COLOR PURPLE – Black Rep Theater Review

The cast of the Black Rep's musical THE COLOR PURPLE. Courtesy of the Black Rep

– By Cate Marquis –

The Black Rep opens their 50th Season with a splendid production of “The Color Purple,” one filled with spirit, music, dance and an inspiring story of a woman who survives and triumphs over incredible pain to find incredible joy. It is a brilliant choice to celebrate this wonderful anniversary.

Opening Night found a packed house at the Edison Theater for the Black Rep’s “The Color Purple,” a crowd that was treated to one of the best productions ever of this musical based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The Rep’s version features mostly blues music, with a little jazz and gospel, perfect for the setting of Southern rural Black life and 1920s time period, and a play that deals with both feminist and racial issues.

The amazing Angela Wildflower plays Celie, the main character who endures abuse, hardships and heartbreak but overcomes all to emerge as her own strong person. The story takes us through time as s Celie endures abuses and losses that are breathtaking, but were the reality of many Black women in the impoverished, segregated rural South of the early 20th century. Celie faces emotional and physical abuse, raped by her stepfather, who took away the two babies she bore and mistreatment from men who tell her is ugly while exploiting her capacity for hard work. Celie sacrifices herself to marry an abusive man who had his eye on her beloved younger prettier sister Nettie (Morgan Taylor).

The man she calls Mister (Kelvin Roston) wants a woman to cook and clean, care for his three wild sons, and share his bed, all without love but with abundant emotional and physical abuse. A ray of light enters her life with the appearance of jazz singer Suge Avery (Alexis J. Roston), with whom Mister is in love and who captures Celie’s heart too.

“The Color Purple” is a story about more than survival, but about the triumph of love, sisterly, maternal and romantic love. The musical is packed with all the years-spanning drama and striking characters of the beloved novel, which paints a picture of a time and place, as well as of one remarkably resilient woman.

The production is beautifully staged and filled with music, mostly blues, sung by strong voices, especially Wildflower in the lead role, as well as delightful dance sequences. Yet it is the acting that stands out most.

Led by a powerful, charismatic performance of Angela Wildflower as Celie, the whole cast marvelously bring these memorable characters to life. Much of the story centers on Celie, Mister and Suge, and Wildflower, Kelvin Roston Jr. and Alexis J. Roston, who all give affecting performances, and are supported well be Brian McKinley playing Mister’s son Harpo, Adrienne Spann as Harpo’s outspoken wife Sophia, Tyler White as Squeak and J. Samuel Davis as the older Mister.

The single set of vertical wooden boards in overlapping sections, multiple levels and several exits is remarkable effective. The clever set serves effectively well for both interiors and exteriors with the addition of only a few props. Costumes are both simple but perfect, for period and character. A trio of women actors, Anita Jackson, Amber Rose and Olivia Neal, play the Church ladies, who serve as a kind of Greek chorus for public opinion and the spread of gossip in the small community, as well as a literal chorus in musical moments.

Music is both wonderful and wonderfully integrated into the story. One of the things that is distracting in musicals are performers stopping for musical number, but the Black Rep’s “The Color Purple” seamlessly transitions into and out of songs, that represent either a characters inner feelings or community sentiment, advancing the story and delighting the audience with song. Likewise, dance is smoothly integrated as part o the storytelling and provide their own delights.

It is hard to imagine a better, more moving or more touching opening for the venerable Black Rep’s 50th Season.

The Black Rep’s “The Color Purple” is on stage at Washington University’s Edison Theater through Sept. 27, 2026.

© Cate Marquis