In these difficult times, Brévo Theatre’s glory-filled production of “The Color Purple” digs inside your spirit and releases elation at the prospect of hope.
Voices propelled by passion — almost pushing you back in your seat — deliver as solid a celebration as this musical is capable of.
True, a few asterisks exist, but this relatively young company unquestionably succeeds in its most ambitious undertaking in scope and logistics, especially since one of its leads, South Florida actress Toddra Brunson, unexpectedly died. The company had a week to rehearse with her replacement.
The artists’ enthusiasm, on display through July 3 at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center, is infectious as heroine Celie wrestles with the existence of God and searches for her sense of self-worth.
The 2005 musical is adapted, deeply abridged and somewhat softened from both Alice Walker’s 1982 novel and the 1985 film. But its blend of jazz, ragtime, gospel, blues and African music engulfs and exhilarates the audience.
Praise is certainly due to the verve of director Bryan Keyth-Wilson, the precise guidance of musical direction by Beau King, and the live eight-piece band under the baton of Damian Sanchez.
But what you’ll take home with you is the pure sound of three actresses with expressive phrasing and powerful belts that are forces of nature.
As Celie, the rural Georgia teenager who evolves before our eyes and ears through a grueling marriage, Brooklynn Miller is simply stunning. The Miami educator was hired after being heard singing karaoke, but her vocal ability is equaled by her acting. Her face registers anticipation, love, fear, regret. She captures us even during moments when Celie is protectively withdrawn.
As Shug Avery, Celie’s husband’s dancehall mistress, Aria Hope pulls off a minor miracle. She was called in from Houston a week before opening to parachute into a role she has played before. Hope’s Shug is a blistering, glowing energy working at some incalculable horsepower.
As the defiant, self-assured Sofia, Alabama-based Ashley Nicole Portis is simply a mountainous life force whose thrilling numbers drive some of the highlights of the evening.
No less effective are Cassidy Joseph as sister Nettie, Jamaine Benjamin Jr. as Harpo and Michael L. Wallace, who believably inhabits the cruel misogynist Albert “Mister” and then makes his latter-day conversion credible. LaShondra Hood, Krystin Blaire and Samara Baptist are the superbly precise “church ladies” who entertain during scene changes.
Sisters Nettie (Cassidy Joseph) and Celie (Brooklynn Miller) in “The Color Purple,” playing at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center through July 3. (Trisha Rosales/Courtesy)
Note that the entire ensemble, most of whom also play specific characters, are commendable, especially when their group numbers push out the walls of the auditorium in the gospel-tinged numbers. As the material pointedly hinges on the difference between physical beauty and inner beauty, the cast and the production encompasses, even welcomes, a wide range of body types.
The talent displayed here, much of it from locals who don’t often audition for other theaters, is worth a visit from artistic directors down here seeking diverse casting possibilities.
No less memorable is the supple, smooth, slinky, swirling, spinning dancing with supple arms and legs airborne, fluidly choreographed by the company’s producing artistic director Terrence “TM” Pride.
One of the asterisks is that when most of the actors are projecting rage or unbridled passion at full volume blast and speed, some words get lost in a blur. Which is a tragedy, since these lyrics and dialogue are so evocative themselves.
The sound by David Hart and lighting by Lauren Kennedi Ozie Dixon are first-rate, but there were a few missed cues during the opening matinee, and the actors need to learn to step into the lights. Sometimes we could see their bodies but not their heads.
Harlan Penn designed an evocative environment, including a thrust into the black box theater that takes up some seating space but gives the company an acre to dance across. We’ve never seen this venue used so well visually. Pride’s costuming captured the rural working clothes, then later delivers a parade of African celebratory garb.
The arc tracks Celie rejecting God, discovering bestowed beauty and finding the love she has always sought — inside herself. It’s a comforting message that fills troubled hearts.
We have to say, once again, we are worried that our credibility may be in danger because this season consistently and repeatedly has produced work worthy of such recognition. But trust us, Brévo’s “The Color Purple” deserves to be on that honor roll.
“The Color Purple,” presented by Brévo Theatre, runs through Friday, July 3, at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center, 50 W. Atlantic Blvd. General admission is $55, with VIP tickets for $70. Visit BrevoTheatre.org.
A version of this review ran in floridatheateronstage.com.