Fantasia Talks PURPLE and Money with Oprah: Transcript Excerpts Revealed

Broadway star and American Idol-winner Fantasia Barrinois set to appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show today, February 3rd.

Fantasia will talk to Oprah about making her Broadway debut in THE COLOR PURPLE and explain why she missed several performances during her time with the show. Excerpts from the interview have been released:

On the topic of missing performances for THE COLOR PURPLE, Fantasia tells Oprah, one of the producers of the show:

FANTASIA: And towards the end of The Color Purple I would get very tired. Not enough sleep. I would be pushing myself. And at times -

OPRAH: Because it's hard to come down after the show, right.

FANTASIA: Well, the tumors were taking a lot out of me.

OPRAH: So you were singing with the tumors.

FANTASIA: Singing with the tumors. And if I wasn't on the stage, I was in the hospital getting an
IV. But these are things that nobody would have ever known.

OPRAH: Why didn't you tell me?

FANTASIA: Well, I couldn't find you, Oprah. (Laughter.)

OPRAH: I'm a phone call away. I mean, really, why didn't you say -- if not me, why didn't you say to someone, look, I'm -- I'm going through this? Because we didn't know that.

On the topic of family, Fantasia reveals:

FANTASIA: I couldn't work or sing for six weeks. And as you can see, I take care of my whole family and it wasn't good for me, because who was gonna pay the bills? But I'm like, well, Lord, I've been through a lot. Why this now? I have so many people that I have to take care of. So it -- it --

OPRAH: So what is the answer? What did the Lord say?

FANTASIA: Stop taking care of everybody. (laughter)

On where all of her money went, Fantasia says:

OPRAH: What happened to all the money? Because first of all everybody assumes when you come off "American Idol" you go make the first album, especially if they bought the album, you have millions of dollars coming in. Were there millions of dollars coming in?

FANTASIA: You know, I don't want to throw anybody under the bus. I do believe there was a lot of money coming in. I just don't know where it was going.

Oprah's interview with Fantasia airs today, February 3 at 4:00pm EST on ABC. The Oprah Winfrey Show airs in the New York metropolitan area on WABC-TV, Channel 7 at 4:00pm EST.

Fantasia made her Broadway debut in THE COLOR PURPLE on April 10, 2007. She won the 2007 Theater World Award and received across the board rave reviews, with Clive Barnes of The New York Post exclaiming "Four cheers for Fantasia! There is some elemental quality to Fantasia that is either greatness or something close to it. I feel a lot in the theater but usually I don't cry. With this performance, I found tears running down my cheeks. If you haven't seen THE COLOR PURPLE, see it now; if you have seen it, see it again. Something extraordinary is happening at the Broadway theatre that is not to be missed." The Daily News' Joe Dziemianowicz shouts out "Fantasia is a hit in THE COLOR PURPLE. Her performance is a must-see. Fantasia gives such a powerful performance it's almost too beautiful for words!"

As a 19-year old single mother, Fantasia began her path to international stardom when she became the winner of FOX's hugely successful audience-driven singing competition in May 2004. Now 23, Barrino has garnered critical acclaim for the release of both her debut album, Free Yourself, which marked her becoming the first artist in Billboard Hot 100 chart history to debut at #1 with her debut single "I Believe," and her second album, FANTASIA, released by J Records on December 12, 2006. To date, she has gathered more than 20 award nominations including Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, Vibe Awards, Soul Train Awards and Soul Train "Lady of Soul" Awards, Billboard Music Awards and R&B & Hip Hop Awards, BET Awards, NAACP Image Awards, and Teen Choice Awards.

 

 

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