The soundtrack for the film “Purple Rain” has been certified with a Diamond Award for selling at least 10 million copies in the United States – it currently stands at 13 million.
That hit film and soundtrack will soon have some competition in the form of a theatrical musical.
“Purple Rain The Musical” will make it world debut with a limited run beginning in October at the State Theatre in Prince’s hometown of Minneapolis. The musical is set to run October 16 thru November 16.
Kris Kollins will be making his theatrical debut starring opposite Rachel Webb who appeared in “& Juliet”
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has adapted the original film screenplay for the musical which will include the original musical soundtrack.
Longtime Price musical collaborators drummer Bobby Z and Keyboard player Morris Hayes will serve as music advisors with Jason Michael Webb as music supervisor, arranger, and orchestrator.
“Purple Rain” tells the story of an “up and coming” Minneapolis musician.
The original film earned Prince Grammy and Academy Award for the music.
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins spoke on the musical saying, “the question asked of me the most since I began working on ‘Purple Rain’has consistently been, ‘Who’s playing the Kid?!’ And I’m so thrilled to finally be able to scream from the mountaintops, ‘Kris Kollins!'”. From our first encounter with his original music and socials, we were absolutely floored by Kris’ gifts—his musicianship, his voice, his magnetism. It took a minute for us to convince him we weren’t stalkers, but I’m so glad we did. Over the past couple of years of building this show with him, we have been blown away again and again by the depths of his talent and dedication. He is clearly such a star, and we are so lucky because there are probably no bigger shoes to fill in the theatre right now. Kris is the real deal, and we can’t wait for audiences to see him bring The Kid to life.”
Director Lileana Blain-Cruz added, “when Rachel Webb walked into auditions for an early reading several years ago, she really blew us away. She is a stunning presence with an incredible voice, who inspired us to really reimagine what was possible for the role of Apollonia. This casting has been one of the unique joys of developing the stage adaptation of ‘Purple Rain’with Branden. We get to explore the world anew and be exhilarated by the passion and integrity of an artist like Rachel Webb.”
Ebony Williams has been tapped as the show’s choreographer. Other crew members include David Zinn, Nathan Amzi, Joe Ransom, Montana Levi Blanco, Yi Zhao, Palmer Hefferan, Cookie Jordan, Amanda Spooner, and Orin Wolf.