On Saturday in the early afternoon, we made the trip over to the Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center in Newport News for their only eligible community theater performance this year, “The Color Purple”.  As our readership probably knows at this point, our favorite way to go into shows is to be blind as to what the show is about if we haven’t seen it before.  In this case, we had an idea of what the show was about, but were not totally sure of the importance/symbolism of the actual color purple in the show, so we decided that, to be safe, we would not in fact wear purple.

When we arrived, we were excited to see a piano and drumkit on stage – something about having live music always makes a musical feel more visceral and alive.  And, as the ensemble comes out on stage for the first big number – “Mysterious Ways” – alive is absolutely the right word for the feel in the theater.  Our first reaction was – dang – these people can sing!  This cast is just brimming with vocal talent, and the ensemble numbers are the perfect place to show that off.  They bring the energy right from the first note of the play, and the audience, at least at this matinee performance, gave it right back to the performers, hooting, hollering, and cheering throughout.  That energy also drives the dancing and movement through the play, which is entertaining to see and really well designed by director and choreographer Iris Goode.

The set is very simple, mainly consisting of a couple platforms and then some easy-to-move chairs.  That, however, did not limit some very effective scene changes – we walked away amazed at how just moving some chairs and then a change of lighting really switched the entire feel of the stage.  Huge credit goes to the lighting designer James Cooper and his team for being able to take us from a farm in the American South to the inside of a church to a restaurant/bar/lounge to the plains of Africa all with just a change of lighting.  The impressive work done by the costuming group (Gwen Butler and team) also definitely helped here, as they created excellent early 20^th century outfits for all of these scenes and fitting for each of the characters.

None of that would matter, however, without the truly amazing work done by the actors here.  That all starts and ends with leading lady Chasida Taylor, playing Celie.  Taylor put on a tremendous performance, as she tore at the audience’s hearts as each new tragedy struck her.  The audience can’t help but root Celie on as she finds herself as the play progresses.  Taylor’s acting was great and her singing was even better, capped off by the emotional and empowering song “I’m Here” late in the second act, leading to an ovation so loud that I think it may have caused the accident on I-664 which led to the drive home taking much longer than expected. 

While Taylor is the heart and soul of this play, there is no lack of talent among her co-stars, each of which are a foil for Celie in some way.  Lee Chambers as Mister is amazingly good at being evil, and pulls off the character development of Celie’s husband that is so necessary to make this play feel complete (and – he can also sing).  Every time Chambers comes on stage, I feel legitimately nervous to be in his presence, just from the way he carries himself.  Shug, the promiscuous blues singer, loved by all, is double-cast, with Charlene Bell and Charity Robinson splitting the performances.  At our performance, Robinson was in the role – and she absolutely nails the irresistibly attractive, but impossible-to-pin-down-for-long character (and the depth in her vocal performance, especially in her duets with Taylor, hits you right in the gut). 

Derrion Hawkins was incredibly fun to watch as Mister’s son Harpo, being hilariously caught between two strong-willed women (oh and – he can sing too).  Sofia, the first of those two suitors, is a woman who cannot and will not be messed with.  Sofia is played in half the performances by Ciana Bibbs, and the other half by Starena Anthony.  We happened to see Bibbs, and she absolutely brought it, capped off by her performance of “Hell No” (and guess what – she’s a great singer).  The second of Harpo’s two women, Squeak (with a name to match her voice), is also double-cast – with Kiara Noble and KaJohnna Johnson splitting the role.  We saw Johnson, and she did a wonderful job of bringing the “Squeak” energy (oh yeah – she too can sing).  And of course, we can’t leave out Celie’s sister Nettie, a role shared by Anastasia Conyers and Victoria Manning.  We believe we saw Conyers, who is excellent as the innocent and loving sister separated by circumstance from Celie (and if you haven’t picked up the pattern yet – she too is a great singer). 

And somehow, the named roles are not where the vocal talent stops.  The Greek chorus of church ladies were wonderful, and the ensemble gives the show balance from top to bottom.  The final number, “The Color Purple (Reprise)”, is one of the best ensemble numbers we have heard in community theater this year.  You won’t want to miss this performance.

Oh, and we can confirm – it is totally okay to wear purple to the show.