The Color Purple

The producers of The Color Purple have announced that American Idol Season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino will reprise her starring role of Celie for the Chicago Engagement. Returning to its debut home of Chicago, The Color Purple will make its home at The Arie Crown Theater for two weeks, September 2 -13, 2009.

Fantasia made her Broadway debut in The Color Purple on April 10, 2007. She won the 2007 Theater World Award and received across the board rave reviews. As a 19-year old single mother, Fantasia began her path to international stardom when she became the winner of FOX's hugely successful audience-driven singing competition in May 2004. Now 23, Barrino has garnered critical acclaim for the release of both her debut album, Free Yourself, which marked her becoming the first artist in Billboard Hot 100 chart history to debut at #1 with her debut single "I Believe," and her second album, FANTASIA, released by J Records on December 12, 2006. To date, she has gathered more than 20 award nominations including the Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, Vibe Awards, Soul Train Awards and Soul Train "Lady of Soul" Awards, Billboard Music Awards and R&B & Hip Hop Awards, BET Awards, NAACP Image Awards, and Teen Choice Awards.

No stranger to acting, Fantasia also broke records of a different kind after authoring a New York Times best-selling autobiography Life Is Not A Fairy Tale (Simon & Schuster, September 2005) and starring in The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life is Not a Fairytale, the Debbie Allen-directed Lifetime original movie adaptation of her truthful, outspoken and ultimately healing memoir in August 2006. For her performance, she was nominated for a 2007 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special. The biopic, also nominated as Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special for the 2007 NAACP Image Awards, ranks as the channel's second most watched movie and has been seen by 19 million viewers.

With her Broadway debut as Celie, the heart and soul of The Color Purple, she added the distinction of being the first ever American Idol winner to star in a Broadway show.

Fantasia joins her Broadway cast-mate Felicia P. Fields, a native Chicagoan, who originated the role of Sofia , for which she received a Tony Award nomination. Her performance also earned her a 2006 Theatre World Award, a Clarence Derwent Award, two Broadway.com Awards and she was a 2006 Drama League honoree. Felicia has worked throughout the Chicagoland area and has received many Joseph Jefferson Award nominations for her performances in Jammin' With Pops (Ella Fitzgerald), Hot Mikado (Katisha), Show Boat (Queenie), Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Ma Rainey), Ain't Misbehavin' (Nell/Amelia) and Dreamgirls (Effie Melody White), to name a few. Felicia's stellar performance in Chicago's Drury Lane production of Sophisticated Ladies earned her the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

Nominated for eleven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, The Color Purple opened on December 1, 2005 at the Broadway Theatre where it ran for over two record breaking years. It is based on the classic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker and the moving film by Steven Spielberg. It is the unforgettable and inspiring story of a woman named Celie, who finds the strength to triumph over adversity, and discover her unique voice in the world. With a joyous GRAMMY-nominated score featuring gospel, jazz, pop and the blues, The Color Purple is about hope and the healing power of love.

Tickets for performances go on sale May 1 at 10 a.m. and range in price from $49.50 - $85. Tickets are available at the Arie Crown Theater Box Office (2301 S. Lake Shore Drive), online at ticketmaster.com.