Homecoming for ‘Purple Rain’ musical as it tests for Broadway success
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When “Purple Rain” hit theaters in 1984, it turned Prince into a global icon — and made Minneapolis part of the story.
Forty years later, “Purple Rain” is now coming to the stage as a musical, premiering in Minneapolis before a hopeful Broadway run.
“Prince was just so ahead of his time in terms of understanding how to capture music on camera,” said Orin Wolf, who is producing “Purple Rain,” the musical.
The show began taking shape just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, when Wolf worked out a deal with Prince’s estate to get access to the rights for a stage adaptation.
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“I think their interest in me was that I was an independent producer, and I was really interested in story,” Wolf said.
He added that he wants to keep the spirit of the movie alive in the musical while also reframing it through the lens of Prince’s full career.
While “Purple Rain” isn’t a literal biography, the story has elements of Prince’s life. It follows a young artist known as “the Kid” as he tries to find his place in the Minneapolis music scene, while also balancing love and a difficult home life.
This show is also the right fit for a producer like Orin Wolf — he’s produced other movie adaptations on Broadway, like “Once” and “The Band’s Visit,” as well as jukebox musicals such as “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.”
Working alongside Wolf are other Broadway veterans: Tony-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins wrote the book, while Tony nominee Lileana Blain-Cruz is directing.
However, not everyone working on the show comes from the theater. Singer Kris Kollins is taking on the lead role in his professional acting debut, and musicians from Prince’s orbit have also been involved in the project.
Since the show uses music from across Prince’s career, long-time collaborators Bobby Z. and Morris Hayes served as “Prince music advisors,” offering suggestions on how to keep the integrity of the music in the show.
“It's just fascinating to have been able to see the kind of the ground up process of growing a Broadway play, which is not an easy thing,” said Bobby Z., who also appeared in the original 1984 movies playing a version of himself.
A homecoming — and a hopeful bid for Broadway
“Purple Rain’s” long-standing connection to Minneapolis made Prince’s hometown the ideal place to premiere the show, ahead of a hopeful transfer to Broadway.
“Ultimately, I’m giving my artists and creatives a chance to try something — and that comes with a lot of risk,” said Orin Wolf. Out-of-town tryouts can give a show valuable perspective before aiming for Broadway, but they’re never foolproof.
“We are having to try and hopefully tell the audience what it is that they're coming to see,” Wolf said.
“Not because we’re trying to make any excuses, but because we want their feedback. Because their feedback and their response is actually why we’re here.”
The local impact
“Purple Rain” is running at the State Theatre in Minneapolis, which is operated by Hennepin Arts, a major arts institution that hosts national tours of Broadway shows. Todd Duesing, president and CEO of Hennepin Arts, hopes “Purple Rain” will mark the beginning of Minneapolis’s rise as a hub for out-of-town tryouts.
“We absolutely want to pursue more Broadway productions and theatricals in general, being launched here, because we have an amazing workforce,” Duesing said.
Much like when a movie shoots in Minnesota, Duesing said Broadway tryouts boost the local economy. Local crews and craftspeople get work, and visiting artists fill hotels and restaurants. With a show like “Purple Rain,” Duesing said there’s also the bonus of people traveling to see it.
“We have so many visitors coming from around the world, from Australia to Japan to Germany, buying tickets and traveling in because they are such super fans, and that's great on the local economy as well,” Duesing said.
Whether “Purple Rain” marks the beginning of a new era of Broadway tryouts in Minneapolis remains to be seen. But its premiere in Prince’s hometown carries a different kind of weight — this audience knew him.
“We've been talking a lot about how significant it is to be doing it here in Minneapolis,” said director Lileana Blain-Cruz.
“There's a lot of love, there's a lot of pride, there's a lot of knowledge, and so to, like, honor that that history and that legacy inside the city that it was born in feels really important to us.”
“Purple Rain” runs until Nov. 23 at the State Theatre in Minneapolis.
Watch a behind-the-scenes look at “Purple Rain” stars Kris Kollins and Rachel Webb as they sing “Take Me with U.”
Correction (Nov. 5, 2025): A previous version of this article misstated the closing date of “Purple Rain.”
