Musical will make debut in Atlanta

A musical version of “The Color Purple,” Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, will have its world premiere in September at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre before what is expected to be a Broadway run.

The book has been adapted for the stage by playwright Marsha Norman, who wrote “ ‘night, Mother” as well as the book for the musical version of “The Secret Garden.” The score is by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray.

“The Color Purple” is told through the eyes of Celie, a timid young Southern woman who is raped by her father, gives birth to two children and suffers years of cruelty married to an abusive man. Whoopi Goldberg played Celie in Steven Spielberg’s 1985 screen version, which also featured Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover.