Fans from all over go crazy for ‘Purple Rain’ musical preview

Fans came from as far away as London and Alaska and from as close to the source as Chanhassen and north Minneapolis to see a musical bound for New York. And they all agreed the production had to start in Prince’s hometown.

“Your downtown is buzzing and you can feel his spirit here tonight,” said Gloria Walls, who trekked from St. Louis.

Visiting from her new home in Fairbanks, Alaska, for the occasion, former Minnesotan Nan Pfisterer said, “He loved people, and I think he’d love having so many people here in Minneapolis for this.”

Walls and Pfisterer were among the 2,000 theatergoers — mostly die-hard Prince fans, but also avid Broadway lovers — who converged on the State Theatre in downtown Minneapolis Thursday to get the first glimpse of the sold-out “Purple Rain” musical.

Thursday wasn’t opening night for the Broadway-bound production, whose backers include film legend Spike Lee and Prince’s estate. That’s on Nov. 5. This one was the first night in a three-week run of preview performances.

However, for these ticketholders, the preview show had all the electricity, pizzazz and color of the 1984 movie that inspired it.

“The nice thing about coming tonight is there are no expectations set yet, and we get to just go in and enjoy it for what it is,” said Andrea Miller of Bloomington, who used to work as a dancer at Paisley Park, Prince’s Chanhassen studio/venue.

“With those songs, I’m not sure how they could mess this up.”

Inarguably the biggest pop culture moment in Minnesota history, Prince’s movie and accompanying album “Purple Rain” were mostly filmed and recorded in his native Minneapolis, much of it made just two blocks away from the State Theatre at First Avenue nightclub.

The album sold 25 million copies and landed such megahits as “When Doves Cry,” “Let’s Go Crazy” and the iconic title track. The movie told a semi-autobiographical story of a royally talented musician named The Kid (played by Prince) who’s dealing with family trauma, girl trouble and a cocky music rival named Morris.

Nine years after Prince’s death, the musical based on his opus is doing what he did: using Minneapolis as its testing ground before moving on to bigger stages.

In a preshow introduction, the musical’s director Lileana Blain-Cruz (a Tony nominee for “The Skin of Our Teeth”) told the audience that the night’s performance would be only the second full run-through of it.

As is usually the case with a new production, the cast and crew are putting on these preview shows ahead of opening night to work out any kinks, and maybe even rework major elements. Reviewers uniformly do not weigh in on the production until its official opening. No spoilers here.

Fans who attended Thursday’s preview, however, were not shy about providing their opinions about the production and its stars, which includes the young Miami newcomer given the daunting task of playing Prince playing The Kid.

“Kris Kollins is spookily close to the real thing,” said Pinky Chambers, who flew from London for the preview, during intermission.

Kathleen Peterson, who lives in Chanhassen and was a regular at Paisley Park, said she appreciated that the musical incorporated many other Prince songs beyond the “Purple Rain” tracks, even including some rarities.

“Who could’ve guessed they would incorporate songs like ‘Empty Room’ and ‘17 Days?’” said Peterson, who was even more smitten with the actress playing The Kid’s romantic interest, Apollonia (Rachel Webb, who played the title character in “& Juliet” on Broadway): “She took my breath away.”

“Pacing was disjointed and all over the place, and I think it was too long,” said Elijah Reiss of Canaan, N.Y., who plans to see the production again when it moves to Broadway. “It’ll be interesting to see how they improve on it, which I think they can.”

Avid theatergoer Mick Bundul of Minneapolis said, “If and when it gets to Broadway, I think it needs to be in a smaller theater than this one. It feels a little lost in here.”

The musical is scheduled to run through Nov. 23.

When: Through Nov. 23. 7:30 p.m. Wed.- Fri., 2 & 7:30 p.m. on some Saturdays, 1 & 7 p.m. select Sundays.

Where: State Theatre, 805 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls.