Inside the reimagined musical that turns Prince’s landmark film into a live, instrument-driven Broadway event packed with mid-’80s hits.
ByBernadette Giacomazzo
July 28, 2026
Key Takeaways
- Prince’s landmark project Purple Rain is getting a Broadway adaptation, with previews starting March 12, 2027, and an April 12 opening at the Majestic Theatre following its 2025 world premiere run in Minneapolis.
- Producer Orin Wolf and playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins say the show isn’t a scene-for-scene remake but a bigger, more music-driven reimagining that digs deeper into Prince’s original story while staying true to his theatrical spirit.
- The production features live onstage performances of about 20 mid-’80s Prince-era songs—including the full Purple Rain album—with actors playing their own instruments, guided by longtime collaborators like Bobby Z, Morris Hayes, and music supervisor Jason Michael Webb.
More than 40 years after Purple Rain changed music and movies forever, Prince’s landmark project is taking its next major step. Producers have officially set a Broadway debut for the stage adaptation, with previews beginning March 12, 2027, before opening April 12 at New York City’s Majestic Theatre.
The announcement comes after the musical’s 2025 world premiere in Prince’s hometown of Minneapolis, where the creative team gathered audience feedback and significantly reworked the production. Now, those behind the show say Broadway audiences can expect a larger, more music-driven experience that stays true to Prince’s spirit while expanding on the original film.
“Everything that Prince did in his career was so theatrical,” producer Orin Wolf told Billboard. “So it’s just an organic move from the film to the stage.”
Wolf said the Broadway version isn’t intended to be a scene-for-scene recreation of the 1984 movie. Instead, it’s a fresh adaptation designed to dig deeper into the story Prince originally imagined. “We’re not trying to fix Purple Rain,” he said. “We’re just trying to bring more people to it.”
That story has already left an undeniable mark on pop culture. Released in 1984, Purple Rain became Prince’s signature album, selling more than 25 million copies worldwide while producing classics including “When Doves Cry,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” and the title track.
The accompanying film, starring Prince as aspiring Minneapolis musician The Kid, became a cultural phenomenon and helped cement his status as one of the era’s most influential artists.
When the stage production debuted at Minneapolis’ State Theatre in 2025, the location wasn’t accidental. Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins said launching the musical in Prince’s hometown was an easy decision.
“It just felt right,” he previously said. “One of the first thoughts we had… was, ‘You have to premiere this in Minneapolis.'”
Choreographer Ebony Williams added that creating the show there meant “being here in a part of his truth.”
The Broadway production also expands Prince’s music beyond the original soundtrack. While the nine songs from the Purple Rain album remain at its core, Wolf revealed the musical now features roughly 20 songs from Prince’s prolific mid-1980s catalog, including music associated with The Time and Apollonia 6. The cast will perform the music live onstage, with actors playing their own instruments rather than miming.
“We need all this music on stage,” Wolf said. “There’s no orchestra pit; there’s no sound that you’re going to hear on that stage that you don’t see getting made.”
Longtime Prince collaborators Bobby Z and Morris Hayes have also helped shape the production by sharing firsthand stories about Prince’s creative process, while music supervisor Jason Michael Webb said the goal has always been to honor the artist’s legacy. “We’re making sure that we have great musicians who can deliver the thing to the caliber that we can only hope Prince may have approved of,” Webb said.
Following months of revisions inspired by the Minneapolis run, Wolf believes the musical has found its rhythm.
“It feels like a rocket ship,” he said. “Once you get on board, it just moves quickly.”
