“Purple Rain,” a new musical based on Prince’s seminal film from 1984, will arrive on Broadway next spring, providing a jolt of nostalgic rock and funk energy to the unfolding new season.
The show, about a young musician with a turbulent life at home and at the club where he performs, has been significantly revised — with a new director, a new writer and a streamlined focus on Prince’s music — since a bumpy preliminary run last year in Minneapolis.
The musical is scheduled to begin previews on March 12, and to open on April 12, at the Majestic Theater. It will feature at least 20 Prince songs, including “When Doves Cry,” “I Would Die 4 U,” “Take Me With U” and “The Beautiful Ones.” The songs will be performed by musicians onstage.
“It’s a celebration of Prince,” said the show’s lead producer, Orin Wolf. “It is a coming-of-age story, but, more than anything, it is a music-forward evening of high-octane performances. You’re going to feel the story progress through the music, and you’re going to feel the spirit of Prince.”
The production will arrive on Broadway at a time of enormous challenges for new musicals, a vast majority of which are failing financially, undermining investor confidence and leading to a decline in the number of new titles. “Purple Rain” is the sixth new musical announced so far for this season, joining “Dolly,” “Galileo,” “Paddington,” “Wanted” and “Warriors.” Two seasons ago, Broadway saw 14 new musicals.
It will cost up to $29.5 million to bring “Purple Rain” to Broadway, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That figure is at the upper end of current capitalization costs for Broadway musicals.
“It’s going to feel like a big show,” Wolf said. “This is a big musical. We’re going to be playing in a big house. And we’re going to deliver a lot of physical production.”
Reviews were mixed. The New York Times called the show “constantly disorienting,” but The Minnesota Monthly deemed it “a convergence of raw creative genius and sophisticated stagecraft.” A critic for The Minnesota Star Tribune visited the show several times and found the final performance “remarkable for its high energy, increased confidence and eruptive joy.”
In the months since, Wolf, who shepherded “The Band’s Visit” to the Tony Award for best musical in 2018, has overhauled the creative team, hiring Saheem Ali to replace Lileana Blain-Cruz as the director, and Peter Duchan to replace Branden Jacobs-Jenkins as the book writer. Workshops have been held to test-drive revisions. (These kinds of steps are not unprecedented; other Broadway shows have reshaped their creative teams during the developmental process.)
Wolf and Ali previously collaborated on “Buena Vista Social Club,” which opened on Broadway last year and is still running. Like “Purple Rain,” that show is fueled by the pre-existing popularity of its song catalog.
The “Purple Rain” creative team includes two Prince bandmates, Bobby Z and Morris Hayes, who are credited as music advisers. Casting for the Broadway production has not been announced.
