One of the most successful and popular musicians of all time, Prince was a multi-instrumentalist with an impressive vocal range as well as a gifted dancer, actor, and filmmaker. He won dozens of awards, including seven Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. While his multifaceted skill set—and his larger-than-life persona—would have perfectly suited the stage, he surprisingly never starred in a Broadway production.
However, nearly a decade after his death, Prince is finally coming to Broadway. His 1984 film Purple Rain, which features original music from the Minnesota-born musician, is being adapted for the stage, with a world premiere “pre-Broadway debut” opening in his home state in October 2025.
Here’s what we know about the production and its cast.
The 1984 Film and Soundtrack
Released in July 1984, Purple Rain starred Prince as “The Kid,” the lead singer of an up-and-coming band known as The Revolution. The film also starred model Apollonia Kotero, musician and actor Morris Day, and actress Olga Karlatos. It made more than $70 million at the box office and was a critical success—it has a 73% score from critics and 78% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert said it was one of the best rock movies ever made.
Prince won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for Purple Rain and NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture, while the film earned a Brit Award for Best Soundtrack/Cast Recording. It also won two Grammies.
The accompanying album of the same name, which includes hit songs like “When Doves Cry” and “Baby I’m a Star,” has been certified 13-times Platinum and was Prince’s first album to top the Billboard 200 chart. It spent 24 consecutive weeks at No. 1 and 167 weeks on the chart. Purple Rain also sold more than 25 million copies worldwide, making it Prince’s best-selling album.
The Musical’s Cast
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who won Tony Awards in 2024 and 2025 for Appropriate and Purpose, is adapting William Blinn and Albert Magnoli’s Purple Rain screenplay for the stage. Jacobs-Jenkins also won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play for Purpose and received Drama League Outstanding Production of a Play nominations for Purpose and The Comeuppance.
Orin Wolf is producing and Lileana Blain-Cruz is directing the show. In August, the creative forces behind the musical announced that Washington, D.C.-based singer-songwriter Kris Kollins will play The Kid, opposite Rachel Webb as Apollonia.
“From our first encounter with his original music and socials, we were absolutely floored by Kris’ gifts—his musicianship, his voice, his magnetism,” said Jacobs-Jenkins in a press statement. “It took a minute for us to convince him we weren’t stalkers, but I’m so glad we did. Over the past couple of years of building this show with him, we have been blown away again and again by the depths of his talent and dedication. He is clearly such a star, and we are so lucky because there are probably no bigger shoes to fill in the theatre right now.”
A social media discovery, Kollins is making his stage debut. Webb, meanwhile, recently played Judith in & Juliet on Broadway. Ebony Williams (choreographer), Cookie Jordan (hair and wig designer), David Zinn (scenic designer), and Amanda Spooner (production stage manager) are among the other professionals involved with the project.
Prince Collaborators
Besides featuring songs from the film, the musical will have additional connections to Prince as the musician’s longtime collaborators, Bobby Z and Morris Hayes, are advising Tony-winning composer Jason Michael Webb on the score. Webb has more than 24 Broadway credits, including as conductor for MJ The Musical and The Color Purple. Bobby Z spent nearly 10 years as Prince’s drummer and Hayes was his keyboardist for almost two decades.
World Premiere in Minnesota
Purple Rain is appropriately debuting at Hennepin Arts’ State Theatre, a 2,150-seat venue in Minneapolis, on October 16, 2025, as part of the Bank of America Broadway on Hennepin series. It’s scheduled to play more than 30 shows before closing on November 16. The first 18 shows are previews, while opening night is scheduled for November 5.
Future Broadway Debut
While there is no date planned for a Broadway debut, the musical’s tenancy in Minnesota is being billed as a “pre-Broadway” world premiere, indicating that there are future plans—or at least hopes—for a Broadway engagement. The State Theatre has a similar seating capacity to many Broadway venues, and it’s not uncommon for plays and musicals to test in front of audiences around the country before making their way to Broadway.
Disney’s The Lion King, which is now the third-longest running Broadway show of all time with 10,929 performances as of August 10, 2025, also premiered in Minneapolis, playing at the Orpheum.