Birmingham Hippodrome are joining with Leicester’s Curve theatre to co-produce Broadway musical The Color Purple, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker.
The production, the first UK run to be created outside of London, will be directed by Tinuke Craig, winner of the 2014 Genesis Future Directors Award. Tinuke’s recent credits include random/generations, a double bill of plays by Debbie Tucker Green at Chichester Festival Theatre and I Call my Brothers by Jonas Hassen Khemiri at the Gate Theatre.
The announcement comes as both theatres celebrate significant milestones, with Curve turning 10 this year while the Hippodrome will mark its 120th birthday in 2019. Speaking about the co-production, Curve’s Chief Executive Chris Stafford and Artistic Director Nikolai Foster said:
“The Color Purple celebrates remarkable women, telling incredible stories. From its Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Alice Walker, and her courageous creation in heroine Celie, to Oprah Winfrey who had the vision to make the story into a smash-hit Broadway musical.
“As we embark on our second decade as a theatre here in Leicester and our friends at Birmingham Hippodrome celebrate their 120th year, our co-production of this beautiful, moving musical feels like a fitting way for us to mark these celebratory years.
“All of us at Curve are looking forward to working with Tinuke, Fiona Allan and the Hippodrome team very much.”
This unforgettable story told over the course of 40 years follows courageous heroine, Celie, as she journeys through joy, despair, anguish and hope in her own personal awakening to discover her unique voice in the world.
With a profoundly evocative score drawing inspiration from jazz, ragtime, gospel and blues, this moving family chronicle set in racially divided southern America, celebrates life, love and the strength to stand up for who you are and what you believe in. Fiona Allan, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the Birmingham Hippodrome, added:
“This is the very first time that Birmingham Hippodrome has actively co-produced a main stage musical, and we could not have better partners than Chris Stafford and Nikolai Foster at Curve theatre, and director Tinuke Craig.
“The Color Purple is an epic and timeless story that will appeal to audiences young and old, as evidenced by the recent Tony Award-winning Broadway production. It is long overdue for a UK tour, and I’m proud that the Hippodrome play our part in bringing it to life here in Birmingham.”
Tickets for The Color Purple will go on sale to Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome audiences from Monday 20th August. Further details can be found online at curveonline.co.uk or birminghamhippodrome.com.
