“The Color Purple” proves to be uplifting, thought-provoking, and playful

Powerful musical to run at Boston’s Shubert Theatre though Dec. 3

The national touring production of “The Color Purple” will make its home at Boston’s Shubert Theatre through Dec. 3, 2017.

Melanne Ghahraman, Raider Times staff
November 23, 2017

For the 2 hours and 30 minutes that was spent watching “The Color Purple,” nothing but love and passion ran around the audience, and certainly the cast up on the astonishing set.

The heartening musical opened in Boston on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at the lively Shubert Theatre. Goosebumps rushed through my body as the opening number “Mysterious Ways” reached all the way to the end. The scene was full of energetic dancing and singing, but it was also a way to introduce the hardships that were to come.

“The Color Purple” takes place in Georgia in the 1930s. The protagonist of the story, Celie, portrayed by Adrianna Hicks, does not find herself physically attractive based on society’s point of view of the word “beautiful”.

At only 19 years of age, she is set up to marry Mister, an older man, played by Gavin Gregory, who immediately puts Celie to work, making her feel less and less beautiful as time goes on. The only person keeping her going is her sister, Nettie (N’Jameh Camara) and though she is unable to see her, they send each other letters practically every day.

When Celie stops receiving letters from her sister, she is convinced that she has died. After a warm and touching encounter with the two sisters reuniting, however, everything that had seemed lifeless before, regained life, just in that perfect moment.

The story of “The Color Purple” gets not only the audience as a whole, but the individual people to think about the life around them. Are they who they are now because of a miracle or some coincidence, or because they truly believed in themselves that they could achieve their dreams?

Three words to sum up one of the best musicals in the universe of musicals would be: uplifting, thought-provoking, and playful.

Don’t miss your chance at seeing these traits come to life in a form of a truly magnificent show. Once you leave the Shubert Theatre, you will see life differently, in a much more realistic and inspiring way. You will begin to appreciate the life that surrounds you, even more than you did before.