Leading lady Brittney Mack delivers soul-stirring performance in Goodman Theatre’s ‘The Color Purple’

“The Color Purple” — 3.5 stars

If Brittney Mack receives a Joseph Jefferson Award nomination for her intensely moving performance as Celie in Goodman Theatre’s “The Color Purple,” it will likely be for her anguished response early in the first act to her spiteful husband forcing Celie’s beloved sister from their home.

If the superb Mack wins the Jeff Award for principal performance in director Lili-Anne Brown’s euphoric, beautifully sung revival, it will be for her soul-stirring “I’m Here,” the musical’s 11 o’clock showstopper during which the long-suffering Celie asserts her dignity and declares her independence, marking her transformation from oppressed girl to empowered woman. It earned her an ovation on opening night.

Simply put, Mack’s portrayal of Celie is one of the most soulful, finely tuned and convincing performances in recent memory.

But I suspect Mack won’t be the only one collecting accolades for her work on the musical, which testifies to the resilience, perseverance and unwavering strength of Black women based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film.

Marsha Norman (Pulitzer Prize-winner for “'Night, Mother”) wrote the book. Songwriters Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray composed the score, which encompasses gospel, blues and swing, R&B and funk.

Staged by the sure-handed Brown, who helmed revivals at Drury Lane Theatre in 2019 and St. Louis’ MUNY in 2022, Goodman’s impressive production reunites Brown with her co-creatives from those earlier productions. Among them are music director Jermaine Hill; choreographer Breon Arzell, whose lively choreography includes African folk dance and contemporary moves; and set designer Arnel Sancianco.

Sancianco’s minimalist design features wooden risers set before large wooden panels that recall the walls of the juke joints Walker’s characters frequent. The panels slide apart in the second act revealing an African savanna, warmly illuminated by designer Heather Gilbert.

Lastly, laundry-covered clotheslines provide a backdrop for Michael Salvatore Commendatore and Rasean Davonte Johnson’s colorful projections.

The robust ensemble, which also includes Drury Lane and MUNY veterans, is accompanied by a solid octet conducted by keyboardist John Bronston. Unfortunately, the sound on opening night was initially muddled, making the lyrics for several production numbers unintelligible. Among them was the ecstatic, opening number “Mysterious Ways,” featuring the terrific church lady trio of Lachrisa Grandberry, Sharriese Hamilton and Reneisha Jenkins, who supply background information throughout (nearly stealing scenes in the process).

The ladies have a lot to say about Mack’s Celie, whose story spans more than 30 years. We meet her in 1911 as an impoverished, sexually and physically abused 14-year-old pregnant with her second child and living in a rural Georgia town. Forced by her father to give up her babies, she’s married off to Mister (Evan Tyrone Martin, whose towering stature accentuates his menace), a widowed farmer who inherited his cruel streak from his equally brutal father (Sean Blake).

Depriving Celie of her only joy — cherished younger sister Nettie (Shantel Renee Cribs) — Mister tyrannizes her for years until a pair of powerful women arrive to encourage her liberation.

The defiant Sofia (the dynamic Nicole Michelle Haskins) is the wife of Mister’s oldest son Harpo, played by Gilbert Domally, whose amiability suggests the toxic masculinity won’t infect another generation. A woman ahead of her time, Sofia refuses to submit to any man.

“I love Harpo. God knows I do. But I’ll kill him dead before I let him or anybody beat me,” insists Sofia, whose steely performance of the anthemic “Hell No!” suggests a woman who can make good on her promise.

Blues singer and Mister’s ex-lover Shug Avery (the honey-voiced, self-aware Aerie Williams) is both seductress and savior, sparking Celie’s sexual awakening explored in their tender, first act duet “What About Love?” and restoring her faith in the second act’s titular number.

Excessive exposition throughout burdens the show, whose second act feels too good to be true. But Brown keeps things moving over the course of the nearly three-hour run time, which — in the company of Mack, Williams, Martin, Haskins and the rest of the Goodman cast — is time well spent.

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Location: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, (312) 443-3800, goodmantheatre.org

Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday; and 2 p.m. Sunday. Also, 7:30 p.m. July 6 and 2 p.m. July 30. No 7:30 p.m. show July 30; no 2 p.m. show July 31

Running time: About two hours, 40 minutes, with intermission

Tickets: $33-$143

Rating: For adults, mature subject matter; references violence (domestic violence and sexual abuse), strong language and sexual content