Prince Movie ‘Purple Rain’ To Become A Stage Musical
A new stage musical adaptation of the classic Prince movie Purple Rain is in the works, 40 years after it hit cinemas.
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Based on the original screenplay by Albert Magnoli and William Blinn, the stage version will feature a book by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist who is currently taking Broadway by storm with Appropriate starring Sarah Paulson and Elle Fanning. Lileana Blain-Cruz, a Tony Award nominee who recently oversaw Lincoln Center’s revival of The Skin of Our Teeth, will direct the show.
“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 and 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.”
Additional production details and timing will be announced in the coming months, the show’s producers added.
Purple Rain grossed nearly $100 million worldwide on its 1984 release. Prince and The Revolution’s soundtrack album 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.
Last year saw the release of a super deluxe box set edition of Prince & The New Power Generation’s multi-platinum 1991 album Diamonds And Pearls, featuring 47 previously unreleased audio tracks and over two hours of high definition live concert footage.