Review: Tickled Pink by THE COLOR PURPLE at Baltimore's Hippodrome

If you're considering seeing the musical THE COLOR PURPLE as it passes through Baltimore City, please hurry and buy a ticket. You will not be disappointed. This is the best-written show I've seen in quite awhile and I'm having none of my usual bugbear "book problems" with it. It's just gorgeous. If you'd like particulars, read on; otherwise scroll to the bottom of the review for showtimes and ticketing information.

The historic Hippodrome in downtown Baltimore City is always a lovely place to see a show. I suggest parking in one of the nearby garages. There's an open lot on Eutaw street, but I find the payment process cumbersome. I usually park in the Hippodrome-attached garage on Fayette Street, currently priced at $10, but sometimes I need a quicker getaway and plan to use the Eutaw garage to the North of the theater. Occasionally, I find street parking, free after 6pm.

It's a treat to enter the gorgeous space of the Hippodrome. Seats on the floor are reasonably comfortable, seats in the upper portion of the theatre, a little more neighborly, which is to say, less roomy. The Hippodrome has a coat check, if you'd rather not share seating with your large winter outerwear, and the bar is open pre-show serving snacks, soft drinks and cocktails. If you have one, you're permitted to carry it into the theatre.

All the staff and volunteers are friendly, knowledgeable and expediently helpful.

Based on Alice Walker's 1982 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, THE COLOR PURPLE The Musical, book by Marsha Norman with music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, debuted on Broadway in the early 2000s. It earned 11 Tony nominations, but won just one: LaChanze, for Best Actress in a Musical. In 2016, it won a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical and Cynthia Erivo earned Best Actress in a Musical. After closing on Broadway in January 2017, Troika Entertainment mounted a national tour of the show. Despite recasting, this is the Broadway production and an Equity show.

To call this a minimalist production would be to suggest that it is in some way under-produced. This is far from true. The single set, consisting of raised levels of flooring and three gigantic distressed wooden panels hung with wooden chairs is suggestive rather than representational. It is high praise to the direction of John Doyle, who also designed the set, that I at one point think with proper sound amplification this show could be done- and done well- in an outdoor amphitheater.

Actors are perfectly cast in their roles, and exhibit a diversity of shapes which is atypical of most theatre nowadays. I particularly enjoy the comic delivery of tiny Squeak, played by Erica Durham. Gavin Gregory, in what is a violently antagonistic role, brings humanity to the role of Mister, and his solo is wonderful. Carla Stewart gives an athletic performance as Shug Avery, and Carrie Compare is an audience favorite as Sofia.

The blocking/ choreography is exuberant, joyous and infectious. I suspect I am not the only one dancing in my seat. The chairs, used as set pieces, props, walls and occasionally, chairs, serve to lift actors, so the action is truly three-dimensional

Music director/conductor Darryl Archibald creates delicate interplay between vocalists and orchestra, and the blend is nearly perfect. Each lyric is clear and the vocalists are never drowned by instrumentation. My only criticism (and it barely is one) is that the harmonies of the sisters Nettie and Celie (played by N'Jameh Camara and Adrianna Hicks) are so lovely that it seems to me there are not nearly enough of them.

Lighting designer Jane Cox has done a lovely job of making the show visible and the lighting the reverse, that is to say, subtle, without drawing attention to the technical aspects of it. In fact, there are no special effects, no projections, scrims, pneuematics, or even a main curtain. The cast members walk on and off fully visible and arrange themselves appropriately depending on their roles of the moment.

Since the cast removes chairs as needed, arranging and rearranging them, they minimize the need for run crew as such, though I suspect there are (or ought to be) several wardrobe assistants to facilitate quick costume changes.

Costuming is brilliant, colorful, appropriate, expressive, dynamic and occasionally lumpy. A particular low-tech costuming device provides an extremely powerful stage moment early in the show.

Despite THE COLOR PURPLE being a POC show, the attendance at the Hippodrome is still mostly white. I find this disconcerting for a number of reasons, and wonder what the Hippodrome can do to encourage a more diversified audience.

Four performances remain at the Hippodrome, and THE COLOR PURPLE The Musical is a joy and a delight. The dramatic, often painful, sometimes hilarious story and the strong, well-defined characters function at a masterful theatrical level, so much that fancy trappings and special effects would deter rather than enhance the show.

The Hippodrome is located at

12 North Eutaw Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201

410-837-7400

Remaining shows are Saturday at 2:00 and 8:00 pm,

Sunday at 1:00 and 6:30 pm.

https://colorpurple.com/ for tickets

Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy

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