Leicester Curve  and Birmingham Hippodrome theatres are to tour their critically acclaimed, award-winning co-production of The Color Purple this Autumn.

Having previously only played to UK audiences in London, Leicester and Birmingham, thanks to support from Arts Council England’s National Lottery Funding, the musical is now set to visit six new cities across England and Wales.

Leading the company as the full-hearted heroine Celie is Me’sha Bryan, whose previous roles have included Romantics Anonymous (Bristol Old Vic), Caroline, or Change (The Playhouse Theatre) and The Lion King (UK tour). The role of glamorous singer Shug Avery will be played by Bree Smith (The Wiz, Hope Mill Theatre), Aaliyah Zhané (The Comedy of Errors, Mercury Theatre) joins as Celie’s sister Nettie, Harpo will be played by Ahmed Hamad (The Addams Family, UK Tour and The Boy in the Dress, RSC) and Squeak will be portrayed by Jimand Allotey, who makes her professional stage debut in the production.

The tour sees several cast members from Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome’s original award-winning production return, including Ako Mitchell as Mister, Anelisa Lamola as Sofia, KM Drew Boateng as Pa, Rosemary Annabella Nkrumah as Darlene and Karen Mavundukure as Doris and Alternate Celie.

The cast also includes Kyle Birch, Kayla Carter, Joshua Clemetson, Esme Laudat, DeeArna McLean, Monifa James, Nathaniel Morrison, Alex Okoampa and Neil Patterson.

An  unforgettable story told over the course of 40 years follows tormented heroine Celie, as she journeys through joy, despair, anguish and hope in her own personal awakening to discover her unique voice in the world with a profoundly evocative score drawing inspiration from jazz, ragtime, gospel and blues,

The  Pulitzer prize-winning novel,  classic hit movie and Tony® Award-winning production on Broadway was originally staged in 2019. This revival of Marsha Norman, Allee Willis, Brenda Russell and Stephen Bray's theatrical version of Alice Walker's Pulitzer-winning novel is directed by Tinuke Craig.

The Color Purple will once again be directed by Tinuke Craig, with Lakesha Arie-Angelo as Revival Director. Also resuming their roles on the production team are Musical Supervisor Alex Parker, Orchestrator Martin Higgins, Choreographer Mark Smith, Designer Alex Lowde and Video Designer Joshua Pharo, Sound Designer Tom Marshall and Casting Director Kay Magson CDG, with Ian Oakley as Musical Director, Ricardo Pardo as Associate Designer and Gail Parmel and Iona Waite as Associate Choreographers also joining.