★★★★☆
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
Me’sha Bryan and Deearna Mclean carry The Color Purple. A touching, funny and captivating celebration of vocal excellence and top talent.
Photograph: Manuel Harlan
The Wales Millennium Centre was abuzz as I entered to watch The Color Purple. Music filled the foyer as pre-show artists performed to a delighted crowd down on the ground floor. There was a rare, tangible sense of excitement in the air from the audience before we entered to take our seats. What was in store for us was exceptional vocal talent from the full cast of The Color Purple a touching, emotional show that at times struggled to keep up the tempo.
Me’sha Bryan carries the show as Celie with breath-taking, world class vocal performances in a role that sees her rarely leave the stage. Her rendition of I’m Here I’m quite confident left no dry eye in the audience, its brilliant and arguably worth the price of entry alone. I’m thrilled to see also that Bryan has no formal drama school training and yet is here, leading a UK tour and proving that the industry can only benefit from openness to talent outside of the drama school graduate pool. Deearna McLean also co-stars as Nettie, a role she covers for and stepped in for the performance I saw. Deearna McLean’s stand out, touching and vocally brilliant performance proved that she is at home in and deserving of leading roles.
The whole ensemble for The Color Purple is vocally superb. Each member of the cast brings their own distinctive voice and style to the stage. Ahmed Hamad’s vocals as Harpo are powerful yet incredibly smooth. Anelisa Lamola’s vocals throughout captivate the audience with every solo and Ako Mitchell as Mister left me wishing that his character had more songs to sing in the show.
Where the The Color Purple becomes lost at times is in the pacing of the first act. It bursts to life in the opening number Mysterious Ways, high tempo and full of energy, leaving me with a smile on my face excited for more. It insinuated a pace to the show that never came, and no sooner though had this song finished it lost its momentum. By the time the song Big Dog came around the tempo of sequences was down to a crawl. Unfortunately, the non-musical scenes of the show did not carry with them the momentum of the musical numbers before them. The direction in these scenes felt slow, deliberate and lingering which was at odds with the numbers prior. It appeared as if two different people directed the musical and dramatic elements. As a result, the first act stopped and started in a jarring way between songs, lingering too long in the slower dramatic scenes and then speeding through the exciting musical sequences. We spent a lot of time looking upon the plain yellow porch of Mister’s farmhouse and then not long enough examining the compelling, colourful settings like Harpo’s bar. Ako Mitchell’s Mister, while vocally astounding did not impose or intimidate, and I felt he could have leant more into making the audience despise his character.
The second act recovered and kept the pace up in a more natural, seamless, and satisfying manner. My only note of dissatisfaction from the second act is that the set and prop budget seemed to have run out for the final scene! The show ends with all the characters assembled for a large picnic in front of Cellie’s house, the characters even comment on what is about to go on and yet all they have to show for it is one tiny blanket on the floor. Not a table, chair, or picnic basket in sight. This seemed like a confusing decision because if I remember correctly there was ample time in transition from one scene to the next to decorate the stage for the final vignettes of the show. It felt like a lost opportunity to embellish the beautiful, tear wrenching ending to the show.
Despite this, the show is exceptional, and if not for the above complaints this would have easily placed as my first 5-star review. The vocal performances in The Color Purple are far and above the Broadway recorded comparison I have listened to while writing this review and the show is equal parts, funny, touching, and captivating. The audience were fully into this performance, I could hear people audibly crying at points, gasping at others, and hilariously shouting “don’t do it!” at a pivotal point. The programme talks of how the show attracts a different audience than most to see it and I am all for it, you could feel the electricity in the room. Despite pacing issues in the first act, I thoroughly recommend enjoying the undeniably brilliant talent on stage at this show. A memorable night.
Where: Wales Millennium Centre
When: 18th – 22nd October 2022
Tickets: https://www.wmc.org.uk/en/whats-on/2022/the-color-purple
Programme: £5
Drinks: Higher end, £13 for two wines, but you are in arguably one of the best, fanciest venues in the country so *shrug*.
Wales Theatre Review 