Fantasia Barrino to Star in The Color Purple at the Kennedy Center
American Idol champ Fantasia Barrino will reprise her starring role as Celie when the national tour of The Color Purple begins a five-week engagement at the Kennedy Center this summer. She will join the production for the Washington DC run of the show, which will run from June 30 to August 2.
Fantasia made her Broadway debut in The Color Purple on April 10, 2007, and received unanimous rave reviews. The season three winner of American Idol, she has released two solo albums, wrote the best-selling autobiography Life Is Not a Fairy Tale and starred in a TV movie based on her book. Fantasia has amassed more than 20 award nominations including Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, Vibe Awards, Soul Train Awards and Soul Train “Lady of Soul” Awards, Billboard Music Awards and R&B & Hip Hop Awards, BET Awards, NAACP Image Awards, and Teen Choice Awards.
The tour cast of The Color Purple currently includes Kenita R. Miller as Celie, Tony nominee Felicia P. Fields as Sofia, Angela Robinson as Shug Avery, Rufus Bonds Jr. as Mister, Stu James as Harpo, American Idol finalist LaToya London as Nettie and Stephanie St. James as Squeak.
Based on the novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple features a libretto by Marsha Norman, music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, and choreography by Donald Byrd. Gary Griffin directed the tour production, which reunited the original creative team of John Lee Beatty sets, Paul Tazewell costumes, Brian MacDevitt lighting, Jon Weston sound, Jonathan Tunick orchestrations and Kevin Stites Music Supervisor.
The Color Purple tour is produced by Oprah Winfrey, Scott Sanders, Roy Furman, Quincy Jones, Creative Battery, Anna Fantaci & Cheryl Lachowicz, Independent Presenters Network, Lowy Family Group, Stephanie McClelland, Gary Winnick, Jan Kallish, Nederlander Presentations, Inc., Bob and Harvey Weinstein, Andrew Asnes & Adam Zotovich and Todd Johnson.
