The Purple One still reigns, and it was inevitable that Prince’s game-changing song and movie, Purple Rain would lead to a musical on the Broadaway stage.
On Monday, producer Orin Wolf announced his plans to develop a stage adaptation of Purple Rain. The iconic 1984 film, which catapulted Prince to stardom and earned him an Oscar for his exceptional Best Original Song Score, will now be brought to life on the theatrical stage.
The movie marked Prince’s film debut, and it featured some of his biggest hits – including the Number One songs “When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go Crazy,” and the title track, which peaked at Number Two. Purple Rain, the album, was Number One on the Billboard 200 for 24 weeks and won an Academy Award for best original score. The LP made Rolling Stone‘s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.
Prince starred as The Kid, an emerging musician on the Minneapolis rock scene, in the film version.
Other information, including when and where this musical will be launched, has yet to be announced; it is likely that Purple Rain, like most other musicals, would have a tryout run off-Broadway or outside of the city before attempting a run on Broadway.
Prince died in 2016