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'Color Purple' hits stage as a musical

Photo by PAUL KOLNIK

The bittersweet travails of Celie, Sofia, Nettie and Shug -- four very different Southern black women who are, in many ways, equally repressed -- tug the heartstrings, regardless of gender, age or race.

By KATHY L. GREENBERG | Tribune correspondent

Published: November 20, 2009

Updated: 11/23/2009 03:42 pm

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TAMPA - Few stories impact as strongly as Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Color Purple." The bittersweet travails of Celie, Sofia, Nettie and Shug -- four very different Southern black women who are, in many ways, equally repressed -- tug the heartstrings, regardless of gender, age or race.

In 1985, Stephen Spielberg turned the book into a movie, starring Whoopi Goldberg as Celie. Then in 2005 came the Broadway musical, "Oprah Winfrey presents The Color Purple." The subsequent national tour opens at Ruth Eckerd Hall on Tuesday.

The story "speaks to the human heart, and that's a wide spectrum," said Jacksonville native Angela Robinson, who plays Shug Avery. "It doesn't matter who you are, what color you are, where you live. It's hard to find a piece of work today that literally speaks to such a wide array of people."

LaToya London, the fourth runner-up to winner Fantasia Barrino on the 2004 season of "American Idol," portrays Celie's sister, Nettie. Though of a slightly younger generation, London's impressions of the work mirror Robinson's -- especially now that she is a cast member.

"I saw the movie a little after it came out. I loved it because I could relate to the characters as an African-American. Now I have more of an understanding of the story and what Alice Walker was trying to portray, and that is, 'I don't care what you've been through, you are able to overcome it through faith and love and forgiveness.' She shows so many examples of unconditional love in this piece. The story is about love having no boundaries," London said.

Barrino is Celie at select venues, however, she will not be at Ruth Eckerd Hall for this show. Note the irony of two of "The Three Divas" (Jennifer Hudson was the third) sharing the stage once again.

Walker's words have power not just because they've endured or have universal appeal. The "wide spectrum" that Robinson spoke of allows for the more personalized, Oprah-coined "Aha! moments," of which there are too many to count.

"The scene that resonates most for me is when Shug comes back and Celie is at her wits' end. Mister is still abusive. Shug comes back married. It seems as though it's all going wrong for her. (Celie) decides to give up on the one thing she always held on to, and that was her faith. The one person who convinces her not to do that is Shug, who you would think knows nothing about faith. I love that scene because it shows that people are deeper than what you see on the surface," Robinson said.