NPR: Broadway's 'Color Purple' to Close in February

Broadway's 'Color Purple' to Close in February

Singer Fantasia on stage during the curtain call of The Color Purple in New York.

Bryan Bedder, Getty Images

The Color Purple will end its run on Broadway on Feb. 24, bringing the Oprah Winfrey-produced musical to a close after over 900 performances, the AP reports. The 1985 film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker, starred Winfrey in an Oscar-nominated performance.

The $11 million musical has reportedly earned $103,000,000 since its opening in 2005.

But why do think it is closing down? Are less people going to the theater due to economic stress? Or do you think that it's American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino's fault, as the folks at SOHH speculate:

While the show grossed over one $100 million in it's two-year stint, it seems the the show experienced a surge of ticket sales/losses when Fantasia signed on to play the well-known character of Celie. Most of the shows ticket losses were due to Fannny canceling over 50 performances. For those of you who've never been to a Broadway show, when the star is a no-show the ticket holder is entitled to a complete refund if they don't care to see the understudy.

What do you think?

Drew Tewksbury

Tags: Broadway | Fantasia | The Color Purple

4:02 PM ET | 01-25-2008 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

I think it's because (1) for all the hype, the show wasn't all that great; (2) Fantasia skipped so many performances toward the end; and (3) the show wasn't palatable to a wide enough audience -- Oprah or no Oprah.

Sent by nancy | 5:58 PM ET | 01-25-2008

Please research your sources before you go to print. Fantasia and channel 2 news said that Fantasia only missed 24 performances why are you stating as fact what a gossip blog states. The show is closing because they lost there star power in Fantasia...shame on you for not doing your homework!

Sent by meme | 7:35 AM ET | 01-26-2008

I think the show was already on it's last leg before Fantasia got there. Her presence (absences and all) kept the show running pretty strong. Advanced ticket sales of $6 million before she even stepped on the stage. House record for the Broadway Theater broken. When she left, the box office numbers dropped almost 50%. If she was to blame, the show would have closed while she was there. The buzz for the new cast just wasn't strong enough. And the stagehand strike didn't help matters either.

Sent by barbara | 1:58 PM ET | 01-26-2008

I am inclined to agree with "the folks at SOHH." Fantasia's presence weakened the show and alienated the true blue musical lovers...I for one am glad that I experienced the pre-Fantasia version!!!

Sent by Garey | 2:07 PM ET | 01-26-2008

Did you not read the statement from Variety..

"Her departure this month, however, precipitated a steep drop in sales (compounded by the usual post-holiday doldrums that affect all of Broadway), with week-to-week receipts dropping by nearly half (to $388,936) after her final perf Jan. 6. Last week the show logged receipts of $477,153"

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117979555.html?categoryid=15&cs=1

Sent by peaceone | 9:16 PM ET | 01-26-2008

It is simple enough to figure out what happened to the Color Purple. All you have to do is go and look at the Box Office numbers for the weeks before it was announced that Fantasia would be the new star and then take a look at the numbers for the weeks after she left the show. The numbers are very similar. The Color Purple would not have been on Broadway this past year if not for Fantasia, she SAVED the show. The Color Purple made $100 million dollars during its 3 year run on Broadway and nearly half of that amount was made in the 9 months that Fantasia was the star.
This show was not well received by Broadway critics until Fantasia arrived and it doesn't matter how many shows she missed Box Office sales have never been as low as they were these weeks following her departure. The Box Office sales for all Broadway shows are published each week and these numbers can be easily checked, for anyone to even imply that Fantasia caused this show to close is outrageous.

Sent by Shanna | 9:37 PM ET | 01-29-2008

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