The long 'Purple' road to the Great White Way

The story of how "The Color Purple" came to Broadway is a tale as epic as that of Celie, the lead character. Well, almost. Celie's search for love takes a lifetime. The musical, based on the venerated book by Alice Walker, only took eight years.

But along the way, lead producer Scott Sanders had to replace the original playwright and choreographer, recast a pair of major roles, raise $10 million in capital, and revamp the adaptation in time for its Dec. 1 opening. Moreover, Mr. Sanders's constant concern has been upholding Walker's reputation and re-creating the poetic sweep of the Steven Spielberg film adaptation that garnered 11 Oscar nominations. "I wasn't going to be the guy who messed up 'The Color Purple' on Broadway," he says.

No matter how beloved the source material, launching a new musical on Broadway can be harder than snagging front-row seats for "The Odd Couple."

While "Mama Mia" has grossed $1 billion worldwide and "Wicked" is a box-office juggernaut on its national tour, failed attempts like "Good Vibrations" and "Lennon" clutter the theater landscape. It can take years for a show to recoup its start-up costs because few shows can cover their weekly running expenses until the profits kick in. "Four out of five Broadway musicals fail," says Jed Bernstein, president of the League of American Theaters and Producers.

Though it boasts a rousing gospel, ragtime, and jazz-influenced score and pedigree talent, the show deals with difficult issues such as racism and sexual abuse, a hard sell for Broadway audiences accustomed to the gags and vaudeville schtick of hits like "Monty Python's Spamalot" and "Hairspray." Celie, the 14-year-old black girl at the heart of "The Color Purple," is abused by her father and sent to live with a man who treats her little better than a household slave. When Celie's sister, Nettie, is taken from her, she pours out her longings in letters to God. Celie later finds solace in the friendships of two women in her rural Southern community.

Sanders, a former executive at Radio City Music Hall, believed that the book could be adapted to the stage when he arranged a meeting with the author at her home in Berkeley, Calif. Walker was initially hesitant about giving her blessing, but Sanders won her over after inviting her to visit him in New York. It then took two years to secure the rights and find the composer-lyricist team.

"I wanted the music to sound authentic, knowing there was this 40-year period of great American music to draw from," says Sanders. "I promised Alice that if I couldn't deliver a sound that lived up to her novel and the film, I'd drop the project."

After considering many songwriting teams, he risked assigning the score to Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray, a pop-song trio who have never worked on Broadway. Between them their hits include recordings by Madonna, The Pointer Sisters, and Earth, Wind, and Fire.

"I was so excited with their audition songs that I called Alice and played them for her over the phone," Sanders says.

Another Broadway newcomer, associate artistic director of the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre Gary Griffin, was next on board. Mr. Griffin, in turn, cast LaChanze, an actress who won a Tony nomination for the Broadway musical "Once on This Island," as Celie. But Sanders's first choice of playwright, Regina Taylor, was too busy with the Broadway opening of her play, "Drowning Crow," to deliver a script on deadline. She was replaced by Marsha Norman, Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist for "'night, Mother" in 1983. She had a clear vision from the outset. "The book of a musical is actually a machine," says Ms. Norman. "It's the underlying structure. You have to figure out what is it about this book that will make a musical."

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