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Broadway production of 'Purple Rain' adds 'Hamilton' star Lin-Manuel Miranda and his father as producers

Ross Raihala, Pioneer Press on

Published in Entertainment News

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The “Purple Rain” musical just added a pair of producers/investors to the upcoming Broadway production: “Hamilton” star Lin-Manuel Miranda and his father Luis Miranda Jr.

It’s unclear whether the Mirandas, who run the company Viajes Miranda together, will have any creative input into the show, but the younger of the two brings both star power and credibility to the proceedings. Last month, producers announced previews start at the Majestic Theatre on March 12, with opening night set for April 12.

First announced in early 2024, the musical adapts the semi-autobiographical 1984 film that turned Prince from a budding hitmaker into a worldwide superstar. The soundtrack album became Prince’s first chart-topper on the Billboard 200 and went on to spend 24 consecutive weeks at No. 1.

With a reported budget of $26.5 million, the “Purple Rain” musical made its world premiere at the State Theatre in downtown Minneapolis, opening in previews in October and running for nearly six weeks. During previews, it’s common for the creative team to make changes to the work. As such, the official opening night in November was trimmed down by about a half hour. Famous faces in the crowd for the premiere included Soul Asylum’s Dave Pirner, Bobby Z, filmmaker Spike Lee and Minneapolis music icon James Samuel “Cornbread” Harris Jr.

It turns out the Mirandas also saw the show a week before it opened. On Saturday the elder Miranda announced the pair had joined the production in a post on X: “Prince gave the world one of the greatest albums ever made, and now that story takes the stage. We can’t wait for you to see it. Next year we’re gonna party like it’s 2027.”

 

The “Purple Rain” that lands on Broadway will look significantly different than what local audiences saw, as the show is being overhauled and has a new director, Saheem Ali, who replaces Lileana Blain-Cruz. Peter Duchan has stepped in as the book writer in place of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. The show’s lead producer, Orin Wolf, previously collaborated with Ali on “Buena Vista Social Club,” which opened on Broadway last year. Wolf also previously worked with the Mirandas, who were producers on that show.

In a news release, Wolf said the reworked show will keep the focus on Prince’s music: “I can’t wait to watch (Ali), Peter Duchan, (choreographer) Ebony Williams and (music supervisor) Jason Michael Webb use Prince’s legendary music as the engine for this new production. It will be every bit as exciting for audiences today as it was when we first heard these songs on our boom boxes.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda created the musicals “In the Heights” and “Hamilton” and the soundtracks for the animated films “Moana,” “Vivo” and “Encanto.” “In the Heights” was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for Drama and “Hamilton” won it in 2016. Miranda also claims three Tony Awards and five Grammy Awards as well as two Oscar nominations.


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