Acting newbie, who has channeled Prince, to play lead in ‘Purple Rain’

“Purple Rain” has found its Prince.

Singer-songwriter Kris Kollins, a Washington, D.C., native who now lives in Miami, has been tapped to play the Kid, the Prince stand-in for the stage adaptation of the semi-autobiographical 1984 film.

The musical, which will be amplified by songs from Prince’s expansive repertoire that were not in the movie, runs Oct. 16-Nov. 16 at Minneapolis’ State Theatre. After its world premiere in Minnesota, the show is aiming for Broadway.

Kollins, who plays piano, was discovered on social media after a nationwide search, according to show officials. He is one of two stars in the musical that the producers announced Tuesday.

The other is Rachel Webb, a soulful and lyrical siren who recently played Juliet in the national tour of “& Juliet” that ran at the Orpheum in May. She has been cast as Apollonia, one of Prince’s singing partners.

“We were absolutely floored by Kris’ gifts — his musicianship, his voice, his magnetism,” said Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, the Pulitzer and two-time Tony winner who is writing the show’s book. “We have been blown away again and again by the depths of his talent and dedication.”

In sound and sensibility, Kollins is a ringer for Prince. Social media is strewn with videos of his covers and tributes of Prince songs. They reveal how he has mastered Prince’s quicksilver range, jumping from gritty baritone and bass voice to silky, ethereal falsetto.

“I find beauty in the blurred lines between masculine and feminine energy,” Kollins said in an interview in Mundane magazine. “Ambiguity, rebellion, sexual liberation … it all inspires my aesthetic.”

Kollins has never acted before; “Rain” marks his professional stage debut.

Meanwhile, Webb has toured with Kristin Chenoweth in “For the Girls.” Her role as one of Prince’s leading ladies is likely to be more fleshed out in the musical than in the film, according to officials.

Webb’s presence and voice “inspired us to really reimagine what was possible for the role of Apollonia,” director Lileana Blain-Cruz said in a statement.

Kollins and Webb have been rehearsing a theatricalized duet of “Take Me With U,” the last single from the “Purple Rain” soundtrack. The story around that song is rich with dramatic tensions. While it was recorded by Prince and Apollonia, it was originally intended for another Prince singing partner, Vanity.

The show’s creative team is stacked with other talent as well. Tony winner Jason Michael Webb, who is not related to Rachel Webb, is providing musical arrangements and orchestrations. Scenic design will be by David Zinn, who nabbed three Tonys for his designs of “Stereophonic,” “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “The Humans.”

Montana Levi Blanco, who won a Tony for “The Skin of Our Teeth,” has been chosen to design the costumes while Berlin-based Yi Zhao, whose many shows at the Guthrie Theater include “The Lehman Trilogy,” “A Christmas Carol” and “Twelfth Night,” has been named lighting designer.

Longtime Prince bandmates Bobby Z and Morris Hayes are serving as the show’s music advisers. “Rain” is being produced by Broadway heavyweight Orin Wolf, who backed such shows as “The Buena Vista Social Club,” “The Band’s Visit” and “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.”