Anastacia McCleskey (Caroline, or Change; Waitress) has replaced the previously announced Brittney Mack (SIX) as Celie in the Muny premiere of the 2005 Broadway musical The Color Purple, which will play the St. Louis venue August 3-9.
Lili-Anne Brown will direct the production with choreography by Breon Arzell and music direction by Jermaine Hill.
McCleskey will join the previously reported Tracee Beazer as Shug Avery, Nasia Thomas as Nettie, Evan Tyrone Martin as Mister, Gilbert Domally as Harpo, and Nicole Michelle Haskins as Sofia. Jade Jones joins the company as the standby for Sofia.
The company will also include Jos N. Banks, Shantel Cribbs, Erica Durham, Duane Martin Foster, Damon J. Gillespie, Kennedy Holmes, Omega Jones, Sage Lee, Alicia Revé Like, Melanie Loren, Danea Osseni, Grant James Reynolds, Paris Porché Richardson, Amber Alexandria Rose, Alexis Roston, Owen Scales, Rodney Thompson, and Sean Walton, who will be joined by the Muny youth ensemble.
READ: Terrence J. Smith, Tiffany Elle Burgess, Aba Arthur Join Color Purple Movie Musical Cast
The musical adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel (and the popular 1985 Stephen Spielberg film) features a book by Marsha Norman and music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray.
The upcoming production will also have associate choreography by Carollette Phillips, scenic design by Arnel Sancianco, costume design by Samantha C. Jones, lighting design by Heather Gilbert, sound design by John Shivers and David Patridge, video design by Paul Deziel, and wig design by Kelley Jordan. The production stage manager is Jhanaë Bonnick with casting by The Telsey Office.
The Muny’s 2022 season also includes Legally Blonde The Musical (July 25-31) and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (August 12-18).
