The run closed November 6, 1971
- Opened
- March 15, 1970
- Closed
- November 6, 1971
- Performances
- 688
- Previews
- —
- Theatre
- Broadway Theatre
Of the 589 productions we hold that opened in the 1970s and record a performance count, this is the 41st longest. That is a rank within what we hold, not within everything that was staged.
Other stagings of Purlie 1 more that season
| 1972 | Billy Rose Theatre Revival · Louis Johnson | 14 perf. |
Who was in it39 named
C David Colson
Linda Hopkins
Helen Martin
Loretta Abbott
Carolyn Byrd
Barbara Christopher
Hope Clark
Peter Colly
Morris Donaldson
Denise Elliott
Judy Gibson
Milt Grayson
Lavinia Hamilton
Synthia Jackson
Mildred Lane
Tony Middleton
Al Perryman
Ray Pollard
Mildred Pratcher
Arlene Rowlant
William Taylor
Ella Thompson
Larry Vickers
Alyce Webb
Myrna White
Vera Moore
Pi Douglass
Demarest Gray
Patti Harris
Carol Jean Lewis
Arlene Rolant
Otis Sallid
7 of these 39 names have a person record behind them and link to one. The other 32 are set from the identifier in the cast list, which is a slug of the name — so hyphens and full stops are lost and a few come out wrong. We hold nothing else about them. Nobody here is matched to a character: the cast list records who was in the company and not what they played.
Characters7 roles recorded
Cleavon Little Purlie Victorious Judson
Melba Moore Lutiebell Gussie Mae Jenkins
C. David Colson Charley Cotchipee
John Heffernan Ol' Cap'n Cotchipee
Sherman Hemsley Gitlow Judson
Novella Nelson Missy Judson
Helen Martin Idella Landy
Only 512 of 13,459 productions carry role names, and these came out of a wiki table — the names arrived with the table's own cell markup on them and have been stripped back. They are not linked to person records because the identifiers in that table do not resolve to ours.
Creative team
- Director
- Philip Rose
- Choreographer
- Louis Johnson, John
- Producer
- Philip Rose
- Orchestrations
- Garry Sherman
A producer is one string on this record, however many people or companies it names. Directors and choreographers are held both as text and as identifiers; where an identifier exists the name links to a page.
Tony Awards 0 from 1 nomination
| Best Musical | Nominated |
Recordings 1 held for the work
None of these is attributed to this staging. They are filed against Purlie, and nothing in the record says which production any of them documents. Closing that join is the point of this catalogue and it is not closed yet.
Around this production
Purlie, an African American musical starring Cleavon Little and Melba Moore, premieres at the Broadway Theater and runs 688 performances. Historical Dictionary of the Broadway Musical Volume 22 William A Everett Paul R, p. 28
- Cabaret and Mame moved in from other theatres to finish their long runs (1968-69), and a new musical, Purlie, based on the hit play Purlie Victorious, opened in 1970 and ran for 688 performances. At This Theatre 100 Years of Broadway Shows Stories and Botto Louis Viagas Rober, p. 210
- the musical Purlie from the Broadway Theatre, which played for seven months in 1971; Julie Harris winning a Tony Award for her performance in The Last of Mrs. Lincoln (1972); Elizabeth Ashley, Keir Dullea, Fred Gwynne, and Kate Reid in a revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1974) At This Theatre 100 Years of Broadway Shows Stories and Botto Louis Viagas Rober, p. 220
- Purlie (1970, 689 perfs) neared the 700-mark while Candide (1974, 740 perfs) surpassed it, with both Broadway Theatre tenants succumbing to real estate-related obstacles. Purlie was forced out of not one but two theatres, the additional moving costs sealing its fate; More Opening Nights On Broadway A Critical Quotebook of Compiled By Steven Suski, p. 37
- The musical failures included Bravo Giovanni! (1962), Cafe Crown (1964), Purlie (1970), Angel (1978), and the opus in question. More Opening Nights On Broadway A Critical Quotebook of Compiled By Steven Suski, p. 211
- Purlie was enhanced by a spellbinding performance from Cleavon Little and a virtual explosion of song from Melba Moore, with notably strong support from Novella Nelson and Sherman Hemsley. But Purle had a problem: it was a theatrical also-ran, a small-fry production with no important names attached. More Opening Nights On Broadway A Critical Quotebook of Compiled By Steven Suski, p. 776
Passages naming this production, found by keyword across 178 books. Where it turns up in the literature, not curated notes about it.
What this page does not know
- No photograph of this staging. 48 of 13,459 productions hold one.
- Which of the 1 recordings of Purlie document this run, if any.
- Reviews, box office, running order, understudies and designers: none of it is held for any production.