Theatre Horizon presents 'The Color Purple: An American Musical'

That wasn’t the case when I first saw the show — adapted by playwright Marsha Norman, with a score by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray — on Broadway in 2005. That staging privileged pomp and pageantry, essentially making Celie a peripheral figure in her own story. When she emerged to sing her 11-o’clock number, “I’m Here,” it was easy to feel like you didn’t know the woman at all.

John Doyle’s stripped-down revival fixed those problems (and introduced U.S. audiences to the phenomenal Cynthia Erivo). But when I reviewed the national tour last year, I still couldn’t get past the liberties taken with Walker’s source text — particularly the elision of Celie’s lesbian awakening with the dynamic blues singer Shug Avery. For all its strengths, Doyle’s production also didn’t allow Celie to develop into her authentic self.

A man's world

Without altering any of the sometimes thinly drawn material, Amina Robinson’s vibrant staging shows Celie, and all of the characters, coming fully into their own. And in the hands of the extraordinarily gifted Jessica M. Johnson, Celie’s transformation from abused, unloved teenager to self-actualized woman becomes a hero’s journey.

Shrinking the story’s scope to fit Theatre Horizon’s intimate space does wonders for the material. Subtle amplification (by sound designer Megan Culley) largely proves unobtrusive but unnecessary — this big-voiced cast has resonance to spare.

Musical director Amanda Morton leads a six-person band with just the right balance of forcefulness and restraint. I couldn’t detect a single lost lyric — a rarity in our age of concert-level volume in the theater.

Sara Outing’s rustic set transports the audience to Celie’s world — rural Georgia at the turn of the last century, where a 14-year-old girl is viewed as little more than a workhorse and valuable marriage prospect. Celie leaves the home of her abusive stepfather, by whom she bears two children, to live with tyrannical Mister (Tyson Jennette) in the hopes of protecting her beloved sister, Nettie (Jessica Muse Money, flaunting a knockout voice).

She's (finally) here

Along the way, she meets two women who irrevocably change the course of her life: lively, self-possessed Sofia (phenomenal Donnie Hammond), who suffers no fools, and Shug (Ebony Pullum, in a star-making performance), who shows Celie the possibilities of love, sex, and strong bonds between women.

When Celie and Shug kiss for the first time, at the conclusion of Act I, that simple gesture seems to hold all of life’s potential pleasure. The number that follows, “What About Love,” has often been staged coyly, downplaying the sensual energy from which it originates. Not here — Robinson leaves no doubt that this declaration of love actually concerns carnal desire, as the two women kiss repeatedly and fall contentedly into each other’s arms. It’s a stirring realization of the characters Walker actually created.

And it makes matters all the more heart-rending when Shug leaves Celie, her true love, to chase a fleeting affair. That abandonment leads straight into “I’m Here,” which finally feels like the show-stopping declaration of self-love it always should have been.

Johnson’s voice can easily shake the rafters, but the care with which she imbues every phrase eclipses any mere technical fireworks. When she reaches her final declaration — “I’m beautiful, and I’m here” — your heart will leap.

In fact, though everyone in the ensemble sings exceptionally well, to a person they impress as actors first. Anyone who doubts that musical theater can pack the same punch as straight drama will leave this production singing a different song.

The song that The Color Purple sings here demands to be heard. The production has already been extended twice, with good reason. I guarantee I’ll be back to watch Miss Celie bloom all over again.