Cincinnati Music Festival Email List

Behind the Scenes

	Oprah Winfrey (Producer) "This is what it feels like to love, I believe. Everything about the Color Purple feels like love to me."
	Alice Walker (Author) "The novel is not about fighting or abusing in any way. It’s about helping people see that we are just human beings here. We’re really trying to live lives that are fulfilling and happy."
	Marsha Norman (Book) "What I did a lot with Brenda, Allee, and Stephen was to say what the dramatic content of the lyrics had to be, and where it had to end up. It’s like hooking up train cars." (on working with the songwriters)
	Scott Sanders (Producer) "Celie was a great protagonist, and although my life in no way mirrored hers, in the same way that every person has to overcome adversity in life and deal with obstacles and hardships, it spoke to me that she was able to pick herself up and move forward day after day."
	Gary Griffin (Director) "It’s a strong, powerful emotionally gripping story, a big story, a story of the triumph of the human spirit. All things that make a good musical."
	Brenda Russell (Songwriter) "Immediately there was magic in the creative process between the three of us. One day I said ‘We need something bigger.’ There is this wonderful principle that many of us believe in: You have to put something out there for the universe to answer you back."
	Paul Tazewell (Costume Design) "Although there are some beautiful period costumes in the show, the draw for me was more than just making beautiful dresses. What’s important is to clearly render who these people might be and to make them as individual as possible."
	John Lee Beatty (Set Design) "The set is from the soul. It’s not calculated, not a window dressing approach of making it pretty pretty to sell tickets."