moves back into her childhood home. Around this time, Shug falls in love with Germaine, a member of her band, and the news of this crushes Celie. Shug travels with Germaine, all the while writing postcards to Celie. Celie pledges to love Shug even if Shug does not love her back.
Meanwhile, Nettie and Samuel marry and prepare to return to America. Before they leave, Adam marries Tashi, an African girl. Following African tradition, Tashi undergoes the painful rituals of female circumcision and facial scarring. In solidarity, Adam undergoes the same facial scarring ritual.
Just after Celie realizes that she is content in her life without Shug, Shug returns, having ended things with Germaine. The end of the novel has Nettie, Samuel, Olivia, Adam, and Tashi arriving at Celie's house. Nettie and Celie embrace, having not seen each other for over thirty years. They introduce one another to their respective families as the novel ends.
Themes[edit]
Sexism and racism[edit]


 This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (January 2015)
Themes of sexism and racism are prevalent in the entire novel, probably as a reflection of the social contexts surrounding the novel's setting. Celie, as the main protagonist and narrator, shows some form of internalized oppression when she advised her Harpo to beat Sofie as this was how she was treated by Mr. ____. Shortly after, however, it is revealed that Celie merely advised Harpo in doing that as she was jealous of Sofie's strong-mindedness and assertiveness. Later on in the novel, Celie also begins to find strength within her to reject the violent advances of Mr. _____. Racism as an issue is seen in how Sofie was imprisoned and violently beaten for rejecting the white mayor's wife's offer to be her maid (where the offer in itself was a reflection of racist thinking). Nettie, in her letters, also indicates her reflecting the racial stereotypes held by American Blacks against their African counterparts. Inscribing a copy of the novel for a PEN auction in 2014, Alice Walker wrote on the half-title: "I was mistaken. There is nothing more for me to say about this book."[4]
Disruption of traditional gender roles[edit]

Question book-new.svg
 This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2015)
Many characters in the novel break the boundaries of traditional male or female gender roles. Sofia's strength and sass, Shug's sexual assertiveness, and Harpo's insecurity are major examples of such disparity between a character's gender and the traits he or she displays. This blurring of gender traits and roles sometimes involves sexual ambiguity, as we see in the sexual relationship that develops between Celie and Shug. Disruption of gender roles sometimes cause problems. Harpo's insecurity about his masculinity leads to marital problems and his attempts to beat Sofia. Likewise, Shug's confident sexuality and resistance to male domination cause her to be labeled a tramp. Throughout the novel, Walker wishes to emphasize that gender and sexuality are not as simple as we may believe. Her novel subverts and defies the traditional ways in which we understand women to be women and men to be men. Throughout the novel, the assertion of what the African-American femininity is compared to is the exploration of African-American male struggle with masculinity. The idea of femininity among African-American women is focused around the abilities of the husband to care for the wife and family. Men's normative roles are viewed as the source of oppressive male behavior. Therefore, if the African American male is not fulfilling his role, it is unlikely for the African-American woman to fulfill her role of femininity because she is predicated on his abilities.
Motifs[edit]
Letters[edit]
Alice Walker highlights the power of communication through the characters' letter writing form.[5] The letters that Celie writes to God, and later to her sister Nettie, symbolize a certain voice that only Celie has, and through which she is able to express her true desires in her letters. These letters are very personal to her, and allow her to display any emotion she wants to convey. In the beginning, when she was writing letters only to God, the letters were very private and Celie would not have wanted anyone to see them. The letters are the only way she can represent her true feelings and despair as she is abused. Later, the letters she gets from Nettie give her hope that she will be reunited with her sister again.
Celie writes to God for a lack of someone else to write to. She writes to her sister because she is angry at God because of her past and the people who have been hurt because of it. She asks God "Why?" which is a question that cannot be answered. The last letter she writes is to everyone, including God showing that she has forgiven Him, and that her story has gone through a full circle of maturation.
Character analysis[edit]
Celie[edit]
Celie is the main character and has been oppressed by men her whole life. She is raped by her step father with whom she has two children during her adolescence. Her step father gives away her two children. Her father gives her away to be married to Mr.___ He is in love with Shug Avery, a blues singer. Shug stays with Mr. ___ and Celie, this leads to a sexual relationship between Celie and Shug. Shug has a significant influence on the protagonist and Celie begins to model herself after following her views and opinions, leading her ultimately to a life of independence. Shug influences not only the way that Celie allows Mr.___ to treat her, but also her showing Celie that it is all right to commit actions which others may call 'sin', but still believe in and live for God, she broadens Celie's views on religion and ethics. It is also Shug who frees Celie from Mr.___'s bondage, first by loving her, then by helping her to start a custom sewing business. From Shug, Celie learns that Albert has been hiding letters written to her from Africa by her sister Nettie, a missionary. These letters, full of educated, first hand observation of African life, form a moving counterpoint to Celie's life. They reveal that in Africa, just as in America, women are persistently oppressed by men.[6]
Nettie[edit]
Nettie is Celie's younger sister, whom Celie loves and saves from living the tragic life that she had to endure. Because Nettie is prettier than Celie, who has been deemed ugly, Mr.___ is originally interested in Nettie as a wife, but settles for Celie. Nettie runs away from home to be with Celie, but is unable to stay with Celie as Mr.___ tries to get physically attached to her again. As a result Nettie leaves home and before leaving she promises to write to Celie and tells her that only death can keep them apart. Nettie is eventually taken in by Samuel and Corrine, a missionary couple, with whom she travels to Africa as a missionary. While in Africa, Nettie becomes the caregiver of Samuel and Corrine's children and faithfully writes to Celie for decades. Nettie marries Samuel after Corrine's death and moves back to America with Celie's children. Through explaining her experiences to Celie, Nettie encourages Celie to be more enthusiastic and optimistic about life. Nettie finds that while there is not racial disparity in Africa, gender disparity exists. The women of the tribe are not treated as equals, and are not permitted to attend school.
Shug Avery[edit]
A sultry blues singer who first appears as Mr.___'s mistress, Shug becomes Celie's friend and eventually her lover. Shug remains a gentle mentor who helps Celie evolve into an independent and assertive woman. At first, Shug doesn't appear to be the mothering and nurturing kind, yet she nurtures Celie physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Shug helps Celie discover the long lost letters from her sister Nettie that Mr.___ had been hiding for decades. In allowing Celie to view these letters, Shug is supplying her with even more hope and inspiration, letting Celie see that in the end, everything works out for the best.
Albert (known as Mr.___)[edit]
Mr.___ is the man to whom Celie is married. Originally, he seeks a relationship with Nettie but settles for Celie. Mr.___ mistreats Celie just as her father had although Celie does not understand that she doesn't have to tolerate the abuse. Mr.___ uses Celie to help raise his children, who give her a hard time because she is not their biological mother. When Shug Avery comes to town, Mr.___ falls for her and makes her his mistress. Through Shug's seductive and manipulative influence, Albert begins to treat Celie better. In the end Albert realizes that he has mistreated Celie and seeks a friendship with her.
Film, theatrical, and radio adaptations[edit]
Main articles: The Color Purple (film) and The Color Purple (musical)
The novel was adapted into a film of the same name in 1985. It was directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Whoopi Goldberg as Celie, Danny Glover as Albert, and Oprah Winfrey as Sofia. Though nominated for 11 Academy Awards, it won none. This perceived snubbing ignited controversy because many critics considered it the best picture that year,[7] including Roger Ebert.[8] Others were upset by the film's depiction of the black male as abusive, uncaring, and disloyal. Other critics felt that Steven Spielberg, then most associated with films such as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Indiana Jones, was a poor choice for such a complex social drama, and that the film had changed or eliminated much of the book's defense of lesbianism.
On December 1, 2005, a musical adaptation of the novel (based on the film) opened at The Broadway Theatre in New York City. The show was produced by Scott Sanders, Quincy Jones, Harvey Weinstein, and Oprah Winfrey, who was also an investor.[9] It garnered five 2006 Outer Critics Circle Award nominations, including Outstanding Broadway Musical and Outstanding New Score. That same year, the show was nominated for eleven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Original Score Written for the Theater, and Best Leading Actress in a Musical (LaChanze). LaChanze did win the Tony Award, though the show itself won no other awards. LaChanze's win was attributed to the variety of roles for which she had garnered positive attention, as well as for a powerful backstory. In April 2007, Fantasia Barrino took over the role. The Broadway production ended its run on February 24, 2008.[10]
In 2008 BBC Radio 4 broadcast a radio adaptation of the novel in ten 15-minute episodes as a Woman's Hour serial, with Nadine Marshall as Celie. The script was by Patricia Cumper, and in 2009 the production received the Sony Radio Academy Awards Silver Drama Award.[11]
Boycotting Israel[edit]
As part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), the author declined publication of the book in Israel[12] in 2012. Walker, an ardent pro-Palestinian activist, said in a letter to Yediot Books that Israel practices "apartheid" and must change its policies before her works can be published there.[13][14]
Editions[edit]
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
1982
ISBN 0-606-00587-0 (prebound, 1985)
ISBN 0-671-61702-8 (mass market paperback, 1985)
ISBN 0-671-64745-8 (mass market paperback, 1987)
ISBN 0-671-66878-1 (paperback, 1988)
ISBN 0-15-119154-9 (hardcover, 1992, Anniversary Edition)
ISBN 1-56849-628-1 (library binding, 1995, reprint)
ISBN 0-671-01907-4 (paperback, 1998)
ISBN 0-7641-2064-6 (paperback, 2002)
ISBN 0-15-602835-2 (paperback, 2003)
ISBN 0-671-72779-6
ISBN 0-7043-3905-6
ISBN 978-0-7538-1892-3 (paperback, United Kingdom, 2004)
See also[edit]

Portal icon Novels portal
Feminist literature
Black feminism
African-American literature
Notes[edit]
a.Jump up ^ Walker won the 1983 award for hardcover Fiction.
 From 1980 to 1983 in National Book Awards history there were dual hardcover and paperback awards in most categories. Most of the paperback award-winners were reprints, including the 1983 Fiction.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "National Book Awards - 1983". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
 (With essays by Anna Clark and Tarayi Jones from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.)
2.Jump up ^ "The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000–2009". American Library Association. Retrieved January 2013.
3.Jump up ^ "Alice Walker – biography". Retrieved April 12, 2012.
4.Jump up ^ http://pen-auction.org/book/the-color-purple/
5.Jump up ^ Edited by Dieke, Ikenna. Critical Essays on Alice Walker. Greenwood Press, 1979, p. 43.
6.Jump up ^ Magill Book Reviews The Color Purple
7.Jump up ^ Rotten Tomatoes page for The Color Purple
8.Jump up ^ Roger Ebert's review of The Color Purple
9.Jump up ^ John Fleming. "Passion for ‘Purple' has Local Roots". "Saint Petersburg Times". Dec. 12, 2005
10.Jump up ^ The Color Purple to Close on Broadway Feb. 24
11.Jump up ^ Sony Radio Academy Awards 2009: Dramas
12.Jump up ^ Letter from Alice Walker to Publishers at Yediot Books
13.Jump up ^ http://news.yahoo.com/alice-walker-rejects-israeli-translation-book-100016509.html
14.Jump up ^ http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4245040,00.html
External links[edit]
Alice Walker discusses The Color Purple on the BBC's World Book Club
New Georgia Encyclopedia
Photos of the first edition of The Color Purple
The Color Purple student and teacher guide, analysis, quotes, multimedia
"Alice Walker on 30th Anniv. of "The Color Purple": Racism, Violence Against Women Are Global Issues", from Democracy Now! September 28, 2012.

Awards
Preceded by
Rabbit is Rich
John Updike National Book Award for Fiction
 1983
With: The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty
Eudora Welty Succeeded by
Victory Over Japan: A Book of Stories
Ellen Gilchrist
Preceded by
So Long, See You Tomorrow
William Maxwell


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Categories: 1982 novels
Bisexuality-related fiction
Epistolary novels
Feminist novels
Womanist novels
National Book Award for Fiction winning works
American novels adapted into films
Novels by Alice Walker
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction-winning works
Novels about racism
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Novels set in Georgia (U.S. state)
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The Color Purple (film)
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The Color Purple
The Color Purple poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster by John Alvin

Directed by
Steven Spielberg
Produced by
Steven Spielberg
Kathleen Kennedy
Quincy Jones
Frank Marshall
Screenplay by
Menno Meyjes
Based on
The Color Purple
 by Alice Walker
Starring
Danny Glover
Whoopi Goldberg
Margaret Avery
Oprah Winfrey
Adolph Caesar
Rae Dawn Chong
Music by
Quincy Jones
Cinematography
Allen Daviau
Edited by
Michael Kahn

Production
 company

Amblin Entertainment

Distributed by
Warner Bros. Pictures

Release dates

December 18, 1985


Running time
 154 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$15 million
Box office
$142 million
The Color Purple is a 1985 American period drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Alice Walker. It was Spielberg's eighth film as a director, and was a change from the summer blockbusters for which he had become famous. It is also the only feature-length film in Spielberg's entire career for which John Williams has not composed the music. The film starred Danny Glover, Desreta Jackson, Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey (in her film debut), Adolph Caesar, Rae Dawn Chong, and introduced Whoopi Goldberg as Celie Harris.
Filmed in Anson and Union counties in North Carolina,[1] the film tells the story of a young African American girl named Celie Harris and shows the problems African American women faced during the early 1900s, including poverty, racism, and sexism. Celie is transformed as she finds her self-worth through the help of two strong female companions.[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Reception 3.1 Critical response
3.2 Box office
3.3 Awards
4 Popular culture
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Plot[edit]
Taking place in the Southern United States between 1909 and 1936, the movie tells the life of a poor African American woman named Celie Harris (Whoopi Goldberg) whose abuse begins when she is young. By the time she is 14, she has already had two children by her father Alphonso "James" Harris (Leonard Jackson). He takes them away from her at childbirth and forces the young Celie (Desreta Jackson) to marry a wealthy young local widower Albert Johnson, known to her only as "Mister" (Danny Glover), who treats her like a slave. Albert makes her clean up his disorderly household and take care of his unruly children. Albert beats and rapes her often, intimidating Celie into submission and near silence. Celie's sister Nettie (Akosua Busia) comes to live with them, and there is a brief period of happiness as the sisters spend time together and Nettie begins to teach Celie how to read. This is short-lived; after Nettie refuses Albert's predatory affections once too often, he kicks her out. Before being run off by Albert, Nettie promises to write to Celie saying, "Nothing but death can keep me from her!".
Albert's old flame, jazz singer Shug Avery (Margaret Avery), for whom Albert has carried a torch for many years, comes to live with him and Celie. Delirious with sickness, Shug initially declares Celie as "ugly" on their first meeting. Despite this, they eventually become close friends and Shug helps Celie raise her self-confidence. Shug and Celie enter into a sexual relationship (more pronounced in the book, but only hinted at in the film).[3] Celie also finds strength in Sofia (Oprah Winfrey), who marries Albert's son Harpo (Willard E. Pugh). Sofia has suffered abuse from the men in her family, but unlike Celie, she refuses to tolerate it. This high-spiritedness proves to be her downfall, as a rude remark to the town mayor's wife and a retaliatory punch to the mayor himself ends with Sofia beaten and jailed.
Meanwhile, Nettie has been living with missionaries in Africa and writing frequently to Celie - however, Celie is unaware of the correspondence, as Albert has confiscated the letters, forbidding Celie to touch the mailbox, telling Celie that she will never hear from her sister again. During a visit from Shug and her new husband Grady, Celie and Shug discover many years' worth of Nettie's correspondence. Reconnecting with her sister and the assurance that she is still alive helps give Celie the strength to stand up to Albert. She prepares to slit his throat while shaving him, but is physically stopped by Shug.
During a subsequent family dinner, Sofia is shown to be prematurely aged and permanently disfigured due to the severe beatings she received in jail, and demoralized into an almost catatonic state. At the dinner, Celie finally asserts herself, excoriating Albert and his father. Shug informs Albert that she and Grady are leaving, and that Celie is coming with them. Harpo's girlfriend Squeak (Rae Dawn Chong) declares she is going with them as well. Despite Albert's attempts to verbally abuse Celie into submission, she stands up to him by mentioning that he kept Nettie away from her because Nettie was the only one who really loved her. Seeing Celie stand up for herself, Sofia returns to her normal self, laughing hysterically at a dumbfounded and embarrassed Albert. She also warns Celie not to follow in her own footsteps as Celie holds a knife to Albert's throat. It is at this point Celie curses Albert saying, "Until you do right by me, everything you think about gonna fail". As Shug, Grady, Squeak, and Celie go quickly to the car, Albert readies to beat Celie, but she stands up on the sideboards of Grady's car and curses Albert by raising her hand in his face with a determined stare. Dumbfounded, Albert backs away and the car drives off.
In Tennessee, Celie opens a haberdashery, making and selling one-size-fits-all slacks for men and women. Upon the death of her father, she learns that he was, in fact, her stepfather, and that she has inherited her childhood home, the farm, and a shop from her real father. She opens her second slacks shop in town, naming it Miss Celie's Folks Pants, while Harpo and Sofia reconcile. Meanwhile, Albert is feeling the effects of Celie's words. His fields and home languish into almost nonexistence as he slips into alcohol-fueled idleness, spending most of his time at Harpo's Juke joint. At one point, his father is seen suggesting that he find a new wife, but Albert casually grabs his father by the arm and turns him off his property. Years of guilt finally catch up with Albert, with the knowledge that he has been a horrible person most of his life, especially to Celie. In a sudden act of kindness unknown to her, Albert takes all the money he has saved over the years, goes to the immigration office, and arranges for Nettie, her husband, and Celie's two children and daughter-in-law to come back to America from Africa. Celie's children, Adam and Olivia, are reunited with her at Celie's farm. Albert looks on from a distance, and Shug smiles at him because he finally did the right thing. Nettie and Celie play their childhood clapping game as the sun sets.
Cast[edit]
Whoopi Goldberg as Celie Harris Johnson
Danny Glover as Albert Johnson ("Mister")
Oprah Winfrey as Sofia
Margaret Avery as Shug Avery
Akosua Busia as Nettie Harris
Adolph Caesar as Old Mister
Willard Pugh as Harpo Johnson
Rae Dawn Chong as Squeak
Laurence Fishburne as Swain
Grand Bush as Randy
Dana Ivey as Miss Millie
Leon Rippy as Store Clerk
Bennet Guillory as Grady
James Tillis as Henry "Buster" Broadnax
Desreta Jackson as Young Celie Harris
Leonard Jackson as Alphonso "Pa" Harris
Howard Starr as Young Harpo Johnson
Lelo Masamba as Olivia Johnson
Táta Vega serves as "The singing voice" of Shug Avery
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
The Color Purple received mostly positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 88% based on reviews from 26 critics, with an average score of 6.9/10. The site's consensus is that the film is "a sentimental tale that reveals great emotional truths in American history."[4]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film four stars, calling it "the year's best film." He also praised Whoopi Goldberg, calling her role "one of the most amazing debut performances in movie history" and predicting she would win the Academy Award for best actress. (She was nominated but did not win.) Ebert wrote of The Color Purple:

The world of Celie and the others is created so forcibly in this movie that their corner of the South becomes one of those movie places — like Oz, like Tara, like Casablanca — that lay claim to their own geography in our imaginations. The affirmation at the end of the film is so joyous that this is one of the few movies in a long time that inspires tears of happiness, and earns them.[5]
Ebert's long-time television collaborator, Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune, praised the film as "triumphantly emotional and brave," calling it Spielberg's "successful attempt to enlarge his reputation as a director of youthful entertainments." Siskel wrote that The Color Purple was "a plea for respect for black women." Although acknowledging that the film was a period drama, he praised its "... incredibly strong stand against the way black men treat black women. Cruel is too kind a word to describe their behavior. The principal black men in The Color Purple use their women — both wives and daughters — as sexual chattel."[6]
New York Times film critic Janet Maslin noted the film's divergence from Walker's book, but made the case that this shift works:

Mr. Spielberg has looked on the sunny side of Miss Walker's novel, fashioning a grand, multi-hanky entertainment that is as pretty and lavish as the book is plain. If the book is set in the harsh, impoverished atmosphere of rural Georgia, the movie unfolds in a cozy, comfortable, flower-filled wonderland. ... Some parts of it are rapturous and stirring, others hugely improbable, and the film moves unpredictably from one mode to another. From another director, this might be fatally confusing, but Mr. Spielberg's showmanship is still with him. Although the combination of his sensibilities and Miss Walker's amounts to a colossal mismatch, Mr. Spielberg's Color Purple manages to have momentum, warmth and staying power all the same.[7]
Variety found the film over-sentimental, writing, "there are some great scenes and great performances in The Color Purple, but it is not a great film. Steven Spielberg's turn at 'serious' film-making is marred in more than one place by overblown production that threatens to drown in its own emotions."[8]
In addition, some critics alleged that the movie stereotyped black people in general[9] and black men in particular,[10] pointing to the fact that Spielberg, a white man, had directed a predominantly African American story.[11]
Filmmaker Oliver Stone defended The Color Purple as "an excellent movie, and it was an attempt to deal with an issue that had been overlooked, and it wouldn't have been done if it hadn't been Spielberg. And it's not like everyone says, that he ruined the book. That's horseshit. Nobody was going to do the book. He made the book live again."[12]
Box office[edit]
The Color Purple was a success at the box office, staying in U.S. theaters for 21 weeks,[13] and grossing over $142 million worldwide.[14] In terms of box office income, it ranked as the #1 rated PG-13 movie released in 1985, and #4 overall.[13]
Awards[edit]




Alice Walker discusses the film







from the BBC programme Desert Island Discs, 19 May 2013[15]

Problems playing this file? See media help.
The Color Purple was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Goldberg and Best Supporting Actress for both Avery and Winfrey.[16] It failed to win any of them, tying the record set by 1977's The Turning Point for the most Oscar nominations without a single win.[10]
Academy Awards nominationsBest Picture
Best Actress in a Leading Role - Whoopi Goldberg
Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Margaret Avery
Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Oprah Winfrey
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
Best Cinematography - Allen Daviau
Best Art Direction – Set Decoration - J. Michael Riva, Bo Welch, Linda DeScenna
Best Costume Design - Aggie Guerard Rodgers
Best Makeup - Ken Chase
Best Music, Original Score
Best Original Song ("Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)")
The Color Purple was nominated for four Golden Globes, including Best Picture (Drama), Best Director for Spielberg, and Best Supporting Actress for Winfrey. Its only win went to Goldberg for Best Actress (Drama).
Menno Meyjes was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Spielberg received the Directors Guild of America Award for Best Motion Picture Director, his first.
The film was shown at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival as a non-competing title.[17]
Popular culture[edit]
Dialogue from the film was sampled in the 2012 mixtape Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss by Mykki Blanco.[18]
See also[edit]
List of American films of 1985
The Color Purple (musical), the musical version of the novel.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "The Color Purple filming locations". The 80s Movie Rewind. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
2.Jump up ^ Corliss, Richard (Dec 23, 1985). "Cinema: The Three Faces of Steve the Color Purple". Time. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
3.Jump up ^ Russell, Candice (Mar 6, 1986). "Actress Gains Visibility, Respect With 'Purple'". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-12-04.
4.Jump up ^ "The Color Purple (1985)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2011-12-08.
5.Jump up ^ Ebert, Roger (Dec 20, 1985). "The Color Purple". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
6.Jump up ^ Siskel, Gene (Dec 20, 1985). "Color Purple: Powerful, Daring, Sweetly Uplifting". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
7.Jump up ^ Maslin, Janet (Dec 18, 1985). "Film: 'The Color Purple,' from Steven Spielberg". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
8.Jump up ^ "The Color Purple". Variety. Dec 31, 1984. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
9.Jump up ^ Clegg II, Legrand H.(Chairman, Coalition Against Black Exploitation, Compton) (Feb 16, 1986). "Bad Black Roles In 'Purple'". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Friendly, David T. (Mar 27, 1986). "Academy Hits Racism Accusation". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
11.Jump up ^ Matthews, Jack (Jan 31, 1986). "3 'Color Purple' Actresses Talk About Its Impact". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
12.Jump up ^ Cooper, Marc. Oliver Stone interview from Playboy Magazine (1988), in Stone, Oliver and Silet, Charles L.P., editors. Oliver Stone—Interviews, University Press of Mississippi (2006), p. 87.
13.^ Jump up to: a b "The Color Purple," Box Office Mojo. Accessed Dec. 9, 2011.
14.Jump up ^ Matthews, Jack (Dec 25, 1985). "A Strong Start for 'Color Purple' in Christmas Box Office Race". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
15.Jump up ^ "Alice Walker". Desert Island Discs. 19 May 2013. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
16.Jump up ^ "'Out of Africa' Ties as Oscar Nominees: 11 Citations; Spielberg Not Named". The Los Angeles Times. Feb 5, 1986. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
17.Jump up ^ "Festival de Cannes: The". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
18.Jump up ^ "Download Mykki Blanco's Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss mixtape". FACT. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Color Purple (film)
The Color Purple at the Internet Movie Database
The Color Purple at the TCM Movie Database
The Color Purple at AllMovie
The Color Purple at Rotten Tomatoes


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Categories: 1985 films
English-language films
1980s drama films
African-American films
Amblin Entertainment films
American drama films
American LGBT-related films
Feminist films
Film scores by Quincy Jones
Films about race and ethnicity
Films about racism
Films based on American novels
Films directed by Steven Spielberg
Films featuring a Best Drama Actress Golden Globe winning performance
Films produced by Steven Spielberg
Films set in the 1900s
Films set in the 1910s
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The Color Purple (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


The Color Purple
The Color Purple poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster by John Alvin

Directed by
Steven Spielberg
Produced by
Steven Spielberg
Kathleen Kennedy
Quincy Jones
Frank Marshall
Screenplay by
Menno Meyjes
Based on
The Color Purple
 by Alice Walker
Starring
Danny Glover
Whoopi Goldberg
Margaret Avery
Oprah Winfrey
Adolph Caesar
Rae Dawn Chong
Music by
Quincy Jones
Cinematography
Allen Daviau
Edited by
Michael Kahn

Production
 company

Amblin Entertainment

Distributed by
Warner Bros. Pictures

Release dates

December 18, 1985


Running time
 154 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$15 million
Box office
$142 million
The Color Purple is a 1985 American period drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Alice Walker. It was Spielberg's eighth film as a director, and was a change from the summer blockbusters for which he had become famous. It is also the only feature-length film in Spielberg's entire career for which John Williams has not composed the music. The film starred Danny Glover, Desreta Jackson, Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey (in her film debut), Adolph Caesar, Rae Dawn Chong, and introduced Whoopi Goldberg as Celie Harris.
Filmed in Anson and Union counties in North Carolina,[1] the film tells the story of a young African American girl named Celie Harris and shows the problems African American women faced during the early 1900s, including poverty, racism, and sexism. Celie is transformed as she finds her self-worth through the help of two strong female companions.[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Reception 3.1 Critical response
3.2 Box office
3.3 Awards
4 Popular culture
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Plot[edit]
Taking place in the Southern United States between 1909 and 1936, the movie tells the life of a poor African American woman named Celie Harris (Whoopi Goldberg) whose abuse begins when she is young. By the time she is 14, she has already had two children by her father Alphonso "James" Harris (Leonard Jackson). He takes them away from her at childbirth and forces the young Celie (Desreta Jackson) to marry a wealthy young local widower Albert Johnson, known to her only as "Mister" (Danny Glover), who treats her like a slave. Albert makes her clean up his disorderly household and take care of his unruly children. Albert beats and rapes her often, intimidating Celie into submission and near silence. Celie's sister Nettie (Akosua Busia) comes to live with them, and there is a brief period of happiness as the sisters spend time together and Nettie begins to teach Celie how to read. This is short-lived; after Nettie refuses Albert's predatory affections once too often, he kicks her out. Before being run off by Albert, Nettie promises to write to Celie saying, "Nothing but death can keep me from her!".
Albert's old flame, jazz singer Shug Avery (Margaret Avery), for whom Albert has carried a torch for many years, comes to live with him and Celie. Delirious with sickness, Shug initially declares Celie as "ugly" on their first meeting. Despite this, they eventually become close friends and Shug helps Celie raise her self-confidence. Shug and Celie enter into a sexual relationship (more pronounced in the book, but only hinted at in the film).[3] Celie also finds strength in Sofia (Oprah Winfrey), who marries Albert's son Harpo (Willard E. Pugh). Sofia has suffered abuse from the men in her family, but unlike Celie, she refuses to tolerate it. This high-spiritedness proves to be her downfall, as a rude remark to the town mayor's wife and a retaliatory punch to the mayor himself ends with Sofia beaten and jailed.
Meanwhile, Nettie has been living with missionaries in Africa and writing frequently to Celie - however, Celie is unaware of the correspondence, as Albert has confiscated the letters, forbidding Celie to touch the mailbox, telling Celie that she will never hear from her sister again. During a visit from Shug and her new husband Grady, Celie and Shug discover many years' worth of Nettie's correspondence. Reconnecting with her sister and the assurance that she is still alive helps give Celie the strength to stand up to Albert. She prepares to slit his throat while shaving him, but is physically stopped by Shug.
During a subsequent family dinner, Sofia is shown to be prematurely aged and permanently disfigured due to the severe beatings she received in jail, and demoralized into an almost catatonic state. At the dinner, Celie finally asserts herself, excoriating Albert and his father. Shug informs Albert that she and Grady are leaving, and that Celie is coming with them. Harpo's girlfriend Squeak (Rae Dawn Chong) declares she is going with them as well. Despite Albert's attempts to verbally abuse Celie into submission, she stands up to him by mentioning that he kept Nettie away from her because Nettie was the only one who really loved her. Seeing Celie stand up for herself, Sofia returns to her normal self, laughing hysterically at a dumbfounded and embarrassed Albert. She also warns Celie not to follow in her own footsteps as Celie holds a knife to Albert's throat. It is at this point Celie curses Albert saying, "Until you do right by me, everything you think about gonna fail". As Shug, Grady, Squeak, and Celie go quickly to the car, Albert readies to beat Celie, but she stands up on the sideboards of Grady's car and curses Albert by raising her hand in his face with a determined stare. Dumbfounded, Albert backs away and the car drives off.
In Tennessee, Celie opens a haberdashery, making and selling one-size-fits-all slacks for men and women. Upon the death of her father, she learns that he was, in fact, her stepfather, and that she has inherited her childhood home, the farm, and a shop from her real father. She opens her second slacks shop in town, naming it Miss Celie's Folks Pants, while Harpo and Sofia reconcile. Meanwhile, Albert is feeling the effects of Celie's words. His fields and home languish into almost nonexistence as he slips into alcohol-fueled idleness, spending most of his time at Harpo's Juke joint. At one point, his father is seen suggesting that he find a new wife, but Albert casually grabs his father by the arm and turns him off his property. Years of guilt finally catch up with Albert, with the knowledge that he has been a horrible person most of his life, especially to Celie. In a sudden act of kindness unknown to her, Albert takes all the money he has saved over the years, goes to the immigration office, and arranges for Nettie, her husband, and Celie's two children and daughter-in-law to come back to America from Africa. Celie's children, Adam and Olivia, are reunited with her at Celie's farm. Albert looks on from a distance, and Shug smiles at him because he finally did the right thing. Nettie and Celie play their childhood clapping game as the sun sets.
Cast[edit]
Whoopi Goldberg as Celie Harris Johnson
Danny Glover as Albert Johnson ("Mister")
Oprah Winfrey as Sofia
Margaret Avery as Shug Avery
Akosua Busia as Nettie Harris
Adolph Caesar as Old Mister
Willard Pugh as Harpo Johnson
Rae Dawn Chong as Squeak
Laurence Fishburne as Swain
Grand Bush as Randy
Dana Ivey as Miss Millie
Leon Rippy as Store Clerk
Bennet Guillory as Grady
James Tillis as Henry "Buster" Broadnax
Desreta Jackson as Young Celie Harris
Leonard Jackson as Alphonso "Pa" Harris
Howard Starr as Young Harpo Johnson
Lelo Masamba as Olivia Johnson
Táta Vega serves as "The singing voice" of Shug Avery
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
The Color Purple received mostly positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 88% based on reviews from 26 critics, with an average score of 6.9/10. The site's consensus is that the film is "a sentimental tale that reveals great emotional truths in American history."[4]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film four stars, calling it "the year's best film." He also praised Whoopi Goldberg, calling her role "one of the most amazing debut performances in movie history" and predicting she would win the Academy Award for best actress. (She was nominated but did not win.) Ebert wrote of The Color Purple:

The world of Celie and the others is created so forcibly in this movie that their corner of the South becomes one of those movie places — like Oz, like Tara, like Casablanca — that lay claim to their own geography in our imaginations. The affirmation at the end of the film is so joyous that this is one of the few movies in a long time that inspires tears of happiness, and earns them.[5]
Ebert's long-time television collaborator, Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune, praised the film as "triumphantly emotional and brave," calling it Spielberg's "successful attempt to enlarge his reputation as a director of youthful entertainments." Siskel wrote that The Color Purple was "a plea for respect for black women." Although acknowledging that the film was a period drama, he praised its "... incredibly strong stand against the way black men treat black women. Cruel is too kind a word to describe their behavior. The principal black men in The Color Purple use their women — both wives and daughters — as sexual chattel."[6]
New York Times film critic Janet Maslin noted the film's divergence from Walker's book, but made the case that this shift works:

Mr. Spielberg has looked on the sunny side of Miss Walker's novel, fashioning a grand, multi-hanky entertainment that is as pretty and lavish as the book is plain. If the book is set in the harsh, impoverished atmosphere of rural Georgia, the movie unfolds in a cozy, comfortable, flower-filled wonderland. ... Some parts of it are rapturous and stirring, others hugely improbable, and the film moves unpredictably from one mode to another. From another director, this might be fatally confusing, but Mr. Spielberg's showmanship is still with him. Although the combination of his sensibilities and Miss Walker's amounts to a colossal mismatch, Mr. Spielberg's Color Purple manages to have momentum, warmth and staying power all the same.[7]
Variety found the film over-sentimental, writing, "there are some great scenes and great performances in The Color Purple, but it is not a great film. Steven Spielberg's turn at 'serious' film-making is marred in more than one place by overblown production that threatens to drown in its own emotions."[8]
In addition, some critics alleged that the movie stereotyped black people in general[9] and black men in particular,[10] pointing to the fact that Spielberg, a white man, had directed a predominantly African American story.[11]
Filmmaker Oliver Stone defended The Color Purple as "an excellent movie, and it was an attempt to deal with an issue that had been overlooked, and it wouldn't have been done if it hadn't been Spielberg. And it's not like everyone says, that he ruined the book. That's horseshit. Nobody was going to do the book. He made the book live again."[12]
Box office[edit]
The Color Purple was a success at the box office, staying in U.S. theaters for 21 weeks,[13] and grossing over $142 million worldwide.[14] In terms of box office income, it ranked as the #1 rated PG-13 movie released in 1985, and #4 overall.[13]
Awards[edit]




Alice Walker discusses the film







from the BBC programme Desert Island Discs, 19 May 2013[15]

Problems playing this file? See media help.
The Color Purple was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Goldberg and Best Supporting Actress for both Avery and Winfrey.[16] It failed to win any of them, tying the record set by 1977's The Turning Point for the most Oscar nominations without a single win.[10]
Academy Awards nominationsBest Picture
Best Actress in a Leading Role - Whoopi Goldberg
Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Margaret Avery
Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Oprah Winfrey
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
Best Cinematography - Allen Daviau
Best Art Direction – Set Decoration - J. Michael Riva, Bo Welch, Linda DeScenna
Best Costume Design - Aggie Guerard Rodgers
Best Makeup - Ken Chase
Best Music, Original Score
Best Original Song ("Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)")
The Color Purple was nominated for four Golden Globes, including Best Picture (Drama), Best Director for Spielberg, and Best Supporting Actress for Winfrey. Its only win went to Goldberg for Best Actress (Drama).
Menno Meyjes was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Spielberg received the Directors Guild of America Award for Best Motion Picture Director, his first.
The film was shown at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival as a non-competing title.[17]
Popular culture[edit]
Dialogue from the film was sampled in the 2012 mixtape Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss by Mykki Blanco.[18]
See also[edit]
List of American films of 1985
The Color Purple (musical), the musical version of the novel.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "The Color Purple filming locations". The 80s Movie Rewind. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
2.Jump up ^ Corliss, Richard (Dec 23, 1985). "Cinema: The Three Faces of Steve the Color Purple". Time. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
3.Jump up ^ Russell, Candice (Mar 6, 1986). "Actress Gains Visibility, Respect With 'Purple'". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-12-04.
4.Jump up ^ "The Color Purple (1985)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2011-12-08.
5.Jump up ^ Ebert, Roger (Dec 20, 1985). "The Color Purple". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
6.Jump up ^ Siskel, Gene (Dec 20, 1985). "Color Purple: Powerful, Daring, Sweetly Uplifting". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
7.Jump up ^ Maslin, Janet (Dec 18, 1985). "Film: 'The Color Purple,' from Steven Spielberg". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
8.Jump up ^ "The Color Purple". Variety. Dec 31, 1984. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
9.Jump up ^ Clegg II, Legrand H.(Chairman, Coalition Against Black Exploitation, Compton) (Feb 16, 1986). "Bad Black Roles In 'Purple'". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Friendly, David T. (Mar 27, 1986). "Academy Hits Racism Accusation". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
11.Jump up ^ Matthews, Jack (Jan 31, 1986). "3 'Color Purple' Actresses Talk About Its Impact". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
12.Jump up ^ Cooper, Marc. Oliver Stone interview from Playboy Magazine (1988), in Stone, Oliver and Silet, Charles L.P., editors. Oliver Stone—Interviews, University Press of Mississippi (2006), p. 87.
13.^ Jump up to: a b "The Color Purple," Box Office Mojo. Accessed Dec. 9, 2011.
14.Jump up ^ Matthews, Jack (Dec 25, 1985). "A Strong Start for 'Color Purple' in Christmas Box Office Race". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
15.Jump up ^ "Alice Walker". Desert Island Discs. 19 May 2013. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
16.Jump up ^ "'Out of Africa' Ties as Oscar Nominees: 11 Citations; Spielberg Not Named". The Los Angeles Times. Feb 5, 1986. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
17.Jump up ^ "Festival de Cannes: The". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
18.Jump up ^ "Download Mykki Blanco's Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss mixtape". FACT. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Color Purple (film)
The Color Purple at the Internet Movie Database
The Color Purple at the TCM Movie Database
The Color Purple at AllMovie
The Color Purple at Rotten Tomatoes


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Steven Spielberg



















































































[show]
v ·
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 e
 
Works of Alice Walker






























































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture







































  


Categories: 1985 films
English-language films
1980s drama films
African-American films
Amblin Entertainment films
American drama films
American LGBT-related films
Feminist films
Film scores by Quincy Jones
Films about race and ethnicity
Films about racism
Films based on American novels
Films directed by Steven Spielberg
Films featuring a Best Drama Actress Golden Globe winning performance
Films produced by Steven Spielberg
Films set in the 1900s
Films set in the 1910s
Films set in the 1920s
Films set in the 1930s
Films shot in North Carolina
Warner Bros. films






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The Color Purple (musical)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


The Color Purple
Color purple poster.jpg
Original poster from The Broadway Theatre production, 2005

Music
Brenda Russell
Allee Willis
Stephen Bray
Lyrics
Brenda Russell
 Allee Willis
 Stephen Bray
Book
Marsha Norman
Basis
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Productions
2005 Broadway
 2007 Chicago
 2007 1st US Tour
 2010 2nd US Tour
 2011 Vienna
 2012 3rd US Tour
 2013 Off-West End
 2015 Broadway revival
The Color Purple is a Broadway musical based upon the novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker. It features music and lyrics written by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, with a book by Marsha Norman. It ran on Broadway in 2005 and has been touring throughout the US. The Broadway production earned eleven 2006 Tony Awards nominations.


Contents  [hide]
1 Productions 1.1 Workshop and World premiere (2004-2005)
1.2 Broadway (2005-2008)
1.3 First National Tour (2007-2010)
1.4 Chicago (2007)
1.5 Second National Tour (2010-2011)
1.6 Third National Tour (2012-)
1.7 London Production (2013)
2 Synopsis 2.1 Act I
2.2 Act II
3 Musical numbers
4 Awards and nominations 4.1 Original Broadway production
5 References
6 External links

Productions[edit]
Workshop and World premiere (2004-2005)[edit]
The Color Purple was originally workshopped by the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, in the summer of 2004. The September 9, 2004, world premiere of the musical was produced by the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta by special arrangement with Creative Battery and Scott Sanders Productions.
For the Atlanta run, La Chanze starred as Celie, Felicia P. Fields as Sofia, Saycon Sengbloh as Nettie, Adriane Lenox as Shug and Kingsley Leggs as Mister. Gary Griffin staged the work, with scenic design by John Lee Beatty, lighting by Brian MacDevitt, costumes by Paul Tazewell and sound by Jon Weston.[1][2]
Broadway (2005-2008)[edit]
The musical opened on Broadway at The Broadway Theatre on December 1, 2005. It was directed by Gary Griffin, produced by Scott Sanders, Quincy Jones and Oprah Winfrey, with choreography by Donald Byrd and musical direction by Linda Twine. The musical closed on February 24, 2008, after 30 previews and 910 regular performances. The Broadway production recouped its $11 million investment within its first year on Broadway, and has grossed over $103 million to date.[3]
The original Broadway production starred LaChanze as Celie, Brandon Victor Dixon as Harpo, Felicia P. Fields as Sofia, Renée Elise Goldsberry as Nettie, Kingsley Leggs as Mister, Krisha Marcano as Squeak, and Elisabeth Withers-Mendes as Shug Avery. The role of Celie has since been played by Jeannette Bayardelle, Kenita R. Miller, and from April 2007 to January 2008, Fantasia Barrino.[4]
First National Tour (2007-2010)[edit]
Chicago (2007)[edit]
The First National tour began on April 17, 2007, starting with an extended run at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. The company includes LaToya London as Nettie, Michelle Williams as Shug Avery, Felicia P. Fields as Sofia, and Jeannette Bayardelle as Celie, Stephanie St. James as Squeak. Bayardelle and Fields both are reprising their roles from Broadway. The show exceeded expectations, which necessitated a four week extension of its Chicago engagement until September 30, 2007.[5] The original expectation was that the show would run in Chicago until November.[6] In all, the show produced respectable business results bringing in about $1 million per week for the first half of the engagement, but less during the summer months when the ticket prices were reduced to $39.50 to keep the theater full.[7]
Chicago was notable as a starting point of the national tour because Oprah Winfrey, a 1986 Academy Awards nominee in the film adaptation[8] is a Chicago resident.[9][10] In addition, Felicia Fields is a Chicago native and resident. It was also a homecoming for Gary Griffin. Both Fields and Griffin made their broadway theatre debuts with this musical.[11] As a result of the Chicago connections the Chicago premiere had a star-studded red carpet with Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Jesse Jackson, R. Kelly, and Roger Ebert.[12] Others in attendance included United States Senator Carol Moseley Braun and Christie Hefner.[13] Coverage of the Chicago premiere was prominent in international media.[14]
The First National tour recently played in Los Angeles, California at the Pantages Theatre on February 28, 2010. Fantasia Barrino, who starred as "Celie" on Broadway, reprised her role, in her last performance in the role.
Second National Tour (2010-2011)[edit]
A second national tour with a new non-Equity cast opened on March 12, 2010 at the Lyric Opera House and visited numerous US cities, making several return engagements. The role of Celie was played by Detroit native Dayna Jarae Dantzler. The role of Shug Avery was played by New Orleans native Taprena Augustine. Tour stops include Omaha, Nashville, Fort Lauderdale, Mobile, Durham, and more.[15][16] Due to an overwhelming demand, the tour returned to New Orleans where it played a 5-show limited-engagement at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts from February 11–13, 2011.[17]
Third National Tour (2012-)[edit]
A third national with a non-Equity cast opened January 17, 2012 at the Francis Marion University PAC, in Florence, South Carolina, with previews in New Haven, CT at the Schubert Theater. The role of Celie is played by Washington, D.C. native, Ashley L. Ware, and Taprena Augustine has reprised her role as Shug Avery alongside Dayna Quincy taking the role of Nettie (later taking the role of Celie at Toby's Dinner Theatre in Columbia). Tour stops include Nevada (Las Vegas & Reno), Alabama (Mobile), Pennsylvania (Williamsport, Reading & Bloomsburg), and more.[16]



London Production (2013)[edit]
A first international production opened in London at The Menier Chocolate Factory on July 17, 2013. The limited run ended on 14th September, 2013. The cast included Cynthia Erivo (Celie) and Nicola Hughes (Shug).
Synopsis[edit]
Act I[edit]
As the story begins, it is Sunday morning in rural Georgia, 1909. "Po' chil" (Poor child) Celie, 14 years old and pregnant for the second time, is playing a clapping game with her beloved sister Nettie ("Huckleberry Pie"). When she comes to church with her sister and their Pa, Celie goes into labor before the service ends ("Mysterious Ways"). Later, Pa takes Celie's baby from her arms ("Somebody Gonna Love You"), saying he is going to get rid of it, "same as the last one," and that she better not tell anybody except God what happened. Celie asks God for a sign, something that will let her know what is happening to her.
A few years later, when a local farmer, Mister, needs a wife to take care of his children, Pa says Nettie is too young, but offers him Celie instead, and throws a cow into a bargain. Although the girls vow never to be parted ("Our Prayer"), Celie goes with Mister to save Nettie's dreams of becoming a teacher. As the local Church Ladies cluck their approval ("That Fine Mister"), Mister's field hands introduce Celie to her life of hard work at Mister's ("Big Dog"). Nettie arrives one day, having fled from Pa's lecherous attentions, and asks if she can stay. Mister agrees, but then attacks Nettie on her way to school. When she fights back, he throws her off his property, swearing that the girls will never see each other again ("Lily of the Field"). Nettie promises to write to Celie as she is cast away from Mister's home. However, when Celie attempts to open the mailbox, Mister promptly rebuffs her, threatening her with death if she ever touches it again.
Mister's son, Harpo, grows up and soon brings home Sofia, a proud and strong-willed woman ("Dear God - Sofia") whom he loves and later marries. But eventually, Harpo tires of being bossed around by Sofia. Mister tells him he has to beat Sofia if he wants her to mind. Even Celie, who has endured such abuse from Mister, agrees this is the only way to make a woman "jump when he says to." But Sofia gives as good as she gets ("A Tree Named Sofia"), and is victorious in beating Harpo instead. Angered by Celie's suggestion, she confronts her ("Hell No!"), but her anger subsides when Sofia realizes how much Celie has suffered from Mister's cruelty. Not long after that, Sofia's sisters arrive to take her away. Sofia tries to convince Celie to come with her, but she declines. Left alone, Harpo turns his home into a juke joint and hires a new waitress, Squeak, to work there ("Brown Betty"). Love-stricken, Squeak soon moves in with Harpo.
The whole town prepares for the arrival of Shug Avery, a sexy singer who is Mister's longtime lover ("Shug Avery Comin' to Town"). But when Shug arrives, she is in such bad shape that in spite of local disapproval ("All We've Got to Say"), Mister brings her home where Celie nurses her back to health ("Dear God - Shug"). As Celie takes care of Shug, she begins to experience feelings of affection and tenderness for the first time, as Shug befriends her ("Too Beautiful for Words"'). When Shug sings at Harpo's Juke Joint ("Push Da Button"), Sofia returns with her new boyfriend and gets into a fight with Squeak ("Uh Oh!"). In Mister's house, Shug and Celie explore their newfound love for each other ("What About Love?"). Shug gives Celie a letter she found from "someone in Africa, goin' by the stamps." Celie recognizes Nettie's handwriting and knows instantly that her beloved sister is alive ("Act I Finale").
Act II[edit]
Celie discovers the rest of the numerous letters that Mister has hidden over the years, and learns that Nettie traveled to Africa with the missionary family that also adopted Celie’s babies, and that they are now residing in an African refugee camp ("African Homeland"). Meanwhile, in Georgia, Sofia has been beaten and thrown into jail for punching the mayor. (When his wife asks Sofia to be her maid, and Sofia refuses, the mayor decides to intervene and is then subjected to Sofia’s harsh temper.) Celie goes to the jail to comfort her, and learns that Sofia will have to serve out her sentence in the custody of the Mayor’s wife, thus reducing her to the very thing she fought so hard against. Twelve years later, Sofia and Shug both return home for Easter. Shug discovers the extent of Celie’s anger towards God ("The Color Purple") and invites her to come live with her and her new husband in Memphis.
After Easter dinner ("Church Ladies’ Easter"), Celie tells Mister that she is leaving. He protests and she finally confronts him about his cruel treatment of her over the years ("I Curse You, Mister"). Squeak is off to Memphis also, stating that she wants to sing. Harpo defends her choice to his father, and long after they leave, he invites Sofia to come back and live at the Juke Joint, reconciling with her in the process. Soon, Mister begins to feel the effect of Celie’s curse. He’s drunk nearly all of the time, and is shunned by everyone. Harpo challenges his father to make things right with Celie, and Mister attempts to understand what that might mean ("Mister's Song - Celie’s Curse").
At Shug’s house in Memphis, Celie discovers that she has a natural gift for making pants. When she inherits the house she once lived and grew up in, she goes home and starts a business selling her unique designs ("Miss Celie’s Pants"). Mister tries to help Sofia’s sickly youngest child Henrietta, and even Celie has to admit that Mister is trying to change. Harpo and Sofia are spending a pleasant night at home ("Any Little Thing") when Mister comes to tell them that he has found Nettie, but that she is having some difficulty getting home from Africa. Shug tells Celie that she has fallen in love with a young flute player, and asks her to let her have one last fling with him ("What About Love? - Reprise"). Walking home, Celie realizes that she isn’t destroyed by this, and feels a deep love for herself, for the very first time ("I’m Here").
1949. As the whole community is gathered for a Fourth of July picnic at Celie’s home, Celie hears a car horn, then a familiar song from her childhood. Nettie runs towards the house, with Celie’s adult children following close behind. Mister and Shug have made this reunion possible, and Celie thanks them, and God, for the safe return of her family ("The Color Purple"- Reprise).
Musical numbers[edit]
Act I"Overture" - Orchestra
"Huckleberry Pie/Mysterious Ways" - Young Celie and Young Nettie / Celie, Nettie, and Ensemble
"Somebody Gonna Love You" - Celie
"Our Prayer" - Nettie, Celie, Mister, Doris, Darlene, Jarene, and Pa
"That Fine Mister" - Doris, Darlene, and Jarene
"Big Dog" - Mister, Celie, Young Harpo, Mister's Daughters, and Male Ensemble
"Lily of the Field" - Celie, Nettie, and Mister
"Dear God - Sofia" - Celie
"A Tree Named Sofia" - Doris, Darlene, and Jarene
"Hell No!" - Sofia, Celie, and Female Ensemble
"Brown Betty" - Harpo, Squeak, Celie, and Male Ensemble
"Shug Avery Comin' to Town" - Mister, Celie, and Ensemble
"All We've Got to Say" - Doris, Darlene, and Jarene
"Dear God - Shug" - Celie and Shug
"Too Beautiful for Words" - Shug
"Push Da Button" - Shug, Harpo, and Ensemble
"Uh-Oh!" - Sofia, Squeak, Celie, Buster, and Female Ensemble
"What About Love?" - Celie and Shug
Act I Finale" - Orchestra, Shug, Celie, and Nettie
 Act II"African Homeland" - Nettie, Celie, Young Adam, Young Olivia, and Ensemble
"The Color Purple" - Shug and Celie
"Church Ladies' Easter" - Doris, Darlene, and Jarene
"I Curse You Mister" - Celie and Mister
"Mister's Song - Celie's Curse" - Mister
"Miss Celie's Pants" - Celie, Shug, Sofia, and Female Ensemble
"Any Little Thing" - Harpo and Sofia
"What About Love? (Reprise)" - Celie and Shug
"I'm Here" - Celie
"The Color Purple (Reprise)" - Celie, and Company



 Cover for the original Broadway cast recording
Awards and nominations[edit]
Original Broadway production[edit]

Year
Award Ceremony
Category
Nominee
Result
2006 Tony Award Best Musical Nominated
Best Book of a Musical Marsha Norman Nominated
Best Original Score Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray Nominated
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical LaChanze Won
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Brandon Victor Dixon Nominated
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical Felicia P. Fields Nominated
Elizabeth Withers-Mendez Nominated
Best Choreography Donald Byrd Nominated
Best Scenic Design John Lee Beatty Nominated
Best Costume Design Paul Tazewell Nominated
Best Lighting Design Brian MacDevitt Nominated
Theatre World Award Felicia P. Fields Won
Elisabeth Withers-Mendes Won
2007 Grammy Award Best Musical Show Album Nominated
Theatre World Award Fantasia Barrino Won
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Alice Walker Novel Sings as 'The Color Purple' Musical Starts World Premiere, Sept. 9" playbill.com, September 2004
2.Jump up ^ Broadwayworld.com, March 2004 "Alliance Theatre to Premiere 'The Color Purple' A New Musical" broadwayworld.com, 2004
3.Jump up ^ "Broadway's 'The Color Purple' Will Close Feb. 24" playbill.com, January 24, 2008.
4.Jump up ^ "American Idol's Fantasia Barrino to Join The Color Purple". broadwayworld.com. Wisdom Digital Media. 2007-02-22. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
5.Jump up ^ Hetrick, Adam (2007-07-17). "The Color Purple Extends Chicago Run By a Month". Playbill News. Playbill, Inc. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
6.Jump up ^ "The Color Purple to Begin National Tour in Chicago in 2007". Broadway.com, Inc. 2006-03-06. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
7.Jump up ^ Jones, Chris (2007-09-28). "'Color Purple' makes its exit". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
8.Jump up ^ "The Color Purple (1985)". rogerebert.com. 2004-03-28. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
9.Jump up ^ "Oprah at Chicago premiere of 'Purple'". USA TODAY. 2007-05-06. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
10.Jump up ^ "Oprah Winfrey attends Chicago premiere of "The Color Purple"". the International Herald Tribune. 2007-05-03. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
11.Jump up ^ Morgan, Scott C. (2007-05-09). "Theater: The Color Purple". Windy City Times. Windy City Media Group. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
12.Jump up ^ Baca, Stacey (2007-05-04). "Winfrey attends Chicago premiere of 'The Color Purple'". ABC Inc., WLS-TV/DT Chicago, IL. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
13.Jump up ^ "Oprah's 'Purple' Opens In Chicago: Local Celebrities Step Onto Red Carpet". NBC Universal, Inc. 2007-05-04. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
14.Jump up ^ "People: Avril Lavigne, Oprah Winfrey, Don Imus". the International Herald Tribune. 2007-05-04. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
15.Jump up ^ "'The Color Purple' tour listing" phoenix-ent.com
16.^ Jump up to: a b [1] colorpurple.com
17.Jump up ^ [2] facebook.com
External links[edit]
Official site
The Color Purple at the Internet Broadway Database
The Color Purple Audition Advice & Show Information from MusicalTheatreAudition.net
The Color Purple at Broadway Theater
Wanabehuman: Theatre review - The Color Purple, New York City
The Color Purple on Broadway.com


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Works of Alice Walker


Novels and
 short story collections
The Third Life of Grange Copeland (1970) ·
 Everyday Use (1973) ·
 In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women (1973) ·
 Roselily (1973) ·
 Meridian (1976) ·
 The Color Purple (1982) ·
 You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down: Stories (1982) ·
 Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self (1983) ·
 Am I Blue? (1986) ·
 To Hell With Dying (1988) ·
 The Temple of My Familiar (1989) ·
 Finding the Green Stone (1991) ·
 Possessing the Secret of Joy (1992) ·
 The Complete Stories (1994) ·
 By The Light of My Father's Smile (1998) ·
 The Way Forward Is with a Broken Heart (2000) ·
 Now Is The Time to Open Your Heart (2005) ·
 Devil's My Enemy (2008)
 

Poetry collections
Once (1968) ·
 Revolutionary Petunias and Other Poems (1973) ·
 Good Night, Willie Lee, I'll See You in the Morning (1979) ·
 Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful (1985) ·
 Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems (1991) ·
 Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth (2003) ·
 A Poem Traveled Down My Arm: Poems And Drawings (2003) ·
 Collected Poems (2005) ·
 Poem at Thirty-Nine ·
 Expect nothing
 

Non-fiction
In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose (1983) ·
 Living by the Word (1988) ·
 Warrior Marks (1993) ·
 The Same River Twice: Honoring the Difficult (1996) ·
 Anything We Love Can Be Saved: A Writer's Activism (1997) ·
 Go Girl!: The Black Woman's Book of Travel and Adventure (1997) ·
 Pema Chodron and Alice Walker in Conversation (1999) ·
 Sent By Earth: A Message from the Grandmother Spirit After the Bombing of the World Trade Center and Pentagon (2001) ·
 Women ·
 We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For (2006) ·
 Mississippi Winter IV
 

See also
The Color Purple (film) ·
 The Color Purple (musical)
 

  


Categories: 2005 musicals
All-Black cast Broadway shows
Broadway musicals
Musicals based on novels
Musicals based on films
LGBT-related musicals


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The Color Purple (musical)
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The Color Purple
Color purple poster.jpg
Original poster from The Broadway Theatre production, 2005

Music
Brenda Russell
Allee Willis
Stephen Bray
Lyrics
Brenda Russell
 Allee Willis
 Stephen Bray
Book
Marsha Norman
Basis
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Productions
2005 Broadway
 2007 Chicago
 2007 1st US Tour
 2010 2nd US Tour
 2011 Vienna
 2012 3rd US Tour
 2013 Off-West End
 2015 Broadway revival
The Color Purple is a Broadway musical based upon the novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker. It features music and lyrics written by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, with a book by Marsha Norman. It ran on Broadway in 2005 and has been touring throughout the US. The Broadway production earned eleven 2006 Tony Awards nominations.


Contents  [hide]
1 Productions 1.1 Workshop and World premiere (2004-2005)
1.2 Broadway (2005-2008)
1.3 First National Tour (2007-2010)
1.4 Chicago (2007)
1.5 Second National Tour (2010-2011)
1.6 Third National Tour (2012-)
1.7 London Production (2013)
2 Synopsis 2.1 Act I
2.2 Act II
3 Musical numbers
4 Awards and nominations 4.1 Original Broadway production
5 References
6 External links

Productions[edit]
Workshop and World premiere (2004-2005)[edit]
The Color Purple was originally workshopped by the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, in the summer of 2004. The September 9, 2004, world premiere of the musical was produced by the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta by special arrangement with Creative Battery and Scott Sanders Productions.
For the Atlanta run, La Chanze starred as Celie, Felicia P. Fields as Sofia, Saycon Sengbloh as Nettie, Adriane Lenox as Shug and Kingsley Leggs as Mister. Gary Griffin staged the work, with scenic design by John Lee Beatty, lighting by Brian MacDevitt, costumes by Paul Tazewell and sound by Jon Weston.[1][2]
Broadway (2005-2008)[edit]
The musical opened on Broadway at The Broadway Theatre on December 1, 2005. It was directed by Gary Griffin, produced by Scott Sanders, Quincy Jones and Oprah Winfrey, with choreography by Donald Byrd and musical direction by Linda Twine. The musical closed on February 24, 2008, after 30 previews and 910 regular performances. The Broadway production recouped its $11 million investment within its first year on Broadway, and has grossed over $103 million to date.[3]
The original Broadway production starred LaChanze as Celie, Brandon Victor Dixon as Harpo, Felicia P. Fields as Sofia, Renée Elise Goldsberry as Nettie, Kingsley Leggs as Mister, Krisha Marcano as Squeak, and Elisabeth Withers-Mendes as Shug Avery. The role of Celie has since been played by Jeannette Bayardelle, Kenita R. Miller, and from April 2007 to January 2008, Fantasia Barrino.[4]
First National Tour (2007-2010)[edit]
Chicago (2007)[edit]
The First National tour began on April 17, 2007, starting with an extended run at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. The company includes LaToya London as Nettie, Michelle Williams as Shug Avery, Felicia P. Fields as Sofia, and Jeannette Bayardelle as Celie, Stephanie St. James as Squeak. Bayardelle and Fields both are reprising their roles from Broadway. The show exceeded expectations, which necessitated a four week extension of its Chicago engagement until September 30, 2007.[5] The original expectation was that the show would run in Chicago until November.[6] In all, the show produced respectable business results bringing in about $1 million per week for the first half of the engagement, but less during the summer months when the ticket prices were reduced to $39.50 to keep the theater full.[7]
Chicago was notable as a starting point of the national tour because Oprah Winfrey, a 1986 Academy Awards nominee in the film adaptation[8] is a Chicago resident.[9][10] In addition, Felicia Fields is a Chicago native and resident. It was also a homecoming for Gary Griffin. Both Fields and Griffin made their broadway theatre debuts with this musical.[11] As a result of the Chicago connections the Chicago premiere had a star-studded red carpet with Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Jesse Jackson, R. Kelly, and Roger Ebert.[12] Others in attendance included United States Senator Carol Moseley Braun and Christie Hefner.[13] Coverage of the Chicago premiere was prominent in international media.[14]
The First National tour recently played in Los Angeles, California at the Pantages Theatre on February 28, 2010. Fantasia Barrino, who starred as "Celie" on Broadway, reprised her role, in her last performance in the role.
Second National Tour (2010-2011)[edit]
A second national tour with a new non-Equity cast opened on March 12, 2010 at the Lyric Opera House and visited numerous US cities, making several return engagements. The role of Celie was played by Detroit native Dayna Jarae Dantzler. The role of Shug Avery was played by New Orleans native Taprena Augustine. Tour stops include Omaha, Nashville, Fort Lauderdale, Mobile, Durham, and more.[15][16] Due to an overwhelming demand, the tour returned to New Orleans where it played a 5-show limited-engagement at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts from February 11–13, 2011.[17]
Third National Tour (2012-)[edit]
A third national with a non-Equity cast opened January 17, 2012 at the Francis Marion University PAC, in Florence, South Carolina, with previews in New Haven, CT at the Schubert Theater. The role of Celie is played by Washington, D.C. native, Ashley L. Ware, and Taprena Augustine has reprised her role as Shug Avery alongside Dayna Quincy taking the role of Nettie (later taking the role of Celie at Toby's Dinner Theatre in Columbia). Tour stops include Nevada (Las Vegas & Reno), Alabama (Mobile), Pennsylvania (Williamsport, Reading & Bloomsburg), and more.[16]



London Production (2013)[edit]
A first international production opened in London at The Menier Chocolate Factory on July 17, 2013. The limited run ended on 14th September, 2013. The cast included Cynthia Erivo (Celie) and Nicola Hughes (Shug).
Synopsis[edit]
Act I[edit]
As the story begins, it is Sunday morning in rural Georgia, 1909. "Po' chil" (Poor child) Celie, 14 years old and pregnant for the second time, is playing a clapping game with her beloved sister Nettie ("Huckleberry Pie"). When she comes to church with her sister and their Pa, Celie goes into labor before the service ends ("Mysterious Ways"). Later, Pa takes Celie's baby from her arms ("Somebody Gonna Love You"), saying he is going to get rid of it, "same as the last one," and that she better not tell anybody except God what happened. Celie asks God for a sign, something that will let her know what is happening to her.
A few years later, when a local farmer, Mister, needs a wife to take care of his children, Pa says Nettie is too young, but offers him Celie instead, and throws a cow into a bargain. Although the girls vow never to be parted ("Our Prayer"), Celie goes with Mister to save Nettie's dreams of becoming a teacher. As the local Church Ladies cluck their approval ("That Fine Mister"), Mister's field hands introduce Celie to her life of hard work at Mister's ("Big Dog"). Nettie arrives one day, having fled from Pa's lecherous attentions, and asks if she can stay. Mister agrees, but then attacks Nettie on her way to school. When she fights back, he throws her off his property, swearing that the girls will never see each other again ("Lily of the Field"). Nettie promises to write to Celie as she is cast away from Mister's home. However, when Celie attempts to open the mailbox, Mister promptly rebuffs her, threatening her with death if she ever touches it again.
Mister's son, Harpo, grows up and soon brings home Sofia, a proud and strong-willed woman ("Dear God - Sofia") whom he loves and later marries. But eventually, Harpo tires of being bossed around by Sofia. Mister tells him he has to beat Sofia if he wants her to mind. Even Celie, who has endured such abuse from Mister, agrees this is the only way to make a woman "jump when he says to." But Sofia gives as good as she gets ("A Tree Named Sofia"), and is victorious in beating Harpo instead. Angered by Celie's suggestion, she confronts her ("Hell No!"), but her anger subsides when Sofia realizes how much Celie has suffered from Mister's cruelty. Not long after that, Sofia's sisters arrive to take her away. Sofia tries to convince Celie to come with her, but she declines. Left alone, Harpo turns his home into a juke joint and hires a new waitress, Squeak, to work there ("Brown Betty"). Love-stricken, Squeak soon moves in with Harpo.
The whole town prepares for the arrival of Shug Avery, a sexy singer who is Mister's longtime lover ("Shug Avery Comin' to Town"). But when Shug arrives, she is in such bad shape that in spite of local disapproval ("All We've Got to Say"), Mister brings her home where Celie nurses her back to health ("Dear God - Shug"). As Celie takes care of Shug, she begins to experience feelings of affection and tenderness for the first time, as Shug befriends her ("Too Beautiful for Words"'). When Shug sings at Harpo's Juke Joint ("Push Da Button"), Sofia returns with her new boyfriend and gets into a fight with Squeak ("Uh Oh!"). In Mister's house, Shug and Celie explore their newfound love for each other ("What About Love?"). Shug gives Celie a letter she found from "someone in Africa, goin' by the stamps." Celie recognizes Nettie's handwriting and knows instantly that her beloved sister is alive ("Act I Finale").
Act II[edit]
Celie discovers the rest of the numerous letters that Mister has hidden over the years, and learns that Nettie traveled to Africa with the missionary family that also adopted Celie’s babies, and that they are now residing in an African refugee camp ("African Homeland"). Meanwhile, in Georgia, Sofia has been beaten and thrown into jail for punching the mayor. (When his wife asks Sofia to be her maid, and Sofia refuses, the mayor decides to intervene and is then subjected to Sofia’s harsh temper.) Celie goes to the jail to comfort her, and learns that Sofia will have to serve out her sentence in the custody of the Mayor’s wife, thus reducing her to the very thing she fought so hard against. Twelve years later, Sofia and Shug both return home for Easter. Shug discovers the extent of Celie’s anger towards God ("The Color Purple") and invites her to come live with her and her new husband in Memphis.
After Easter dinner ("Church Ladies’ Easter"), Celie tells Mister that she is leaving. He protests and she finally confronts him about his cruel treatment of her over the years ("I Curse You, Mister"). Squeak is off to Memphis also, stating that she wants to sing. Harpo defends her choice to his father, and long after they leave, he invites Sofia to come back and live at the Juke Joint, reconciling with her in the process. Soon, Mister begins to feel the effect of Celie’s curse. He’s drunk nearly all of the time, and is shunned by everyone. Harpo challenges his father to make things right with Celie, and Mister attempts to understand what that might mean ("Mister's Song - Celie’s Curse").
At Shug’s house in Memphis, Celie discovers that she has a natural gift for making pants. When she inherits the house she once lived and grew up in, she goes home and starts a business selling her unique designs ("Miss Celie’s Pants"). Mister tries to help Sofia’s sickly youngest child Henrietta, and even Celie has to admit that Mister is trying to change. Harpo and Sofia are spending a pleasant night at home ("Any Little Thing") when Mister comes to tell them that he has found Nettie, but that she is having some difficulty getting home from Africa. Shug tells Celie that she has fallen in love with a young flute player, and asks her to let her have one last fling with him ("What About Love? - Reprise"). Walking home, Celie realizes that she isn’t destroyed by this, and feels a deep love for herself, for the very first time ("I’m Here").
1949. As the whole community is gathered for a Fourth of July picnic at Celie’s home, Celie hears a car horn, then a familiar song from her childhood. Nettie runs towards the house, with Celie’s adult children following close behind. Mister and Shug have made this reunion possible, and Celie thanks them, and God, for the safe return of her family ("The Color Purple"- Reprise).
Musical numbers[edit]
Act I"Overture" - Orchestra
"Huckleberry Pie/Mysterious Ways" - Young Celie and Young Nettie / Celie, Nettie, and Ensemble
"Somebody Gonna Love You" - Celie
"Our Prayer" - Nettie, Celie, Mister, Doris, Darlene, Jarene, and Pa
"That Fine Mister" - Doris, Darlene, and Jarene
"Big Dog" - Mister, Celie, Young Harpo, Mister's Daughters, and Male Ensemble
"Lily of the Field" - Celie, Nettie, and Mister
"Dear God - Sofia" - Celie
"A Tree Named Sofia" - Doris, Darlene, and Jarene
"Hell No!" - Sofia, Celie, and Female Ensemble
"Brown Betty" - Harpo, Squeak, Celie, and Male Ensemble
"Shug Avery Comin' to Town" - Mister, Celie, and Ensemble
"All We've Got to Say" - Doris, Darlene, and Jarene
"Dear God - Shug" - Celie and Shug
"Too Beautiful for Words" - Shug
"Push Da Button" - Shug, Harpo, and Ensemble
"Uh-Oh!" - Sofia, Squeak, Celie, Buster, and Female Ensemble
"What About Love?" - Celie and Shug
Act I Finale" - Orchestra, Shug, Celie, and Nettie
 Act II"African Homeland" - Nettie, Celie, Young Adam, Young Olivia, and Ensemble
"The Color Purple" - Shug and Celie
"Church Ladies' Easter" - Doris, Darlene, and Jarene
"I Curse You Mister" - Celie and Mister
"Mister's Song - Celie's Curse" - Mister
"Miss Celie's Pants" - Celie, Shug, Sofia, and Female Ensemble
"Any Little Thing" - Harpo and Sofia
"What About Love? (Reprise)" - Celie and Shug
"I'm Here" - Celie
"The Color Purple (Reprise)" - Celie, and Company



 Cover for the original Broadway cast recording
Awards and nominations[edit]
Original Broadway production[edit]

Year
Award Ceremony
Category
Nominee
Result
2006 Tony Award Best Musical Nominated
Best Book of a Musical Marsha Norman Nominated
Best Original Score Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray Nominated
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical LaChanze Won
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Brandon Victor Dixon Nominated
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical Felicia P. Fields Nominated
Elizabeth Withers-Mendez Nominated
Best Choreography Donald Byrd Nominated
Best Scenic Design John Lee Beatty Nominated
Best Costume Design Paul Tazewell Nominated
Best Lighting Design Brian MacDevitt Nominated
Theatre World Award Felicia P. Fields Won
Elisabeth Withers-Mendes Won
2007 Grammy Award Best Musical Show Album Nominated
Theatre World Award Fantasia Barrino Won
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Alice Walker Novel Sings as 'The Color Purple' Musical Starts World Premiere, Sept. 9" playbill.com, September 2004
2.Jump up ^ Broadwayworld.com, March 2004 "Alliance Theatre to Premiere 'The Color Purple' A New Musical" broadwayworld.com, 2004
3.Jump up ^ "Broadway's 'The Color Purple' Will Close Feb. 24" playbill.com, January 24, 2008.
4.Jump up ^ "American Idol's Fantasia Barrino to Join The Color Purple". broadwayworld.com. Wisdom Digital Media. 2007-02-22. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
5.Jump up ^ Hetrick, Adam (2007-07-17). "The Color Purple Extends Chicago Run By a Month". Playbill News. Playbill, Inc. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
6.Jump up ^ "The Color Purple to Begin National Tour in Chicago in 2007". Broadway.com, Inc. 2006-03-06. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
7.Jump up ^ Jones, Chris (2007-09-28). "'Color Purple' makes its exit". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
8.Jump up ^ "The Color Purple (1985)". rogerebert.com. 2004-03-28. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
9.Jump up ^ "Oprah at Chicago premiere of 'Purple'". USA TODAY. 2007-05-06. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
10.Jump up ^ "Oprah Winfrey attends Chicago premiere of "The Color Purple"". the International Herald Tribune. 2007-05-03. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
11.Jump up ^ Morgan, Scott C. (2007-05-09). "Theater: The Color Purple". Windy City Times. Windy City Media Group. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
12.Jump up ^ Baca, Stacey (2007-05-04). "Winfrey attends Chicago premiere of 'The Color Purple'". ABC Inc., WLS-TV/DT Chicago, IL. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
13.Jump up ^ "Oprah's 'Purple' Opens In Chicago: Local Celebrities Step Onto Red Carpet". NBC Universal, Inc. 2007-05-04. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
14.Jump up ^ "People: Avril Lavigne, Oprah Winfrey, Don Imus". the International Herald Tribune. 2007-05-04. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
15.Jump up ^ "'The Color Purple' tour listing" phoenix-ent.com
16.^ Jump up to: a b [1] colorpurple.com
17.Jump up ^ [2] facebook.com
External links[edit]
Official site
The Color Purple at the Internet Broadway Database
The Color Purple Audition Advice & Show Information from MusicalTheatreAudition.net
The Color Purple at Broadway Theater
Wanabehuman: Theatre review - The Color Purple, New York City
The Color Purple on Broadway.com


[hide]
v ·
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Works of Alice Walker


Novels and
 short story collections
The Third Life of Grange Copeland (1970) ·
 Everyday Use (1973) ·
 In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women (1973) ·
 Roselily (1973) ·
 Meridian (1976) ·
 The Color Purple (1982) ·
 You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down: Stories (1982) ·
 Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self (1983) ·
 Am I Blue? (1986) ·
 To Hell With Dying (1988) ·
 The Temple of My Familiar (1989) ·
 Finding the Green Stone (1991) ·
 Possessing the Secret of Joy (1992) ·
 The Complete Stories (1994) ·
 By The Light of My Father's Smile (1998) ·
 The Way Forward Is with a Broken Heart (2000) ·
 Now Is The Time to Open Your Heart (2005) ·
 Devil's My Enemy (2008)
 

Poetry collections
Once (1968) ·
 Revolutionary Petunias and Other Poems (1973) ·
 Good Night, Willie Lee, I'll See You in the Morning (1979) ·
 Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful (1985) ·
 Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems (1991) ·
 Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth (2003) ·
 A Poem Traveled Down My Arm: Poems And Drawings (2003) ·
 Collected Poems (2005) ·
 Poem at Thirty-Nine ·
 Expect nothing
 

Non-fiction
In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose (1983) ·
 Living by the Word (1988) ·
 Warrior Marks (1993) ·
 The Same River Twice: Honoring the Difficult (1996) ·
 Anything We Love Can Be Saved: A Writer's Activism (1997) ·
 Go Girl!: The Black Woman's Book of Travel and Adventure (1997) ·
 Pema Chodron and Alice Walker in Conversation (1999) ·
 Sent By Earth: A Message from the Grandmother Spirit After the Bombing of the World Trade Center and Pentagon (2001) ·
 Women ·
 We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For (2006) ·
 Mississippi Winter IV
 

See also
The Color Purple (film) ·
 The Color Purple (musical)
 

  


Categories: 2005 musicals
All-Black cast Broadway shows
Broadway musicals
Musicals based on novels
Musicals based on films
LGBT-related musicals


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