Purple Rain, Prince’s seminal 1984 film and album, is receiving the inevitable stage treatment, with a musical adaptation set to premiere at Broadway’s Majestic Theatre next year. It will be directed by Saheem Ali, of the Tony-winning Buena Vista Social Club; written by Dogfight playwright Peter Duchan; and choreographed by Ebony Williams, who worked on Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour. Frequent Prince collaborators Bobby Z and Morris Hayes were brought on as music advisors.
Though Prince was already a star by the time Purple Rain debuted, the two-part project turned him into a global icon. The album alone led the Billboard 200 for 24 weeks in a row and eventually went more than 13-times platinum.
Purple Rain the musical is also the latest in a seemingly endless line of archival releases, merch, and Prince-related ephemera the Purple One’s estate has authorized—Ezra Edelman’s nine-hour documentary notwithstanding—since the musician’s death in 2016.
Purple Rain previews kick off March 12, 2027, with an official opening on April 12.
Revisit Carvell Wallace’s 10 review of Purple Rain.
