FANTASIA TO STAR IN THE COLOR PURPLE

Singer and actress Elisabeth Withers made the best of her first Broadway role. Withers was cast as Shug Avery in Oprah Winfrey’s Broadway production of The C…

Former American Idol winner Fantasia made her Broadway debut in The Color Purple this week. The singer was handpicked by Oprah Winfrey to play the role of Celie in the Broadway musical. Fantasia had a lot to overcome as she recently suffered from strep throat. The singer said, “I started to cry. And the doctor was like, ‘What are you crying about?’ I was like, ‘Doctor, I have work to do. I have a big position!’ But all the [previous] Celies told me they got sick before they went on, so I think it was just nerves.” Fantasia was able to overcome the sickness and make it happen despite only having six days worth of rehearsals under her belt.

The show’s producers are thankful that Fantasia has joined the cast as box office revenues are up by $6.5 million. This role may also lead to other opportunities for the singer. One of her castmates, Elisabeth Withers, can atest to that. Withers, who released her debut album, It Could Happen To You, earlier this year, earned a Tony nomination for her role as Shug Avery in the production. Withers explained how grateful she was she answered the call to go out for the show. She said,

“I didn’t have an idea it was going to be as successful as it end up being, no I didn’t, because Nick (Ashford) and Val (Simpson) had called me about a lot of other projects and stuff. And so you just go and you do them, it’s like word of mouth but it ended up ebing an incredible success. I’m so happy I answered that call, so so happy.”

In related news, Destiny’s Child’s Michelle Williams has agreed to join the cast of the Chicago production of The Color Purple. Williams, who has starred in Broadway’s Aida in the past, will play Shug Avery.