Adapted from the 1982 epistolary novel, this musical deals its heavy’ topics in a light-hearted manner. The Color Purple: The Musical follows protagonist, Celie, played by Me’sha Bryan, through a life filled with racism, sexism, and abuse. As her life goes on, she meets other black women such as herself who show her her potential. Although she was the protagonist, Bryan was not the star of the show.
From the first musical number, the audience was holding back tears as Sofia, played by Anelisa Lamola, sung. She is also the church soloist, and her gospel voice transports the viewer to church before the stage and scenery do. From the opening number “Mysterious Ways’ her passion was dazzling. Her voice commanded the audience’s attention and each time she spoke, sang, or laughed eyes were drawn to her. It was a truly mesmerising performance.
Another member of the cast who stood out was Mister/Albert, played by Ako Mitchell. Only God will be able to give that man the strength he needs to give a performance with that level of spirit, dedication, and vehemence every night this week. Every lip quiver and every droplet of spit that flew from Mitchell’s mouth was visible. Ako’s performance of ‘Mister’s Nightmare’ and ‘Mister’s song’ was chilling. The audience could feel the torment of a character who had caused so many people pain.
Throughout the performance, the attention to detail was immaculate. The movement of the set brought the stage to life. The set transports the story through multiple places: church, Africa, the house, a prison cell, and a juke house. When lemonade was being poured, actual lemonade was being poured. If the ensemble were meant to be chatting between themselves, guess what the ensemble were doing?
Nearing the end of the show, Me’sha Bryan’s performance of ‘I’m Here’ fell slightly short of expectations. Vocally, she was brilliant, each note executed perfectly, her pitch was entrancing, however, it neglected the same passion felt at other periods in the performance. For example, when Celie was reading letters from her younger sister she thought was dead, Bryan’s had real tears stream down her face. Yet, when she was finally freed from all her male abusers, and she was no longer living off anyone for the first time in her entire life, her performance did not reflect that. She sang her final song as if her life were child’s play. The emotion shown throughout the musical did not reach a natural conclusion.
Overall, the show was brilliant. Seeing people of all different shapes and sizes perform with such poise and excellence was inspiring. With October marking Black History Month, this performance signified why Alice Walker’s 1982 classic has remained in the hearts of so many, and is still so important today.
The Color Purple is at The Lowry until Saturday 15th October.
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