I may be poor, I may be black, I may be ugly, but dammit- I'm here.

If you ever want to trap yourself in a long conversation that you can't get out of, ask me about me about The Color Purple.

After reading it Freshman year in college, it quickly became my favorite book. Since then, I read it every year (whenever I can get the book back in my possession - it being my favorite, I loan it out a lot to share the experience).

So of course, I've seen the movie and of course I wanted to see the musical. The moment the banners were hung outside the Pantages on Hollywood and Vine, I knew I'd be forking over the money (33 bucks! Not even that bad) to see how the book translated to the stage.



So real quick, for those of you that don't know the story - The Color Purple is the story of Celie, a poor illiterate black woman who was twice impregnated by her father, and sold off to another black man to care for his children. After completely abandoning her faith in God, Celie finds strength in the women around her to accept her role in life. Deep shit, right?

Not in this musical. That caught me off guard. The material is treated almost like a comedy and it was jarring. I had so many tonal expectations for the piece, thinking I was about to watch the African-American equivalent to a Les Mis, or a Phantom. I was anticipating dark and moody- instead, I got a lively & Gospel-y musical. It threw me completely off. It wasn't the Color Purple that I knew, loved and expected.



The first black woman to come into Celie's life is Sophia (we saw the actress who originated the role on Broadway-got a Tony nomination) and from the moment she marches on the stage she's a comedic role. She was an excellent comedic actress, but again, not what I expected.

The next woman is the sexual Shug Avery. Holy hell, this woman was my absolute favorite. The more I think about the musical, the more I love this actress/this character/this part. My favorite from the book, Shug is to sex what Sophia is to brute strength. Shug is also the one who opens Celie's eyes to what God really is.

"I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it."



With Shug Avery, the musical got right, what the movie got wrong. It kept the lesbian undertones. It's a tough sell. It was abandoned in the movie (and noticeably so). Celie has been abused by men, so naturally she opts to stay away from them. To keep herself closed off. She meets Shug, the epitome of sex (something she doesn't know) and immediately falls for her. It's part of her journey in accepting herself.

And the play hit it spot on. Their relationship is raw, and difficult. When Shug leaves (spoiler!) it hurts.

Fantasia shone as Celie. She completely embodied the role (and quite physically) and where I normally can't stand her voice (blasphemous? maybe) it worked perfectly for the down trodden character of Celie. And she can act! Boy, can she act. Her "I'm Here" is powerful. She absolutely brings down the house in act two. Brings it down, then builds it right back up again.



I abandoned my tonal expectations in act two and saw the musical for what it was. A celebration. A celebration of life and being here. It acknowledged the bad - but you can't live in it. It really made me take another look at the entire adaptation process and I can say this much: They got it right. It's not the book, but it shouldn't be. I know that now. It's hard because I'm so close to the book, but the themes came across and that's what's important.

If the book has my heart, this musical has my soul.

"I may be poor, I may be black, I may be ugly, but dammit- I'm here."

I'm none of those. (Okay- I'm one of those, maybe 2) But no matter who you are, there is always a time where you see nothing but your faults. You see nothing but the bad. When this happens, as The Color Purple reminds us, you've got to just accept yourself and remember that you're here.

And I am.