Purple Rain, Prince’s seminal 1984 film and album of the same name, is receiving the inevitable stage treatment, with a musical adaptation set to premiere at Broadway’s Majestic Theatre next year. It will be directed by Saheem Ali, of the Tony-winning Buena Vista Social Club; written by Dogfight playwright Peter Duchan; and choreographed by Ebony Williams, who worked on Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour. Frequent Prince collaborators Bobby Z and Morris Hayes were brought on as music advisors. Previews kick off March 12, 2027, with an official opening on April 12.
Though Prince was already a star by the time Purple Rain debuted, the two-part project turned him into a global icon. The album alone led the Billboard 200 for 24 weeks in a row and eventually went more than 13-times platinum.
Purple Rain the musical is the latest in a seemingly endless line of archival releases, merch, and Prince-related ephemera the Purple One’s estate has authorized—Ezra Edelman’s nine-hour documentary notwithstanding—since the musician’s death in 2016.
