The Color Purple News

I met Michael Jackson in 1984. We were both guests of Quincy Jones and Steven Spielberg at Amblin, Spielberg's production company on the Universal film lot.

Published: Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at 11:01 a.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at 11:01 a.m. The musical 'The Color Purple' makes a Florida stop at Clearwater's Ruth Eckerd Hall as part of the performing arts center's 27th season.

The general consensus is that everything Oprah Winfrey touches turns to gold. So while she certainly lent her name to the musical version of The Color Purple, which opened Tuesday at The Bushnell, her touch may be missing.

The Great White Way is littered with the sorry carcasses of celebrities -- Usher, Debbie Gibson, Rosie O'Donnell come to mind -- who've attempted to star in a Broadway show.

Who knew?

Fantasia not only carries off the whole stage-acting thing in 'The Color Purple,' but also practically carries the entire lumbering musical on two solid shoulders. She is, in other words, a wonder -- a natural -- and ample reason to go and find the joy in the more satiny moments of a sometimes syrupy evening in the Kennedy Center Opera House.

Alice Walker's popular novel about the improbable triumphs of a bruised and abused woman in rural Georgia has been cranked up into one of those high-octane Broadway song machines, the type that relies more on spirit than inspiration. It's a quite literal translation of the novel, which means a lot of exposition is rolled out -- not all of it flowing seamlessly -- and it is embellished with a lively score that never quite delivers a knockout punch.

PUSHING DA BUTTON: Angela Robinson, from the Broadway run, is a natty, sensuous Shug.

LaKisha Jones was first introduced to the music scene on the 2007 season of American Idol.

A day after announcing that he would compose the theme song for the Shanghai 2010 World Expo, legendary music producer Quincy Jones promised yesterday to save the crumbling global record industry - starting in China.

From left: Kenita R. Miller as Celie, Felicia P. Fields as Sofia, and Lesly Terrell Donald as Buster in "The Color Purple." Like the Alice Walker novel on which it is based, the musical version of "The Color Purple'' is at once epic and personal - packed to bursting with incident and character, spanning 40 years, yet seen through the eyes of one ...

As a child, Allen Daviau developed an interest in photography and cameras which he has translated into a career as one of the most respected directors of photography in contemporary cinema.

The lineup for the 2009-2010 Broadway Jacksonville season has been announced and it''s all about musicals.

LaToya London couldn't catch the season finale of "American Idol." The season three finalist was busy working.

Thomas Garvey is aghast : ... Enough money to put the North Shore Music Theatre and the Foothills back in business.

Next week, the first North American tour of "The Color Purple" rolls into the Citi Wang Theatre.

In the dangerous streets of Los Angeles, a string of violent murders has left the police in a tough situation.

Kenita Miller as Celie in the touring production of "The Color Purple," now at the Bushnell Performing Center for the Arts in Hartford.

Horace Rogers, who portrays Grady in the first North American touring production of "The Color Purple," is eagerly awaiting this week's engagement at the Bushnell Performing Arts Center in Hartford.

Whoopi Goldberg visits Village Academy classes It's been months since the Pomona Unified School District's Village Academy High School first began drawing attention from around the nation and beyond - and it keeps coming.

A Rochester native has a big role in the touring Broadway production The Color Purple.

I have never seen such a strong audience for a band, let alone one that hasn't even released their first album.