Jon Batiste Joins THE COLOR PURPLE Film

Jon Batiste has joined the cast of the upcoming musical film adaption of The Color Purple.

Deadline reports that Batiste will make his feature film acting debut in the film as Grady, a piano man and the husband of Shug Avery, played here by Taraji P. Henson.

The Color Purple is now being film in Georgia and is set to be released on December 20, 2023.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks will lead the cast as Celie and Sofia, respectively. Corey Hawkins will play Harpo and H.E.R. is Squeak. Colman Domingo will take on the role of 'Mister', and Halle Bailey and Ciara will share the role of Celie's beloved sister, Nettie. Aunjanue Ellis recently joined the film as Celia and Nettie's mother, along with Elizabeth Marvel as Miss Millie.

Louis Gossett, Jr. will play the role of Ol' Mister, David Alan Grier is Reverend Avery, Tamela J. Mann will play First Lady, Phylicia Pearl Mpasi is Young Celie, Deon Cole is Alfonso, and Stephen Hill will play the role of Buster.

The story depicts the lives of African American families and relationships in early twentieth-century Georgia. The musical, featuring jazz, ragtime, gospel, blues and African rhythms, has a book by Marsha Norman with music by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray. It first premiered on Broadway in 2005; a 2016 revival garnered Tony wins for leading actress Cynthia Erivo and for Best Revival of a Musical.

The Color Purple is based on the 1982 novel of the same name by Alice Walker. It was originally adapted into a non-musical film in 1985, starring Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, and more.

Batiste recently won five Grammys, including album of the year, at the 2022 Grammy Awards. He has recorded and performed with artists in various genres of music (Stevie Wonder, Prince, Willie Nelson, Lenny Kravitz, Ed SHeeran, and Mavis Staples), released his own recordings, and performed in more than 40 countries. Batiste regularly tours with his band Stay Human, and appears with them nightly as bandleader and musical director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Batiste also serves as the Music Director of The Atlantic and the Creative Director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. In 2020, he acted as co-composer on the Pixar animated film Soul, for which he received a Golden Globe, BAFTA, and an Academy Award for Best Original Score with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (of which the three had won for the former).

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