Productions2 on Broadway
| 1970 | Broadway Theatre Original. March 15, 1970 · Philip Rose | 688 performances |
| 1972 | Billy Rose Theatre Revival. December 27, 1972 · Louis Johnson | 14 performances |
Every Broadway staging held in broadway-data, sourced to IBDB. West End runs are not yet held.
Recordings 1 album held
Licensing 1 entry
| US | Concord Theatricals Concord Theatricals | available |
Read from the licensor's own pages and catalogues. Rights move, and an empty row means we have not confirmed a publisher, not that the show cannot be licensed.
In the literature31 passages
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. book:at-this-theatre-100-years-of-broadway-shows-stories-and-botto-louis-viagas-rober#p210
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) book:at-this-theatre-100-years-of-broadway-shows-stories-and-botto-louis-viagas-rober#p220
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; book:more-opening-nights-on-broadway-a-critical-quotebook-of-compiled-by-steven-suski#p37
The musical failures included Bravo Giovanni! (1962), Cafe Crown (1964), Purlie (1970), Angel (1978), and the opus in question. book:more-opening-nights-on-broadway-a-critical-quotebook-of-compiled-by-steven-suski#p211
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. book:more-opening-nights-on-broadway-a-critical-quotebook-of-compiled-by-steven-suski#p776
Purlie, play and musical, was written by Ossie Davis, who costarred in the play version with his wife, Ruby Dee—who had played Sidney Poitier’s wife in Raisin in the Sun. book:more-opening-nights-on-broadway-a-critical-quotebook-of-compiled-by-steven-suski#p783
Passages naming this show, found by keyword across 178 books. Where this show turns up in the literature, not curated trivia about it.