STAGE TUBE: On This Day 1/2- Renee Elise Goldsberry

Welcome to BWW's ON THIS DAY Series celebrating theatrical birthdays, openings and special events that took place on this day in theatre history!

Happy Birthday, Reneé Elise Goldsberry! Goldsberry played Nala in the Broadway production of The Lion King and was nominated for a Drama League Award for "Distinguished Performance" and won a New York Magazine Best of 2005 Award for her performance as Silvia in the 2005 New York City Shakespeare in the Park revival of Two Gentlemen of Verona. She later originated the role of Nettie in The Color Purple, the Broadway musical adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel of the same name from November 2005 to mid-January 2006. On June 16, 2008, Goldsberry was the last actress to play the role of Mimi Marquez in the Broadway musical Rent.

In celebration of this day, we bring you the title song from The Color Purple as performed on Oprah. Click below to check it out!

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