Introduction
At the beginning of the play, we meet Celie as a 14-year-old girl living in Georgia in the early years of the 20th century and she is pregnant by the man she thinks is her father. Compelled to give up her second baby by him, she is ultimately married off to Mister, an abusive tyrant who would rather take her younger and allegedly prettier sister, Nettie. Celie’s new role as the caretaker of Mister and his house and children is one of hard work enclosed by misery. And it worsens after Mister fruitlessly tries to force himself on Nettie and ends up throwing her off his property, where she has requested refuge from her rapist father. The rest of the drama turns around Celie’s intensifying sense of free womanhood.
Sofia is a woman who is determined not to be oppressed by men any longer. When Sofia lustily walks onstage, Celie has never seen anything this big and bold and unbowed before.
Main text
Shug’s entry stirs Celie to her own sensuality, and she realizes the potential of her own beauty. And sooner than before she receives the news that her sister and two babies are alive and are living in Africa, to which the musical finally project the hokey “Lion King”. The musical contains magnificent occurrence and pop-religious perspective including the screeches and wails which resemble the initial early age melodrama, and director Gary Griffin allows the story to unfold melodiously.
‘The Color Purple is not just a story; it is a modern legend that lends a source of hope, healing and renewal and is quite a moving and entertaining show, although it’s still not a great musical. Jeanette Bayardelle as Celie unleashes her dazzling vocal power as Celie blossoms from meek and depressed girl to a fully empowered woman. The vigorous score, by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray is overwhelming. And the musical is not excessively unforgettable as there are no tunes one departs humming, on the contrary it serves as a rouser which provides the show with immense power.
Of the nineteen songs in the initial act and ten in the following Act which is composed in the typical soul style, with some sounding like a gospel, which makes them difficult to remember, I recollect the song “I’m Here” received a thunderous ovation from the audience with its powerful and moving melody and the strength with which it was sung by the performer. Sofia and Harpo as a couple, induce a lot of laughter and there are numerous songs that help in making the musical funny including Sofia and Harpo’s songs which are extremely hilarious and make the audiences laugh, but their songs sometimes tend to spring from the plot.
Summary
Byrd’s choreography, chiefly in the shape of melodic dramatization seems well incorporated. Act II, takes a massive setting leap to enlighten the sad tale of Celie’s long-lost sister in Africa and has songs that appear to be positioned for musical effect and not the requirement. The best part of the musical is that the numerous plots are drawn collectively for a moving climax. Celie sings at the happy ending a moving, “Mostly I’m grateful for knowing who I really am.” The Color Purple most comical, moving, and impressive definitely has a deeper meaning attached in accordance with Alice Walker’s feminist saga of fortitude, conviction, and salvation.