Stage adaptation of Prince's "Purple Rain" to debut in Minneapolis next year

MINNEAPOLIS — Prince’s “Purple Rain” stage adaptation will make its debut in the late musician’s hometown of Minneapolis before heading to Broadway.

On Tuesday, producer Orin Wolf announced the play will make its world premiere at the Hennepin Theatre Trust’s State Theatre in the spring of 2025. More details on the pre-Broadway engagement, including exact production dates, are expected to be released in the coming weeks.

L. Londell McMillan, Prince’s former manager, says Prince talked about adapting “Purple Rain” for the stage for years.

“It’s only fitting that we launch this world premiere musical version in the city where it all began, Prince’s hometown, Minneapolis,” McMillan said in the announcement’s press release.

Last month, Wolf announced the development of the adaptation based on the 1984 movie and album. Tony Award nominee Lileana Blain-Cruz will direct. A book will also be written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, based on the original screenplay by Albert Magnoli and William Blinn.

Prince embraces Apollonia Kotero in a scene from the film ‘Purple Rain’, 1984. / Credit: Getty Images

The film version was set in Minneapolis and made $100 million worldwide. The movie also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. That score — you won’t be surprised to learn — is composed mostly of Prince lyrics and songs. The film featured Prince as a thinly-veiled version of himself, named “The Kid,” as his star rises as the Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue.

This won’t be the first Broadway show that made its debut in the Twin Cities. Director Julie Taymor’s multiple-Tony Award-winning musical version of Disney’s “The Lion King” notably got its footing in Minneapolis before moving on to the Great White Way, where it’s been continuously running since 1997.

Over the summer, Minnesota’s most famous musician was honored in the city he called home for years. A new highway sign memorializes Prince on the road that rolls right past Paisley Park, Prince’s home and vast recording studio in Chanhassen.

Prince was found dead in 2016 at Paisley Park at the age of 57.