Prince’s “Purple Rain” heads to Broadway after taking 'the world by storm' decades ago

Shania Russell
·2 min read
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The adaptation will feature the music from the 1984 film.

The Kid is back in the spotlight.

Four decades after Purple Rain topped the box office, dazzled audiences with its epic soundtrack, and cemented Prince’s status as the High Priest of Pop, the classic film is getting a second life on the stage. A Broadway-bound adaptation of Purple Rain is in the works, based on the original screenplay by Albert Magnoli and William Blinn, and featuring the iconic music of Prince.

“It's been almost 40 years since Prince’s legendary film, Purple Rain took the world by storm and we can’t think of a more fitting tribute than to honor Prince and the Purple Rain legacy with this stage adaptation of the beloved story,” said L Londell McMillan (Chairman of The NorthStar Group) and Larry Mestel (Founder & CEO of Primary Wave Music) in a joint statement. “We are thrilled with our Broadway partners and creative team, who are bringing a theatricality to the film’s original fictional story. We can’t wait for a new generation to discover Purple Rain and for lovers of the original film and album to experience its power once again, this time live.”

<p>Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection</p> Prince in Purple Rain

Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

Prince in Purple Rain

The stage version will feature a book by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, the two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist who made his Broadway debut this season with the blistering family drama, Appropriate, featuring Sarah Paulson, Elle Fanning, and Corey Stoll. Jacobs-Jenkins is also the mind behind last year’s FX adaptation of Octavia Butler’s Kindred, which was canceled after a single season.

Lileana Blain-Cruz, the Tony Award nominee who recently oversaw Lincoln Center’s acclaimed revival of The Skin of Our Teeth, will direct the show.

The 1984 film, helmed by Magnoli, follows the Kid, an ambitious Minneapolis musician and rockstar-in-the-making as he navigates the club scene and rocky relationships with his parents, his love interest, and his fellow musicians. This includes his abusive, alcoholic father played by Clarence Williams III, a captivating singer in the form of Apollonia Kotero, and a treacherous rival embodied by Prince’s real-life labelmate Morris Day.

The film grossed close to $100 million and won an Academy Award for best original song score. In addition to the title song — a majestic power ballad considered one of Prince’s most famous songs — the soundtrack features Prince hits such as “When Doves Cry,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” and “I Would Die 4 U.”

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