I am someone who, as the baby of my family, watched a lot of movies as a kid I probably shouldn’t have. For my 6th birthday, my dad got me a copy of Purple Rain on VHS because of how much I loved the music and the film when I watched it on TV. Watching it as an adult, you have to question why I was allowed to watch it at 5 but alas, I am fine. That means I have strong feelings on Prince’s most beloved album and the movie that made him a star.
Now, Purple Rain is being adapted for the stage. Which, given the way music is used within the movie, that’s not exactly surprising. It was announced today that Jordan Fisher, of Rent Live and other Broadway productions fame, is taking on the role of The Kid in the musical, famously played by Prince in the 1984 film by Albert Magnoli. My question is: How is this going to work?
A lot of the film is set between two locations: The backrooms of First Avenue where the Kid and the Revolution would play shows and the Kid’s home that he shares with his parents. So bringing that to the stage wouldn’t be hard but it does lose the magic of Prince’s Minnesota upbringing, which Magnoli’s film brought to life by having Apollonia Kotero jump into Lake Minnetonka.
My concern is not with Fisher. I think that Jordan Fisher is one of our best performers working right now. But as a lifelong fan of the movie, I don’t want Purple Rain to come to life on Broadway as some cheesy thing. And there are risqué storylines that I hope the show continues to cover.
Darling Nikki Deserves Her Time
The Kid’s struggle with abuse colors a lot of Purple Rain. His father abused his mother and the Kid and it leads to the Kid having a reckoning when it comes to his relationship with Apollonia. All of that is hard to watch but is important to the Kid’s development as a character, especially when he starts off being pompous and unwilling to work with his bandmates. Growing into the front man who is willing to work together and write with his band all starts from his journey of self reflection.
That storyline along with some of Prince’s more raunchy songs makes this the kind of show that will have to come with a note about sexual content. Because “Darling Nikki” deserves to be included in the show but is not exactly a song that younger audiences should listen to. Even if 5 year old me was jamming out to it none the wiser.
Overall, I do think this can work. I think with the right team behind it, it won’t feel cheesy like the show in Las Vegas felt. I just hope that they honor what Prince built with the Kid and keep the core of what made Purple Rain work as part of the show.
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