John Beatty

Nominees for the 2012 LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards were announced Tuesday evening at the Renberg Theatre inside the Gay and Lesbian Center in Los Angeles. The 2012 Ovation Awards ceremony will take place on Monday, November 12, at the historic Los Angeles Theatre, 615 South Broadway, in downtown Los Angeles at 7:30 pm. For more information, visit www.LASTAGEOvations.com.

Marsha Norman's clever book for the musical version of THE COLOR PURPLE greatly compresses the action of the novel, while also managing to tone down some of its more violent aspects. In combination with a rousing music score by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, which runs the gamut from gospel to blues to swing, it brings Alice Walker's original vision to life in a manner that celluloid wasn't able to capture adequately. A splendid touring company of this production is currently playing the Fox Theatre.