40 years after the release of ‘Purple Rain’, Prince’s most successful album will become a Broadway musical. Lileana Blain-Cruz, known for her adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s play ‘The Skin of Our Teeth’, will direct the project. The script will be written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, director of the drama ‘Appropriate’, and Orin Wolf will serve as producer after working on the ‘Buena Vista Social Club’ musical. Music and lyrics will of course be original by Prince.
‘Purple Rain’ was both the studio album and the soundtrack for the musical film of the same name directed by Prince Rogers Nelson. ‘Purple Rain’ told the story of The Kid, a troubled boy from Minneapolis who leads the band The Revolution and relies on music while dealing with family problems, especially the abuse of his father.
With nearly 25 million copies sold, ‘Purple Rain’ is Prince’s best-selling album and one of the best-selling of all time. In the United States, ‘Purple Rain’ remained at number 1 album for 24 consecutive weeks. Among his recognitions are several Grammys, as well as an Oscar, for the music contained on the album.
