Award-Winning “The Color Purple” Coming to San Diego – Win Tickets!

Broadway smash hit The Color Purple, The Musical About Love will be returning to the San Diego Civic Theater December 3-5.

There will be only 5 showings of the ground-breaking musical, The Color Purple, The Musical About Love,  in San Diego, and The San Diego Entertainer is giving away free tickets!  Enter the giveaway drawing at the bottom of the page before noon Wednesday, Dec. 1 for your chance to win tickets to the Dec. 3 performance of this jaw-dropping show!

The Friday, Dec. 3 showing will begin at 8 p.m. and on Saturday the two performances will begin at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. (the 2 p.m. show will be ASL interpreted).  Sunday will also have two performances starting at 1 p.m. and the other at 6:30 p.m.  Tickets are already on sale starting at $20.

The Color Purple, The Musical About Love first opened Dec. 1, 2005 and immediately drew acclaim from critics and viewers.  It was nominated for 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The show played for over two years on Broadway before moving on to its First National Tour, lasting three years.

For those of you wondering or not quite sure, The Color Purple, The Musical About Love is based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker and the motion picture directed by Stephen Spielberg.  It is the moving and inspiring story of a women named Celie, who is struggling through life but finds the strength to overcome adversity and discover her own identity in the world.  Featuring a Grammy-nominated score of gospel, jazz, pop and blues music, The Color Purple is about hope and the healing power of love.

The production team for The Color Purple, is filled with award-winning individuals.  The musical is directed by Gary Griffin and features a libretto by Pulitzer Prize-winner Marsha Norman.  The music and lyrics are written by Grammy Award^®-winning composers/lyricists Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, while the choreography is done by Donald Byrd.

The cast for the play include Dayna Jarae Dantzler (Celie), who has been seen on Little Shop of Horrors, James and the Giant Peach and Negro Ensemble Company’s Chronicles of Color. Pam Trotter who plays her dream role as Sofia, was also in the major movie Dreamgirls and has TV credits in shows including Hawthorne, Chuck, Dollhouse, Everybody Hates Chris and My Name is Earl.

The rest of the cast includes Taprena Augustine (Shug Avery) who toured in The Pajama Game, Edward C. Smith (Mister) who toured China and North America as King Amonosro in Aida, Traci Allen (Nettie) who has been seen in Footloose, Once On This Island,  Bud, Not Buddy. The role of Squeak is played by NYU grad Traci Allen, and Harpo is played by former prison guard- turned-actor/poet/ playwright/author Lee Edward Colston II.

See Taprena Augustine and Edward C. Smith below talk about the play and their approach to their characters.

Around the 6:13 mark of the video Augustine talks about audience reactions and their connections to the play, saying even her husband cried when he saw it and that “it’s a play with a lot of deep issues so people don’t really want to tell you why they are crying.”  The play promises to move and awe audience members of all backgrounds.

For your chance to win FREE tickets to this powerfully moving show,  remember to subscribe below before noon Wednesday, Dec. 1.  Winners will be notified soon after.