The Color Purple finds success on Broadway

The stage version ofThe Color Purple, Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, has recovered its $11-million US investment less than a year after it opened on Broadway.

The achievement is considered unique in Broadway circles.

"The success of The Color Purple is a testament to the true power and universal appeal of the story and how these characters have resonated with the public," the show's producer, Scott Sanders, said Friday.

Walker wrote the novel in 1982, winning the Pulitzer a year later.

The stage version of the story of a black woman who overcomes sexual and physical abuse to finally liberate herself from her past has grossed more than $60 million US since it opened Dec. 1, 2005.

In 1985, the book was adapted into a film, starring Whoopi Goldberg and talkshow host Oprah Winfrey. The Steven Spielberg-directed movie was nominated for 11 Academy Awards.

Winfrey is also a producer with the stage version, investing $1 million in the production and putting its performers on her popular show. Her name is prominent in the advertising.

Sanders credits the show's success with an innovative marketing campaign that included promotions on black radio stations, a website initiative, a special black history month promotion on television and $25 tickets.

Black audiences make up more than half of the audience at The Color Purple compared to only3.8 per cent of total Broadway theatregoers during the 2004/2005 season, according to data from the League of American Theaters and Producers.