Allee Willis News

Edie Brickell and Carmen Cusak have been added to the roster of performers for The Lilly Awards Broadway Cabaret, an evening of musical showstoppers written by women and performed by Broadway's best to benefit The Lilly Awards Foundation (Marsha Norman, President) whose mission is to promote gender parity at all levels of theatrical production, and develop and celebrate the work of women in the theater.

The box office for the highly anticipated production of THE COLOR PURPLE will open on Tuesday, October 6 at 10:00am at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (242 West 45th street). 

The Lilly Awards Foundation (Marsha Norman, President) proudly presents The Lilly Awards Broadway Cabaret, an evening of musical showstoppers written by women and performed by Broadway's best to benefit The Lilly Awards Foundation whose mission is to promote gender parity at all levels of theatrical production, and develop and celebrate the work of women in the theater.

Now that Labor Day is over, Broadway is officially gearing up for its upcoming Fall season, which is set to include a slew of Broadway debuts, starry revivals, and exciting new projects. In anticipation of the incoming theatre slate, the New York Times invited some special Broadway guests to perform at their 2015 Fall Preview, hosted at 54 Below.

Produced by Scott Sanders, Roy Furman, Oprah Winfrey, David Babani, and Tom Siracusa, The Color Purple will return to Broadway this fall in the acclaimed Menier Chocolate Factory production directed by Two-time Tony Award winner John Doyle. The highly anticipated staging will feature Grammy, Academy Award, and Golden Globe award winner JENNIFER HUDSON; CYNTHIA ERIVO, the breakout star from the London production; and Orange is the New Black's DANIELLE BROOKS. All three women will be making their Broadway debuts. Tickets are now available! Can't wait until the show returns to Broadway this fall? Get your Color Purple fix today with a free download of 'Too Beautiful for Words,' performed by Jennifer Hudson. CLICK HERE to download the song now!

Tickets for THE COLOR PURPLE will be available Monday, June 22, 2015, exclusively for Audience Rewards members, who get first access to tickets by visiting www.AudienceRewards.com. Single tickets go on-sale to the general public beginning Tuesday, June 30, 2015.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Jennifer Hudson, Cynthia Erivo and Danielle Brooks are set to make their Broadway debuts in the critically acclaimed staging of The Color Purple, as performed at London's Menier Chocolate Factory in 2013. Directed by Tony Award winner John Doyle, The Color Purple will begin preview performances on Monday, November 9th at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (242 West 45th street) and will officially open on Thursday, December 10. BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge just met with the three leading ladies, plus their director John Doyle, to chat about the upcoming production. Check out what they had to say about their new roles below!

DANIELLE BROOKS, who plays 'Taystee' on the hit TV show, Orange Is the New Black, will make her Broadway debut as 'Sofia' in the upcoming Broadway musical revival of THE COLOR PURPLE. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Ms. Brooks joins the previously announced JENNIFER HUDSON and CYNTHIA ERIVO in the critically acclaimed staging from London's Menier Chocolate Factory.

Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy winner Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) has dazzled the world with her matchless talent. This fall, she makes her long-awaited Broadway debut in the joyous and triumphant musical The Color Purple. This unforgettable and intensely moving new production mesmerized audiences when it premiered in London. Click below to prep for the show's debut on the Great White Way with scenes from the Meiner Chocolate Factory production!

Following rumors earlier today that Jennifer Hudson would be making her Broadway debut in a revival of THE COLOR PURPLE, producers have now confirmed that the Oscar winner will indeed head to the Great White Way. Beginning next fall, John Doyle's critically acclaimed Menier Chocolate Factory production of The Color Purple, the landmark musical will come to Broadway with the Grammy, Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA Award winner in the role of Shug Avery, despite earlier reports that she'd be taking on the role of Celie.

Red House Arts Center will present The Color Purple with music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray and book by Marsha Norman. Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker, this incredibly moving musical tells the story of a young woman who manages to triumph over adversity and find her own voice through the power of love. The show opens at Redhouse on December 5th and runs through December 20th.

Red House Arts Center will present The Color Purple with music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray and book by Marsha Norman. Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker, this incredibly moving musical tells the story of a young woman who manages to triumph over adversity and find her own voice through the power of love. The show opens at Redhouse on December 5th and runs through December 20th.

n a revival of Alice Walker's bold novel The Color Purple, the award winning musical opens The Milwaukee Rep's 2014-2015 theater season reprising the WOW in entertainment that began with Ragtime in their 60th season. Walker's Pulitzer Prize winning 1982 story arrives in a re-adaptation of the 1985 film and 2005 Broadway musical redesigned for the Quadracci Powerhouse stage featuring a superb cast, which after almost three hours, "fills the room like a sweet perfume… restoring a belief in trust and tenderness."

"You aren't inventing the wheel, but you are putting in the spokes. And you hope that wheel will carry the show!" observes Los Angeles-based theatrical director Jules Aaron, currently in Metro Detroit to helm Two Muses Theatre's Midwest premiere of the new musical, At the Bistro Garden. The show, which runs from September 26 through October 19 promises to surprise and delight Michigan audiences.

With Sexy Laundry opening tonight, the entire cast roster for the theatre's biggest season is almost complete. Nearly 300 Minnesota artists - including actors, directors, designers and technical operators - will mount 18 productions on two stages. The season lineup confirms Park Square's commitment to the work of women writers like Amy Herzog, Michele Riml and Alice Walker. The casting emphasizes Park Square as a home for local artists of color, from returning favorites like James A. Williams, T. Mychael Rambo and Regina Williams to dozens of debuts like Dominique Wooten, Kurt Kwan and Sarah Ochs.

Yesterday Artistic Director Mark Clements announced Milwaukee Repertory Theater's 2014/15 Season. 'Next season will offer strong stories that are substantive pieces of theater that are both enlightening and entertaining,' said Clements. 'The season includes two exciting world premieres, after all the terrible things I do and Five Presidents. We will also continue the tradition that I started upon my arrival by including a musical on our main stage - the first production in the Quadracci Powerhouse will be the award-winning musical, The Color Purple. Audiences responded so enthusiastically to last year's production of Ragtime, I believe they are in for another treat with The Color Purple.'

Virginia Repertory Theatre announces the opening of The Color Purple at the Sara Belle and Neil November Theatre, 114 West Broad Street on Friday, June 20, 2014 with a Preview tonight, June 19. The show runs through August 3, 2014.

Virginia Repertory Theatre announces the opening of The Color Purple at the Sara Belle and Neil November Theatre, 114 West Broad Street on Friday, June 20, 2014 with a Preview on Thursday, June 19. The show runs through August 3, 2014. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, this joyful musical and epic story follows the life and personal awakening of Celie, a downtrodden young African American woman. With a book by Marsha Norman and music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray, the uplifting score features jazz, ragtime, gospel, African music and blues. The Broadway production earned eleven Tony nominations.

Hillbarn Theatre closes its 73rd season with the moving, The Color Purple.

The upcoming year at Redhouse Arts Center is a big one as they gear up to celebrate their 10th anniversary season! Starting this summer, Redhouse Arts Center will bring an exciting variety of performances to the Central NY area.