By the time you read this, the jury will be in on director Gary Griffin’s Broadway debut, The Color Purple. The musical opened Dec. 2. My two cents won’t make any difference, but I’ll offer my two cents anyway, because that’s why PerformInk pays me the Big Bucks (or at least two cents).

I saw a preview of the show on Nov. 17 and spent a few minutes with Gary, who remained his low-key, quiet self despite the pressure he had to be feeling. Chicagoans in the house that night included Cheryl Sloane and one of the show’s producers, Jan Kallish, former executive director of the Auditorium Theatre Council. I also ran into actor Joe Forbrich, a cofounder of Shattered Globe, now living in the Big Apple. Joe was in the cast of Charles Fuller’s A Soldier’s Play, with Taye Diggs, which was extended at the Second Stage through Nov. 27. He sent holiday greetings to everyone.

It wouldn’t be fair to pass judgment on The Color Purple based on a preview two weeks before the opening; but I will say that the cast was wonderful, the audience (nearly sold out) stood and cheered, and there still was work to be done, as associates of The Color Purple freely confirmed. In addition to Griffin, I saw former Marriott Theatre musical director Kevin Stites, who is musical supervisor for the show (although he’s not in the pit; he’s currently conducting Fiddler on the Roof starring Harvey Fierstein), and Donald Byrd, the show’s choreographer.

Anyone with theatre savvy looking at the program could figure out what was going on: there are 18 producers listed above the title, plus three composer/lyricists and a book writer. Some are very big names, such as Roy Furman (former right-hand man to producer Garth Drabinsky), Quincy Jones, the Nederlanders, filmdom’s Weinstein brothers, Marsha Norman (the book writer) and the late-to-the-game Oprah Winfrey, who had signed on as a producer just days earlier (the Broadway Theatre’s marquee already proclaimed “Oprah Winfrey presents . . . The Color Purple”). That’s a lot of high-powered people to pull and push a first-time Broadway director, and it was clear that mister-nice-guy Gary Griffin had been doing his best to accommodate all parties.

Speaking to Kevin Stites (playing hooky from Fiddler), I said I’d heard that two new songs had gone into the show on Tuesday night (I saw the show on Thursday). “And they are out of the show tonight,” Stites shot back. “Gary and I are beginning to bring the show back to our own ideas.” Indeed, my old friend Michael Feingold (from Chicago, although few people know it), distinguished chief theatre critic of The Village Voice, told me that gossip on the Rialto said The Color Purple was “carpentered,” or pieced together.

That observation was accurate, at least as of Nov. 17. The Color Purple had wonderful moments, dazzling numbers and powerful performances, yet was episodic, with a stop-and-go feel. Given the very serious nature of the Alice Walker original, The Powers That Be had urged the adapters and Griffin to insert comedy bits whenever possible. Also, the story’s forward motion stopped cold several times so one character or another could have a Big Number. These were not insurmountable problems—IF Griffin was able to assert control, resist last-minute pressures and impose an overall throughline.

Later that night, I had drinks at Barrymore’s with the inimitable and indominatable Kate Buddeke, with whom Griffin had been staying in New York. Kate wouldn’t tell tales out of school, but did volunteer that Griffin successfully battled to keep big names out of the show, resisting suggestions to cast rap stars, and insisting on such gifted artists as Kingsley Leggs (well known to Chicago audiences) as Mister and LaCHANZE in the starring role as Celie.

One Chicagoan who will benefit big time from Griffin’s stand-up attitude is diva Felicia P. Fields in the co-starring role of Sofia. The Color Purple showcases both her comedic and dramatic skills as well as her big belt voice. If the musical is halfway successful, I predict a Supporting Actress Tony Award nomination for Ms. Fields.

The preview reports and even the reviews—short of catastrophically awful—won’t matter that much to the success of The Color Purple, which will draw through the reputation of the book and Oscar-winning film, through the marketing power of Oprah Winfrey and through the potential of the African-American audience. If Griffin has won kudos for making the show cohere, his future will be very bright indeed, and his days as Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s highly-regarded associate artistic director may be numbered. But first, he’s due back at CST to direct Feydeau’s A Flea in Her Ear (as adapted by David Ives) opening in March, a rare non-Bard CST mainstage show.

Jessica Boevers, scion of Apple Tree Theater founder Eileen Boevers, has survived her debut as a Broadway romantic star (although not her Broadway debut) with her reputation intact, despite disastrous reviews for the vehicle. Indeed, the cast of the musical In My Life was the only savory gravy in a classic turkey. Rarely have reviews been so unanimous as those condemning In My Life—which briefly played the Music Box Theatre—as the ultimate vanity show, with book, music, lyrics and direction by pop composer Joseph “You Light Up My Life” Brook, who also produced it.

TheaterMania called it “a repugnant show that deserves to close overnight but could be kept going for weeks—maybe even months!— by ambulance chasers racing to see for themselves if this startling Broadway entry is as awful as word-of-mouth says. (It is.)” And Variety termed it a “megalomaniacal folly... this astonishing misfire will be a must-see for all the Broadway tuner-train wreck completists who still speak wistfully of Carrie.” Another review called In My Life “stupefying in its utter wrong-headedness,” but went on to say that Boevers and Christopher J. Hanke were “as appealing as possible in the lead roles.” TheaterMania cited them as “young and pretty leads [who] emote without ever letting on what they must really be thinking. They deserve Purple Hearts for service above and beyond the call of duty.”

In local news, Circle Theatre, ignoring the disastrous triumvirate of Octavius, Mark Antony and Lepidus, has created a leadership troika by naming Jeffrey Cass as producing director. He joins artistic director Kevin Bellie and managing director Peter. J. Storms. Cass will be responsible for scheduling, planning and implementation related to the technical and management aspects of each production and for the facilities in general. Additionally, he will serve as a main resource for non-Circle Theatre company artists (although we’re not sure what that means). Cass has a musical theatre BFA from Roosevelt University, and has worked as an actor and director at Circle, as well as with the Village Players, the Jedlicka Performing Arts Center and on tour with American Eagle Productions. Octavius, of course, became Caesar Augustus, the first Roman Emperor. So who will it be in Forest Park?

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