Menier Chocolate Factory Presents THE COLOR PURPLE, July 5-September 14

Tickets go on sale today to Menier Chocolate Factory priority bookers for the European premiere of the landmark musical The Color Purple, which runs from 5 July to 14 September. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 9am on Tuesday 7th May.

This stirring family chronicle from the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker follows the inspirational Celie, as she journeys from childhood through joy and despair, anguish and hope to discover the power of love and life. With a fresh, joyous score of jazz, ragtime, gospel and blues, this European premiere is directed and designed by Tony Award winner John Doyle (Road Show at the Menier Chocolate Factory), adapted for the stage by Pulitzer Prize and Tony award winner Marsha Norman, with music and lyrics by Grammy award winners Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray.

The cast will include Cynthia Erivo as Celie (Sister Act: The Musical - UK tour, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - Gielgud), Nicola Hughes as Shug (Porgy & Bess - Savoy - Olivier nomination for Best Actress in a Musical), Adebayo Bolaji as Harpo (Ghost - Piccadilly) and Abiona Omonua as Nettie (Legally Blonde - Savoy, Hairspray - UK tour). Full casting to follow shortly.

John Doyle's recent productions include Passion (Classic Stage Company, New York), Road Show (Menier Chocolate Factory), Lucia di Lammermoor (La Fenice, Venice), Madame Butterfly (Pimlico Opera Tour, 2010 and Grange Park Opera, 2012); Oklahoma! (Chichester Festival); Peter Grimes (Metropolitan Opera, New York); for the Watermill Theatre: Sweeney Todd (also West End and Broadway - Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical), Merrily We Roll Along, Mack and Mabel (also West End), Fiddler on the Roof and The Gondoliers (also West End), both of which won TMA Best Musical Award; A Catered Affair and Company (Broadway); and Amadeus (Wilton's Music Hall). He directed the feature film Main Street starring Ellen Burstyn, Colin Firth and Orlando Bloom.

Musical supervision is by Catherine Jayes, musical supervisor and director for the Chocolate Factory's production of Merrily We Roll Along, currently at the Harold Pinter Theatre, and Road Show. Choreography is by Ann Yee, costume design by Matthew Wright, lighting design by Jane Cox and sound design by Gregory Clarke.

Alice Walker is an internationally celebrated author, poet and activist whose books include seven novels, four collections of short stories, four children's books, and volumes of essays and poetry. With The Color Purple, Walker became the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction and the National Book Award.

Walker's work has been translated into more than two dozen languages, and her books have sold more than fifteen million copies. Walker's awards and fellowships include a Guggenheim Fellowship and an induction in the California Hall of Fame. In 2010 she presented the key note address at The 11th Annual Steve Biko Lecture at the University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, and was awarded the Lennon/Ono Peace Grant in Reykjavik, Iceland. (Walker donated this latter award to an orphanage for the children of AIDS victims in East Africa.)

To purchase tickets please visit www.menierchocolatefactory.com.

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