Danielle Brooks, from the Netflix original drama Orange Is the New Black (OITNB), will star in Broadway's revival of The Color Purple later this year in December.
Made famous from her role as beloved inmate Taystee, Brooks will make her Broadway debut in The Color Purple later this year, producers announced Wednesday--according to The Hollywood Reporter. Brooks will join fellow Broadway rookies Jennfier Hudson and Cynthia Erivo in the John Doyle revival of the Broadway classic. THR also states that Brooks will play the role of Sofia (orginally played by Oprah Winfrey in a feature film) and that production plans to open on December 10 at Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.
But not to worry OITNB fans, Danielle is expected to be filming the fourth season of the Netflix-smash hit, while simultaneously appearing in The Color Purple.
Of course, Brooks is no stranger to the arts. As Variety duly notes, she attended Juilliard. And even though she doesn't have a ton of experience with musicals per se, she's "been singing all her life..I grew up singing in church as a little girl." According to her, the 2005 production of The Color Purple was the first Broadway show she had ever seen. She says, "When I write in my journal now, I always start with 'Dear God.'"
Classicalites, here's a clip of Danielle singing below on the Wendy Williams show.
Purple's score--written by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray--combines jazz, ragtime, gospel and rythm and blues. The musical is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker and spawned the 1985 Spielberg film, which starred Whoopie Goldberg and Winfrey.
If any of Brooks' acting/singing chops can translate from television to musical, you're in for a treat.
