“Purple Rain,” Prince’s hit film about the rise of a rock star, is being adapted into a musical featuring some of the pop musician’s most beloved songs.
Orin Wolf, the producer who previously brought the Tony-winning adaptation of “The Band’s Visit” to the stage and who is currently backing the stage adaptation of another music industry film, “Buena Vista Social Club,” announced Monday that he is developing the musical, based on the 1984 film.
The stage adaptation will include a book by playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant winner whose family drama, “Appropriate,” is now playing on Broadway. The director is Lileana Blain-Cruz, whose revival of Thornton Wilder’s “The Skin of Our Teeth” (with new material contributed by Jacobs-Jenkins) had a brief run on Broadway in 2022.
“Purple Rain” is about an ambitious musician, named Kid, who faces conflicts with his parents, his love interest, and his fellow musicians. The film won an Academy Award for Best Original Score.
Wolf didn’t announce any other details, including when or where there might be an initial production (most musicals have played off-Broadway or outside New York before facing the high costs and harsh glare of Broadway). Prince died in 2016; Representatives of the rights holders of his music were cited in a press release describing themselves as supporters of the production.
