Stage Adaptation of Prince's PURPLE RAIN Will Make its World Premiere

A stage adaptation of Prince's film and album, Purple Rain, will make its World Premiere soon. Based on the original screenplay by Albert Magnoli and William Blinn, the musical will feature a book by two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, with music and lyrics by Prince and direction by Tony Award-nominee Lileana Blain-Cruz, and is producer by Orin Wolf. Additional production details and timing will be announced in the coming months. 

A 2018 poll revealed that BroadwayWorld readers were hoping to see Prince's music hit the Broadway stage. While rumors circulated in 2016 about a potential stage musical, and in 2018 about a movie musical, this would mark the first time a Prince musical hits the stage.

“It's been almost 40 years since Prince’s legendary film, PURPLE RAIN, took the world by storm and we can’t  think of a more fitting tribute than to honor Prince and the PURPLE RAIN legacy with this stage adaptation of  the beloved story,” said L Londell McMillan, Chairman of The NorthStar Group, and Larry Mestel, Founder &  CEO of Primary Wave Music. “We are thrilled with our Broadway partners and creative team, who are bringing  a theatricality to the film’s original fictional story. We can’t wait for a new generation to discover PURPLE RAIN and for lovers of the original film and album to experience its power once again, this time live.” 

About Prince

PRINCE ROGERS NELSON (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016) is widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of  all time. A singer, songwriter, musician, and music producer, he received countless awards, nominations and  accolades for his music, performances, and skill as a multi-instrumentalist, frequently playing all or most of the  instruments on his recordings. His music incorporated a wide variety of styles, including funk, rhythm and blues,  rock, new wave, soul, blues, jazz, and hip-hop. Prince produced his albums himself, pioneering the Minneapolis  sound. 

Prince has sold over 150 million records worldwide, ranking him among the best-selling music artists of all time.  He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and the Rhythm  and Blues Hall of Fame in 2016. He received seven Grammy Awards, seven Brit Awards, six American Music  Awards, four MTV Video Awards, and Academy Award for Best Original Score for Purple Rain, and a Golden  Globe Award. Two of his albums, Purple Rain (1984) and Sign o’ the Times (1987), received Grammy nominations  for Album of the Year. His albums 1999, Purple Rain, and Sign o’ the Times have all been inducted into the  Grammy Hall of Fame. At the 2013 Billboard Music Awards he was honored with the Billboard Icon Award.  

About Purple Rain

PURPLE RAIN tells the fictional story of The Kid, an up-and-coming rock musician in the Minneapolis club scene,  as he contends with a tumultuous home environment, a rival band, and a budding romance. Released in July  1984 by Warner Bros, the film was originated by Prince, directed by Albert Magnoli and written by Magnoli and  William Blinn. It was Prince’s film debut.  

PURPLE RAIN is a cultural phenomenon, widely regarded as one of the greatest musical films ever made,  grossing close to $100 million worldwide and winning the Academy Award for Best Original Score. In 2019,  the Library of Congress added the film to the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or  aesthetically significant." 

Prince and The Revolution’s iconic soundtrack, PURPLE RAIN, was released in June 1984. The album received  two Grammys, three American Music Awards, two Brit Awards, and an Academy Award for Best Original Song  Score. The album remained at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for 24 weeks. The album is certified 13x Platinum by  the Recording Industry of America (RIAA) and has sold over 25 million copies worldwide.  

About The Creative Team 

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a Brooklyn-based playwright, producer and two-time Pulitzer Prize  finalist. Recent theatre credits include The Comeuppance (Signature Theater), Girls(Yale Rep), Everybody (Signature Theatre), Gloria (Vineyard Theatre), Appropriate (Obie Award; Signature Theatre), and An  Octoroon (Obie Award; Soho Rep, Theatre for a New Audience). He is Professor in the Practice of Theater and  Performance Studies at Yale University and currently sits as Vice President of the Dramatists Guild council. He  serves on the boards of Soho Rep, Park Avenue Armory, and the Dramatists Guild Foundation. Honors include  a USA Artists fellowship, a Guggenheim fellowship, the MacArthur fellowship, the Windham-Campbell Prize for  Drama, and the inaugural Tennessee Williams Award.  

Lileana Blain-Cruz is a director from New York City and Miami. Recent projects include Michael R. Jackson’s  White Girl in Danger (Second Stage Theater/Vineyard Theatre); The Skin of Our Teeth (Lincoln Center, Tony  nomination); The Listeners (Opera Norway); Dreaming Zenzile (St. Louis Rep, McCarter Theatre, upcoming:  NYTW / National Black Theatre); Marys Seacole (LCT3, Obie Award); Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding’s  …(Iphigenia) (MASS MoCA, Arts Emerson, The Kennedy Center); Hansel and Gretel (a film for Houston Grand  Opera); Afrofemononomy (PSNY); Anatomy of a Suicide (Atlantic Theater Company); Fefu and Her Friends (TFANA); Girls(Yale Rep.); Faust (Opera Omaha); Fabulation, Or the Reeducation of Undine (Signature Theatre);  Thunderbodies and Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. (Soho Rep.); The House That Will Not Stand and Red Speedo (New York Theatre Workshop); Water by the Spoonful (Mark Taper Forum/CTG); Pipeline (Lincoln Center); The  Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World (Signature Theatre, Obie Award); Henry IV, Part One and  Much Ado About Nothing (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); The Bluest Eye (The Guthrie); War(LCT3/Lincoln Center  Theater and Yale Rep.); Salome (JACK); Hollow Roots (the Under the Radar Festival at The Public Theater). She  is the recipient of the Drama League’s 2022 Founders Award for Excellence in Directing and is currently the  resident director of Lincoln Center Theater. Lileana was named a 2021 Doris Duke Artist, a 2020 Lincoln Center  Emerging Artist, and a 2018 United States Artists Fellow. She is a graduate of Princeton and received her MFA  in directing from the Yale School of Drama. 

For more information, visit https://purplerainbroadway.com.

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