Saturday, July 18, 2026

Broadway: NY Times Critic Jumps the Gun, Raves About “Color Purple” Two Days Early

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Whoops. We don’t have to wait til Thursday night to see what Ben Brantley thinks about the “revival” of “The Color Purple” on Broadway.

This is what he wrote today in his round up of the best of 2015:

“A makeover made in heaven. The director John Doyle has slimmed down, toned up and retailored a show that seemed leaden and garish in its original Broadway incarnation 10 years ago. This musical version of Alice Walker’s celebrated novel now blazes as a triumph of elemental, emotional storytelling, with the bonus of a star-making performance from Cynthia Erivo and blissful support from Jennifer Hudson and Danielle Brooks.”

Everything should be so easy. Pop the champagne corks. The opening night– this Thursday–is going to be one wild celebration.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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