Viewer’s guide to watching “Purple Rain” the musical

Let’s start off with a couple of “givens.” 

It’s a given that Prince is the greatest artist to ever live. Again, this is a given. We don’t have time to argue the givens. I mean, why else would the likes of Spike Lee be in Minnesota for the premiere of a stage adaptation to Prince's iconic cinematic production, 1984’s “Purple Rain” and the accompanying album of the same name? The movie is required watching (maybe 30 times in my case) and the album required listening. 

Again, these are the givens. Now that we have that out the way, let’s get into the “official” viewer's guide to seeing the soon-to-be Broadway musical, “Purple Rain,” which made its debut Wednesday night at the State Theatre in Minneapolis, literal steps from the primary setting of the film and production, the iconic First Avenue.

Here are seven tips. 

Viewer guide tip number one, if you’ve seen the movie – and who hasn’t – disregard about 90 percent of what you know. This is not the movie on a stage. Not at all. Now that’s not to say that’s a bad thing (not that it’s a good thing either), but if you go in divorcing your knowledge of the movie you’ll have a more enjoyable experience, especially in the first five to 10 minutes of the performance. 

Guide tip number two, there is only one Prince. That said, Kris Kollins, who plays Prince … um, I mean who plays The Kid … does a wonderful job in channeling the Purple One. I suggest during select moments of the show closing your eyes to hear the almost spot on cadence in Prince’s speaking tone and voice. And when you reopen them, look as how spot-on he is in mimicking the mannerisms. A couple of moments are eerie to say the least. As for the singing, again, only Prince could do what he could do so don’t expect to hear an exact replica of what your ears have become accustomed to, but Kollins holds his own, standing out on his rendition of “The Beautiful Ones.” 

Tip number three, watch for the Easter eggs. Like I said, this isn’t the movie, but there are eggs throughout the show that not only pay homage to the cinematic original, but there are also homages to two other Prince’s movies, "Graffiti Bridge” and “Under the Cherry Moon.” Other eggs true Prince fans will get are ones like the amalgamation of a band that combines Apolonia Six and Wendy and Lisa that morphs into what closely resembles the final backing band of Prince, 3rdeyegirl. 

Fourth – and this is a big one, especially for the Minnesota audience getting to see the show before its Broadway debut – remember you’re watching actors playing real people who were playing fictional characters. Does that make sense?

OK, let me explain. For many of us, Prince wasn’t some mythical figure, he was real. We knew him – even if we didn’t know him. And to know him was to love him. And to paraphrase “In Living Color’s” Benita Butrell, “Don’t nobody say nothin’ bad about Prince!” While Prince’s character, The Kid, in the movie was certainly flawed, the musical delves deeper into the flaws and during the second act, taking from the movie, turns truly dark. I’ll offer both a trigger warning and somewhat of a spoiler alert here. Admittedly, I haven’t seen the movie in some years, and though I have seen it countless times, I truly forgot The Kid considered hanging himself. With the recent rash of hangings of Black men under suspicious circumstances, but being quickly dismissed as suicide, there was something about that particular seen of seeing The Kid with a noose around his neck. I mean, you’re already taking a ton of poetic licenses, why was that one of the times you wanted to stick to the script? 

Again, these are actors playing real people who were playing fictional characters. Thus, the portrayals of Morris Day, Jerome, and Wendy and Lisa sometimes come off as exaggerated caricatures of the real people. Not a critique on the actors, I enjoyed their performances, in particular, Rachel Webb's performance of Apollonia.

Next tip, be ready to take a wonderful trip through the Prince catalog.

The music of “Purple Rain” isn’t just the music of “Purple Rain.” We get the core songs performed in the film, but the writers of the musical also made a wonderful decision to not be limited to cuts from the album, instead allowing the audience to sing along to a wealth of Prince penned melodies, including the likes of “The Glamorous Life,” “Nothing Compares 2 U,” “Gigolos Get Lonely Too,” “Sugar Walls,” and more. 

Sixth tip is a tip of the cap. Kudos to the production staff. The video, lighting effects and audio enhanced the experience in ways that words on a digital device cannot fully capture. “Purple Rain” is worth seeing for the “television taping” scene alone. 

And the final tip, after you leave, watch the movie. It will completely reshape your appreciation for the theatrical production. Besides, you can never have too much Prince in your life. 

“Purple Rain” runs through Nov. 23 at the State Theatre, 805 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis.