Saturday Matinee

Before I saw this show on Broadway, it was hard for me to relate to the story of The Color Purple since I really had nothing in common with the main character – the main character grew up destitutely poor, was molested and abused – but I’m glad that my sister made me go see it. I saw it on Broadway the week after LaChanze won the Tony for Best Actress, and completely fell in love. I’m usually not emotional at shows, but for some reason, this show hits a harmonic on my heart and sets it off in a dangerous way. This show left me in embarrassing body-wracking sobs and moved me in ways that no other show had ever done before. It’s always made me wonder about its effect on me, and my scientist mind makes me think things like, ‘If I listen to the soundtrack, would that also make me cry? What about The Color Purple is sufficient to make me cry?’ And with this viewing, I think I found the answer – what makes me so emotional is that the orchestration and the music is so well written. When Celie has her baby and is singing her first and only song to her newborn baby, the song she sings actually embodies a mother’s cry. You can even see how Celie’s song is affecting her body, as if she is singing with her whole body, heart, and soul.

It also has some of the funniest moments ever staged, thanks to the unbelievable performance of Felicia Fields. From the first moment when she struts across the stage that makes me laugh, she solidified in my mind, that really great supporting actors are the actors that completely inhabit their roles, and are really hard to replace (other examples: Jack on Will and Grace, Jon Gallagher Jr. in Spring Awakening). I’m still upset that she didn’t win the Tony award that year. Her role as Sophia encompasses the funniest lines of the show, as well as the most rousing, as well as the most heartbreaking. It’s a huge journey her character takes at every performance.

And when I saw that Felicia Fields was on tour, I knew I would have to buy a ticket. And I did.

For me, the standouts of the show weren’t the stunt-casted LaToya London (from American Idol) or Michelle Williams (from Destiny’s Child), although both of them were very good. It was Felicia Fields, with her breadth of acting and who always brings down the house with “Hell No!, and Jeannette Bayardelle as Celie. Bayardelle was a bit of a surprise – granted, when I saw LaChanze, I wasn’t particularly moved by her performance (perhaps she was overshadowed by Fields in my mind?), but Bayardelle was really a force to be reckoned with. Her powerhouse voice brought down the house, from the moment she cried to her baby to the moment she stands up to her husband. (It seems a bit unfair to Michelle Williams, but Bayardelle’s voice completely overshadowed Williams’ singing voice during their duets).

Michelle Williams made for a very sexy Shug Avery, and she is an amazing performer; her rendition of “Push Da Button” brought down the house. What was lacking a little lacking was in her quieter singing moments, especially compared to Jeannette Bayardelle during their quieter duets. LaToya London made for a great Nettie, although her part was too small for her to truly shine.

Overall, what a great show. Go see it if, like me, you didn’t really want to see it. And let me know if it has such an emotional impact on you, maybe I’m just an anomaly.

Currently playing at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco. Check the website below for tickets and the rest of their tour.

The Color Purple Tour

More shows coming up this week: Berkeley Rep’s After the Quake, and either The Tosca Project (which I blogged about previously, a collaboration between ACT and SF Ballet), or the Miami City Ballet, a company that I’ve always wanted to see perform Balanchine. I really can’t decide between the two!