“It’s very gratifying to me as a performer when I’ve had women, not just black women, come up and say, ‘You don’t know how close that story hits home to me,’ said Kenita Miller, who is reprising her Broadway role as Celie on the national tour, which runs June 16-28 at the Citi Performing Arts Wang Theater.
The musical is based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book written in 1982 by Alice Walker. The story first captured the imagination of Steven Spielberg, who directed the 1985 film “The Color Purple,” and two decades later inspired Oprah Winfrey, who had her breakout role as Celie’s sister in the film, to co-produce the Broadway musical.
“I loved the book, but it was very dark for me,” Miller said. “The musical has the darkness, but it also has the uplifting side.”
While both the film and the musical impart their own interpretations, the Broadway show defines itself as “the musical about love” and draws on the power of its blues, jazz, gospel and pop score to express the passion, joy and healing power of love. The 26 songs are by Grammy Award-winning composers and lyricists Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray.
“The music tells the story in between the lines and does a wonderful job of showing the different relationships,” Miller said. “It magnifies the emotions in a story that is very dramatic.”
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The 40-year journey starts in 1911 when 14-year-old Celie is pregnant for the second time by her step-father, who takes away her children and marries her off to Mister, an abusive farmer. The turning point comes when Celie develops a relationship with Shug Avery, a blues singer who is sick when she arrives in the rural Georgian town to sing in a juke joint. As Celie nurses Shug back to health, Shug grows close to Celie and comes to love her. She encourages Celie to recognize her own beauty and strength and see the simple joys around her, such as the purple flowers in a field.
“Celie is able to keep on going and to care about people and let them care about her,” said Miller, who shares the stage with a large cast of about 30. “She doesn’t know that she has a beautiful spirit. When she sings ‘I’m Here,’ she comes into herself. It’s not someone else saying ‘Celie, this is what you are.’ She’s able to say, ‘This is what I am.”
She stands up to Mister, telling him, “Until you do right by me, everything and everyone you touch will crumble, everything you even dream will fail.”
In time, Mister shows he can change and helps to reunite Celie with Nettie, the sister she loves, after decades of hiding the letters Nettie sent from Africa.
“There’s a degree of reconciliation in the end, and it’s very powerful,” Miller said. “It leaves people thinking about how everyone has a story and about what it takes to forgive. For me, forgiveness and love go hand in hand.”
Miller has played other roles where she has aged decades, including Dessa in the Off-Bradway musical “Dessa Rose.”
“Celie’s journey was mapped out so well that I just let it happen,” she said. “I think about being truthful to the things that have happened to this person and my body settles into it.”
Miller, who is married and lives in the Bronx, began singing in the church choir in Rochester, N.Y., and was encouraged by a high school teacher to pursue training in musical theater. She attended the American Musical Dramatic Academy of the Eastman School of Music.
Aside from its opportunities to express her talent, “The Color Purple” has personal meaning for Miller.
“I definitely have had my share of what you could call hardships that connect me to Celie, although nothing as extreme as what she went through,” Miller said. “It’s one reason why this character continues to be healing to me.”
The Color Purple runs June 16-28 at Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre. Tickets are $28-$100. For more information, call 866-348-9738 or go to www.citicenter.org.
