Last week I had the pleasure of seeing a performance of the musical The Color Purple at the Citadel Theatre. I had been listening to the broadway cast recording for the past couple months and had been giddly awaiting my opportunity to see the show in person, and boy did it deliver.
The musical The Color Purple is based on the 1985 movie with the same name and follows the life of Celie, a young African American woman growing up in the South. The Color Purple is incredibly emotional, with most of its subject matter being about abuse and sexism but is also inspiring to see Celie’s journey and how even though she goes through so many terrible things she is able to survive.
The Citadel’s version of The Color Purple is absolutely phenomenal and I was especially blown away by the talent of all the actors. The musical starts with the opening song and right away I knew this performance was going to be one of my favourites. The vocals were amazing and the personality each of the actors brought to their characters and performances were a joy to watch. Throughout the beginning of the show the audience got to know Celie and her sister Nettie, which gave us a little taste of what the rest of the show is going to be like.
One reason this musical is so powerful is the strength of the three main female characters: Celie, Shug Avery, and Sofia. As a woman there is nothing more empowering than seeing not one but three strong female characters on the stage. One moment that hit me especially hard was in the second act Celie performs a song titled “I’m Here”. The actress who played Celie is a powerhouse and her incredible voice brought the entire theatre to their feet. Never before in my life have I had tears in my eyes after a song but this performance changed that. This song is so relatable and the way the actress sang it left no dry eye in the theatre, it was truly magical.
If I could see this musical multiple times, I definitely would because it was that good. The Citadel did a stellar job at telling this award winning story. If you ever get a chance to see a performance of The Color Purple I highly recommend going. The story is so incredibly important, and as a woman, the story hits a hundred times harder.