Lead casting announced for the pre-Broadway world premiere of Purple Rain musical in Minneapolis

Lead casting announced for the pre-Broadway world premiere of Purple Rain musical in Minneapolis

WORLD PREMIERE MUSICAL ADAPTATION ANNOUNCES INITIAL CASTING – KRIS COLLINS AND RACHEL WEBB

TO LEAD THE COMPANY AS “THE KID” AND “APOLLONIA”

EBONY WILLIAMS JOINS CREATIVE TEAM AS CHOREOGRAPHY

WORLD PREMIERE PRE-BROADWAY ENGAGEMENT AT THE HISTORIC STATE THEATRE RUNS OCT. 16-NOV. 16

CLICK HERE FOR FIRST LOOK REHEARSAL VIDEO OF “TAKE ME WITH U” PERFORMED BY KRIS KOLLINS AND RACHEL WEBB

Producer Orin Wolf has announced two of the young performers who will lead the pre-Broadway world premiere stage adaptation of PURPLE RAIN: emerging musician/songwriter KRIS KOLLINS will make his professional stage debut in the lead role of “The Kid” and RACHEL WEBB will co-star as “Apollonia.” Wolf also announced members of the PURPLE RAIN design team, as well as EBONY WILLIAMS as the production’s choreographer.

The world premiere musical adaptation, PURPLE RAIN, brings to life the electrifying, fictional journey of “The Kid,” a talented but troubled young musician trying to make it in the Minneapolis club scene. As he contends with a tumultuous home life, a rival band, and an unexpected romance with an aspiring young singer, “The Kid” fights to find his voice and seize his moment in the spotlight.

The musical features a story by Prince; a book by Two-time Tony Award winner and Pulitzer Prize recipient Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, based on the original screenplay by Albert Magnoli and William Blinn; music and lyrics by Prince; choreography by Ebony Williams; and direction by Tony Award-nominee Lileana Blain-Cruz.  Tony Award Winner Jason Michael Webb is the production’s Music Supervisor and will also provide musical arrangements and orchestrations for the production. Longtime Prince music collaborators Bobby Z and Morris Hayes will serve as Prince Music Advisers.

PURPLE RAIN will play at the historic State Theatre in Minneapolis from October 16 – November 16 as the final show in its 2024-2025 Bank of America Broadway on Hennepin season presented by Hennepin Arts.

Tickets for PURPLE RAIN are on sale now at HennepinArts.org. Click HERE to view a first look rehearsal video of Kris Kollins and Rachel Webb performing “Take Me With U.”

ABOUT KRIS KOLLINS AND RACHEL WEBB

Discovered on social media by casting director Taylor Williams and the PURPLE RAIN creative team as part of a nationwide search, KRIS KOLLINS is a Washington D.C.-based singer/songwriter who last year released his first EP, “Pistachio.” His recent single “GSAW” can currently be heard in Paramount+’s Noah’s Arc: The Movie. Kris will be making his professional stage debut in PURPLE RAIN.

RACHEL WEBB recently starred as Juliet in the first North American tour of & Juliet, following her appearance in the original Broadway company. She also toured alongside Kristin Chenoweth in For the Girls, under Mary-Mitchell Campbell’s music direction. A proud Texas native, Rachel first took the stage professionally in Hip Hop Broadway: A Musical Revue, sharing a lineup with Jennifer Holliday, and later opening for headliners at the Riverfront Jazz Festival. Before earning her BFA in Musical Theatre from Texas State University, she was a medalist in the NAACP ACT-SO (2015, 2016) and YoungArts (2017) competitions.

“The question asked of me the most since I began working on PURPLE RAIN has consistently been, ‘Who’s playing the Kid?!’ And I’m so thrilled to finally be able to scream from the mountaintops, “Kris Kollins!” said book writer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. “From our first encounter with his original music and socials, we were absolutely floored by Kris’s gifts – his musicianship, his voice, his magnetism. It took a minute for us to convince him we weren’t stalkers but I’m so glad we did. Over the past couple of years of building this show with him, we have been blown away again and again by the depths of his talent and dedication. He is clearly such a star, and we are so lucky because there are probably no bigger shoes to fill in the theatre right now. Kris is the real deal, and we can’t wait for audiences to see him bring The Kid to life.”

“When Rachel Webb walked into auditions for an early reading several years ago, she really blew us away.  She is a stunning presence with an incredible voice, who inspired us to really reimagine what was possible for the role of Apollonia,” said director Lileana Blain-Cruz. “This casting has been one of the unique joys of developing the stage adaptation of PURPLE RAIN with Branden. We get to explore the world anew and be exhilarated by the passion and integrity of an artist like Rachel Webb.”

ABOUT THE DESIGN TEAM AND MUSIC TEAM

PURPLE RAIN will feature scenic design by Tony Award-winner David Zinn; video & projection design by Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom; costume design by Montana Levi Blanco; lighting design by Yi Zhao; sound design by Palmer Hefferan; and hair and wig design by Cookie Jordan. The production’s Casting Director is Taylor Williams and the Production Stage Manager is Amanda Spooner. 

Bobby Z and Morris Hayes, both of whom worked with Prince for years as bandmates and musical collaborators, will serve the production as Music Advisers.

ABOUT PURPLE RAIN

Released in July 1984 by Warner Bros, the film PURPLE RAIN was originated by Prince, directed by Albert Magnoli and written by Magnoli and William Blinn. It was Prince’s film debut.

PURPLE RAIN is a cultural phenomenon, widely regarded as one of the greatest musical films ever made, grossing close to $100 million worldwide and winning the Academy Award for Best Original Score.  In 2019, the Library of Congress added the film to the National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Prince and The Revolution’s iconic soundtrack, PURPLE RAIN, was released in June 1984. The album received two Grammys, three American Music Awards, two Brit Awards, and an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. The album remained at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for 24 weeks. The album is certified 13x Platinum by the Recording Industry of America (RIAA) and has sold over 25 million copies worldwide.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

LILEANA BLAIN-CRUZ is a Tony-nominated director from New York and Miami. She received the Drama League’s Founders Award for Excellence in Directing, and was named a Doris Duke Artist, a Lincoln Center Emerging Artist, and a United States Artists Fellow. Recent projects include: El Niño (Metropolitan Opera);The Skin of Our Teeth (Tony nomination), The Blood Quilt, Flex, and Pipeline (Lincoln Center Theater); Marys Seacole (Obie Award, LCT3); BUST (Goodman Theatre / Alliance Theatre); Stranger Love (LA Philharmonic); Create Dangerously (Miami New Drama); White Girl in Danger (Vineyard / Second Stage); The Listeners (Opera Norway / Opera Philadelphia); Wayne Shorter and esperanza spalding’s …(Iphigenia) (MASS MoCA / The Kennedy Center); Hansel and Gretel (a film for Houston Grand Opera); Anatomy of a Suicide (Atlantic Theater Company); Fefu and Her Friends (TFANA); War (LCT 3 / Yale Rep); Girls (Yale Rep); Faust (Opera Omaha); The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World (Obie Award) and Fabulation (Signature Theatre); Thunderbodies and Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. (Soho Rep); The House That Will Not Stand, Red Speedo, and Dreaming Zenzile (New York Theatre Workshop); Water by the Spoonful (Mark Taper Forum / CTG); Henry IV, Part One and Much Ado About Nothing (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); The Bluest Eye (The Guthrie). Upcoming: Lincoln in the Bardo at The Metropolitan Opera.

BRANDEN JACOBS-JENKINS (Book) is a Brooklyn-based writer and a professor in the practice at Yale University. His plays include Purpose, Appropriate, The Comeuppance, Girls, Everybody, War, Gloria, An Octoroon and Neighbors. His work has received the Pulitzer Prize, as well as Tony, New York Drama Critics’ Circle, Lortel, Drama League, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Jeff and Obie awards. His other honors include the Tennessee Williams Award and the MacArthur and Guggenheim fellowships. A graduate of Juilliard’s playwriting program, he is the vice president of the Dramatists Guild council and serves on the boards of DGF, Soho Rep and the Park Avenue Armory.

EBONY WILLIAMS (Choreographer). Known for her work with renowned Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet as the company’s first African American female dancer, and as a pop culture icon featured in Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies,” Emmy Award-winning Ebony Williams has quickly positioned herself as Hollywood’s go-to Choreographer. Williams’ choreography credits include: “Sneakerella” (Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography, Disney+), Choreographer of Jennifer Hudson’s 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade performance, Choreographer of Doja Cat’s Scarlet Tour and META VR Capture, Choreographer of Doja Cat’s 2023 & 2021 MTV VMA’s, and Co-Choreographer of Doja Cat’s 2022 Coachella performances. Ebony has been the Choreographer for Alicia Keys (2021 KEYS promo tour), Beyoncé (Black is King), Tate McRae (MTV EMA Performance); she also provided additional choreography for Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour and the “In The Heights” feature film. Theatre: Choreographer (Fangirls, Lyric Hammersmith London), Choreographer (Toni Stone, Huntington Theatre), Associate Choreographer Jagged Little Pill on Broadway/National Tour. Commercials/brand choreography: Grove, NY Lottery, US Open, Alice + Olivia, and Lululemon.

JASON MICHAEL WEBB (Music Supervisor, Arrangements, Orchestrations). Special Tony Award Recipient, 2x Drama Desk Award winner, 2x Grammy-nominated. Credits include: Music Director: MJ: The Musical (also orchestrations, arrangements), Jelly’s Last Jam (Encores), Choir Boy (MTC, also arranger), The Color Purple (2015 Broadway revival); Arranger: Smile Direct Club (National campaign, also vocalist), “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” (2013 Inauguration of President Barack Obama); Executive Music Producer: Respect (MGM, starring Jennifer Hudson): Director: The Last Five Years (2021 film), American Theatre Wing 2023 Gala: Composer: The Ms. Pat Show (BET+), Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare in the Park), Beebo Saves Christmas (2022 film). Upcoming Fall 2025: Saturday Church (New York Theatre Workshop), Revolution(s) (Goodman Theatre).

Record producer and musician BOBBY Z (Prince Music Adviser) was the drummer in Prince’s legendary band, The Revolution, from 1978 to 1986. Along with his fellow bandmates, he appeared in the film PURPLE RAIN. Bobby played on many of Prince’s most legendary albums, including Dirty Mind, 1999, Purple Rain, Controversy, Around the World in a Day, Parade, and Sign o’ the Times.

MORRIS HAYES (Prince Music Adviser) was a member of Prince’s band, “The New Power Generation,” for almost two decades, and served as Prince’s Musical Director for several years. In addition to Prince, Morris Hayes has performed live with such acclaimed artists as Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Whitney Houston, Sheila E., H.E.R., Elton John, Maceo Parker, John Legend, Lenny Kravitz, Alicia Keys, Usher, Maroon 5, D’Angelo, Common, Kanye West, and many others. Morris Hayes performed in the historic Super Bowl Halftime Show with Prince in 2007 and was the Musical Director for the official Prince Tribute Concert in St. Paul, Minnesota, in October 2016.

PRINCE ROGERS NELSON (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016) is widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of all time.  A singer, songwriter, musician, and music producer, he received countless awards, nominations and accolades for his music, performances, and skill as a multi-instrumentalist, frequently playing all or most of the instruments on his recordings. His music incorporated a wide variety of styles, including funk, rhythm and blues, rock, new wave, soul, blues, jazz, and hip-hop.  Prince produced his albums himself, pioneering the Minneapolis sound.

Prince has sold over 150 million records worldwide, ranking him among the best-selling music artists of all time.  He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in 2016. He received seven Grammy Awards, seven Brit Awards, six American Music Awards, four MTV Video Awards, and Academy Award for Best Original Score for Purple Rain, and a Golden Globe Award. Two of his albums, Purple Rain (1984) and Sign o’ the Times (1987), received Grammy nominations for Album of the Year.  His albums 1999, Purple Rain, and Sign o’ the Times have all been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. At the 2013 Billboard Music Awards he was honored with the Billboard Icon Award.

For more information, please visit https://purplerainbroadway.com/