A purple wave of Prince aficionados descended on downtown Minneapolis on Wednesday night to catch the long-anticipated world premiere of the “Purple Rain” musical at the State Theatre.
The musical is a long-anticipated stage adaptation of Prince’s famous film, produced by Tony-winner Orin Wolf, with advising from Prince’s bandmates Bobby Z and Morris Hayes, among others.
Inarguably the biggest pop culture moment in Minnesota history, Prince’s 1984 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.
Crowds adhering to the “Rock and Roll Cocktail” dress code Wednesday mingled along a designated “purple paisley pathway” for those entering the theater, in a scene resembling a red carpet before the Oscars.
Among the celebrities spotted at the premiere was legendary filmmaker Spike Lee, who is one of the musical’s supporters. Minnesota musicians also showed up.
“I just had to check it out,” said Dave Pirner, whose band Soul Asylum followed Prince from First Avenue to the Billboard charts. Going in, he pondered a question on many attendees’ minds: “I’m wondering what Prince himself would think of it. But I’m looking forward to it.”
Chee Chisato, 64, lives in Japan but spends time in Chanhassen part of the year. She’s a Prince super fan who has seen the show three times so far and has tickets to see it two more times after tonight.
“I can’t understand the English script, but the music is wonderful,” she said.
