October 14, 2025
The Purple Rain musical is ready for its pre-Broadway debut in Prince’s hometown of Minneapolis.
The solid and crew of the inaugural Purple Rain musical are prepared for its Oct. 16 premiere in Prince’s hometown of Minneapolis.
Kris Kollins, a multi-instrumentalist with a large vocal vary, makes his theatrical and appearing debut as the long-lasting Prince character, The Child. Like Prince earlier than Purple Rain, Kollins has by no means acted professionally. He stars reverse Rachel Webb, a soulful Broadway performer identified for enjoying the title function in & Juliet, who takes on the function of Apollonia, the Minnesota Star Tribune experiences.
Collectively, they carry out hits from the basic 1984 musical movie within the first-ever stage adaptation, produced by Tony winner Orin Wolf and that includes Pulitzer- and Tony-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Tony-winning arranger Jason Michael Webb, and Tony-nominated director Lileana Blain-Cruz. Longtime Prince bandmates Bobby Z and Morris Hayes be part of as music advisers.
“It’s going to be a celebration, I’m excited,” Blain-Cruz mentioned.
Blain-Cruz delved deeply into the movie and Prince’s reside performances all through his vibrant profession, desperate to carry his distinctive vitality to the stage. The stakes are excessive, particularly as Jacobs-Jenkins calls Prince the “Mozart of our time,” intensifying the “stress” they really feel to honor his legacy precisely.
“We heard by numerous folks that on the finish of his life he was really contemplating making a musical; he cherished the theater, you understand, so I really feel like in some methods that is the theatre making an attempt to like him again or one thing,” Jacobs-Jenkins mentioned.
For Webb, an award-winning director, composer, lyricist, musical director, producer, and arranger overseeing music supervision, preparations, and orchestrations for the musical Purple Rain, was a pure match. Drawing on his acclaimed work in theater, movie, and tv, together with Choir Boy (2019), MJ the Musical (2022), and Kenny Leon’s A lot Ado About Nothing, Webb says arranging the present was easy, as Prince had already laid the groundwork within the authentic movie and album.
“The reality and the love of Prince’s music is so highly effective that it’ll be the driving pressure,” Webb mentioned.
Webb received’t reveal which songs will characteristic on the premiere, as choreographer Ebony Williams notes the staff continues to be within the artistic course of and should swap numbers based mostly on viewers suggestions.
“We’re nonetheless within the course of, so like an viewers might come one night time and listen to a tune and possibly the subsequent night time if it didn’t really feel prefer it affected the viewers in the best way that we thought, and if we hear criticism from the viewers, possibly we would change that, you understand, we’re nonetheless in course of,” Williams mentioned.
Previews for Purple Rain start on Oct. 16, main as much as the official opening on Nov. 5 at 6:30 p.m. on the State Theatre. Preview tickets are priced from $88 to $491, whereas tickets after Nov. 5 vary from $93 to $522.
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