The Color Purple takes the stage at Georgia Southern

Davis Cobb

STATESBORO —The Performing Arts Center will hold a showing of the award-winning Broadway musical The Color Purple this Friday as part of their Main Stage Series.

Based on both the Pulitzer Prize winning novel written by Alice Walker and Academy Award winning film of the same name, the musical tells the tale of Cetie, a working-class African American woman in  rural Georgia as she attempts to reunite with her lost family in a journey that spans from the beginning of the 20th century to the 1940s.

“The Performing Arts Center aims to bring at least one Broadway tour to Statesboro each season,” PAC Director Stacie McDaniel stated. “And we picked this show specifically because of its high-quality artist merit, but also because of its Georgia ties.”

Sporting a musical score mixing jazz, gospel, ragtime, and blues to accentuate its half-century spanning story, the musical also won the Tony Award for Best Revival in 2016.

McDaniel hopes that guests will not only be entertained, but that “the message of survival, of faith in love and family, of overcoming obstacles to find happiness” will speak to all who attend.

As the show is a national production, The Color Purple will only be shown this Friday. Tickets are priced as $32 for adults and $16 for guests 17 and under, and are available at the PAC Box Office, but can also be ordered online or over the phone. Discounts are available for GS students and faculty or for groups of 10 or more.

William Cobb, The George-Anne news-reporter, gaeditor@georgiasouthern.edu