Review Roundup: Menier Chocolate Factory's THE COLOR PURPLE

Menier Chocolate Factory presents the European premiere of the landmark musical The Color Purple, which runs through 14 September. 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). To purchase tickets please visit www.menierchocolatefactory.com.

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Charles Spencer, Telegraph: In this feminist show men are either vile bullies or pathetic wimps, and Neil Reidman as Celie's Pa and Christopher Colquhoun as her brutal, whip-wielding husband play their roles with melodramatic relish.For all the merits of the production, however, The Color Purple left me longing for a nice quiet shade of beige.

Fiona Mountford, Evening Standard: From the terrific opening number onwards, the tuneful cast makes a joyful noise throughout the mixture of blues, gospel and jazz songs. The impressive Erivo has a belter of a voice and Nomvete has spirited fun with Sofia's man-denying catchphrase, "Hell, no!" It's perfectly fine, but my feet remained unstamped.

Emily Jupp, Independent: If there was a consistent theme running through the performance it would be "You go, God" for he was in every line. The abundant, dewy-eyed love for him was too saccharine for my taste, and the lightening up of the original story doesn't always sit well.

Libby Purves, The Times: Never was there such stamping, cheering, hooting, roaring and whistling... Yet by concentrating on the indomitable redemptive spirit and harnessing the heavy artillery of gospel, blues and jazz, Marsha Norman's musical tips the mirror upward

Michael Coveney, Whatsonstage: This is the kind of musical theatre the Menier does best: a fresh, stripped back look at a past Broadway hit with a smart, tight band and a hand-picked cast bursting at the seams. John Doyle's revival of the 2005 musical based on Alice Walker's novel and the Steven Spielberg movie that starred Whoopi Goldberg as the abused heroine in the Deep South is so fierce and contagiously powerful, it leaves you gasping for air and whooping for joy; well, it certainly had that effect on the first night crowd.

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