The first-ever musical theater production of Prince’s Purple Rain has found its lead actors. In his stage debut, Kris Kollins, a singer-songwriter based in Washington, D.C., will star as the Kid, alongside & Juliet star Rachel Webb as Apollonia. The pre-Broadway run is booked at the State Theatre in Minneapolis from October 16 to November 16; plans beyond that have not been disclosed. Watch Kollins and Webb perform “Take Me With U” in a first-look rehearsal video below.
The team that is bringing Prince’s story, music, and lyrics to the stage includes Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who adapted the book from the original screenplay; choreographer Ebony Williams; and director Lileana Blain-Cruz. Jason Michael Webb is the production’s music supervisor, and Prince collaborators Bobby Z and Morris Hayes have been given roles as Prince music advisers.
Read about the 1984 Purple Rain film in “The 30 Best Queer Music Movies” and the album, at No. 1, in “The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s.”
