Surprisingly, beyond a pair of screenings of “The Color Purple” movie starring Whoopie Goldberg, Danny Glover, and Oprah Winfrey in January 1986 at The Pex Theater, the Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece by Eatonton’s own Alice Walker has never been publicly performed here.
That’s about to change, as a live, musical version of “The Color Purple” will be on stage Feb. 22-23 and Feb. 27-March 1, marking the debut of the Young Directors Series at The Plaza Arts Center in downtown Eatonton.
Led by first-time director Rashawd Ford, 23, who is no stranger to The Plaza stage as an interpretive dancer, this production of “The Color Purple” will feature several local student actors and others from as far away as Gainesville and Helen. Ford said he connected with many through word-of-mouth and social media posts.
After graduating from Putnam County High School in 2019, Ford attended Gordon State College in Barnesville. He now teaches theater at Peachtree Academy, a private Christian school in Covington, and in a similar role at Alcovy High School in the same city. Meanwhile, Ford continues to study his craft online through the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York.
“It keeps me on my feet every minute of every hour,” he said.
With nearly 30 actors, ranging from pre-K students to young teenagers and novices, along with a few experienced performers, Ford knows that personal attention and direction are crucial to getting the most out of each performer.
“I’m excited to introduce them to this kind of experience,” he said. “Now, maybe they stick with it, perhaps they don’t, but at least they try and get exposed to it, and that’s good on its own. I’m excited to see what they do with it.
“For example, our Celie (played by Goldberg in the movie), Destiny Reeves, she’s never done anything like this before. She’s never been on stage other than for American Idol, singing, but she’s very talented, vocally trained, and doing an absolutely great job. They all are, and I’m really proud of them.”
Beyond the connection to Eatonton, Ford said he also chose “The Color Purple” for his directorial debut because he has ancestral ties to Walker, who he referred to as “my great, great, great, great aunt, on my father’s side.”
He added that he doesn’t expect her to know that, but he suggested that the author is probably at least aware of his great-great-grandmother.
“They’re related, they know each other," he said.
Ford added that he’s trying hard not to get his hopes up, but he was told Walker is aware of his production in Eatonton and that she may even make the trip home to see a performance.
“Her niece did call me and put it in my ear, ‘Well, she may be coming, she may be coming,’ so you just never know,” Ford said. “I’m just so super excited just because she knows about it, and it’s her story, it’s her hometown. So, who knows?”
Regardless of Walker’s attendance, Ford hopes a broad cross-section of Eatonton and Putnam County citizens will attend to experience the entertainment and message she intended with The Color Purple as a novel. For anyone who hasn’t yet read the book or seen the movie, Ford said that’s okay; they will still get a lot out of his musical.
“And The Color Purple is not only for Black people; it was written for everybody. It’s written for everybody in the community,” he stressed. “It is a story that has everybody united to be united.
“During this show, I feel as if it will bring so many people together again. It’s going to tell a story that needs to be told. And for people to see it on stage, not just the movie version, but on stage with the musical, it’s so soulful, warm, and heart-touching. I just think people are going to love it like I do.”
Good seats for all showings of “The Color Purple” at The Plaza are $25 each and available at app.arts-people.com/index.php?ticketing=plaza.