B'way Update: Purple Rain

Prince in Purple Rain (1984)

A stage version of Prince's Purple Rain film and album will open on Broadway next spring at the Majestic Theater. Previews begin March 12, 2027 prior to an April 12 opening. The opening will coincide with the 42nd anniversary of the film's debut in 1984. A previous version opened at Minnesota's State Theater last year, but this edition will feature some new creative staffing. Saheem Ali (Buena Vista Social Club) takes over the directing reins from Lileana Blain-Cruz and Peter Duchan takes over as book writer from Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. The score features songs from the film by Prince who also starred in the movie. These songs include the title track, "When Doves Cry," "I Would Die 4 U," plus songs from Prince's oeuvre. The story follows an up-and-coming Minneapolis-based rock musician known as The Kid, struggling with his past and his rivalry with another scrappy rocker.

“Prince was an icon, and Purple Rain is iconic, one of the best musical films of my generation. I watched it as a teenager in Kenya, and though I was appropriately scandalized, it never left me, especially the music,” says Ali in a statement. “I am honored to join the Purple Rain family and help carry this story forward. Our aim is not only to honor the legacy that Prince built, but to make his timeless music feel urgent and alive, passing it on to the next generation of fans who will make it their own.”

2026-27 Broadway/Off-Broadway Schedule
Summer 2026
July 27--The Saviors (Atlantic Theater Company)
Aug. 11--An American Daughter (La Femme Prods./Signature Center)
Aug. 11--The Winter's Tale (Public Theater/Delacorte in Central Park)
Aug. 25--Paranormal Activity: A New Story Live on Broadway (August Wilson)
Bocking (New Group/Theater at St. Clements)

Fall 2026

Sept. 9--In Honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat (New York Theater Workshop) (previews begin, opening TBA)

Sept. 11--America, Who Hurt You? (Theater for a New Audience) (previews begin, opening TBA)

Sept. 14--Pre-Existing Condition (Greenwich House)

Sept. 15--creation stories and all the important importants (LCT/Clara Tow) (Previews begin, opening TBA)

Sept. 27--How Shakespeare Saved My Life (Public)

Sept. 28--School Girls or The African Mean Girls Play (MTC/Friedman) 

Oct. 4--The Hairy Ape (Irish Repertory Theater)

Oct. 9--Good Time Charley (Public)

Oct. 13--The Unbelievers (MTC/City Center)

Oct. 13--Anon--a tempest at our kitchen table (MCC)

OCt. 16--I Become We (Atlantic Theater Co.) (Previews begins; opening TBA)

Oct. 18--Other Desert Cities (Hudson)

Oct. 21--The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Public)

Oct. 21--860 (Imperial)

Oct. 22--Magic Mike Live New York 

Oct. 22--2:22: A Ghost Story (Lortel)

Oct. 29--A Few Good Men (LCT/Vivian Beaumont)

October--Ms. Blakk for President (Vineyard)

Nov. 3--We'll See (Public)

Nov. 5--The Verge (Public)

Nov. 8--Wanted (James Earl Jones)

Nov. 9--The Visitors (Second Stage/Signature Center)

Nov. 10--Elektra (Theater for a New Audience) (previews begin, opening TBA)

Nov. 12--The Good Thief (Irish Repertory Theater)

Nov. 16--The Fantasticks (Revised Version) (Second Stage/Hayes)

Nov. 19--Much Ado About Nothing (Winter Garden)

Nov. 21--Imitation of Life (The Shed/National Black Theater) (previews begin, opening TBA)

Nov. 23--Seven Guitars (LCT/Mitzi Newhouse)

Nov. 24--Wild Rose (NYTW) (previews begin, opening TBA)

Nov. 24--The Dead, 1904 (IRT/American Irish Historical Society)

Degenerates (Playwrights Horizons)

Dreamgirls

The Heart (Roundabout/Laura Pels)

HOLE! (Playwrights Horizons)

The Imaginary Invalid (Roundabout/Todd Haimes)

Jackals (New Group/Theater at St. Clements)

the ripple, the wave that carried me home (Playwrights Horizons)

Winter 2026-27

Dec. 1--Inter Alia (Music Box)

Dec. 6--Galileo: A Rock Musical (Shubert) (previews begin, opening TBA)

Dec. 7--A View from the Bridge (LaMaMa)

Dec. 13--Finn (Atlantic Theater Co.) (previews begin, opening TBA)

Jan. 9--Too Bad for Her (Atlatntic Theater Co. ) (previews begin, opening TBA)

Jan. 13--Honor, An Artist Lecture by Suzanne Bocanegra in Tandem with Lili Taylor (Theater for a New Audience) (previews begin, opening TBA)

Jan. 19--Dolly: A True Original Musical (St. James)

Jan. 28--Pretend It's Pretend (LCT/Clara Tow) (previews begin, opening TBA)

Jan. 2027--Awake and Sing (MTC/Samuel Friedman)

Jan. 2027--The Heart Sellers (MCC)

Feb. 22--Work of Devotion (Second Stage/Signature Center)

Feb. 28--King Lear (Theater for a New Audience) (previews begin, opening TBA)

Feb. 2027--Three Days of Rain (Shubert theater TBA)

Feb. 2027--Petra (Vineyard Theater)

Are the Bennett Girls OK? (Public)

Mix and Master (Roundabout/Todd Haimes)

The Grief Eater Near North Bender (Roundabout/NYTW/Laura Pels)

Welcome Table (Public)

Wold Meteor (Playwrights Horizons)

Spring 2027

March 18--Old Actress (Atlantic Theater Co.) (previews begin, opening TBA)

March 25--Evita (Winter Garden)

April 5--Gloria (Second Stage/Hayes)

April 12--Purple Rain (Majestic)

April 15--The Sound of Music (LCT/Vivian Beaumont)

April 18--Paddington the Musical (Al Hirschfeld)

April 28--how to roll a blunt (Second Stage/Signature Center)

April--Warriors (Lunt-Fontanne)

May 6--Born in the Dirt (LCT/Mitzi Newhouse)

May 27--Push (Atlantic Theater Co.) (previews begin, opening TBA)

The Annunciation (Playwrights Horizons)

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Damn Yankees

Feast of Rabbits (Playwrights Horizons)

The Full Monty (Roundabout/Todd Haimes)

Montauk (MTC/Samuel J. Friedman)

The Vagina Monologues (Roundabout/Laura Pels)

Summer 2027

June--What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (MCC)

2026-27
Let the Good Times Roll: A New Orleans Gumbo
Private Lives

Dates TBD

MISS STEP (Playwrights Horizons)

Narcissister (Playwrights Horizons)

New work by Monica Bill Barnes and Robbie Saenz de Viteri (Playwright Horizons)

Playing Burton (LCT/Mitzi Newhouse)

Future--10 Things I Hate About You; Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death; Beat Street; Black Orpheus; Coal Miner's Daughter; Come Fall in Love--The DDLJ Musical; Crazy Rich Asians; Dare To Be Stupid: The Weird Al Yankovic Musical; The Devil Wears Prada; Ella: An American Miracle; Eurovision Song Contest; Everybody's Talking About Jamie; Fahrenheit 451; Fire and Rain: The James Taylor Musical; Frida, the Musical; Game of Thrones; Get Happy; The Griswolds' Broadway Vacation; High Noon; Imitation of Life; The Interestings; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; The Karate Kid; La La Land; The Mousetrap; Nancy Drew and the Mystery at Spotlight Manor; The Nanny; The Normal Heart/The Destiny of Me; Pal Joey; Particle Fever; Purple Rain; The Queen's Gambit; Rear Window; The Secret Garden; Sing Street; Slumdog Millionaire; Soul Train; Studio 54; Waking Ned Devine; Working Girl.

2026-27 Broadway Season Breakdown

New Plays

Inter Alia

Mix and Master

Montauk

Paranormal Activity: A New Story Live on Broadway

New Musicals

Dolly: A True Original Musical

Galileo, A Rock Musical

Let the Good Times Roll: A New Orleans Gumbo

Paddington The Musical

Purple Rain

Wanted

Warriors

Play Revivals

Awake and Sing

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

A Few Good Men

Gloria

The Imaginary Invalid

Much Ado About Nothing

Other Desert Cities

Private Lives

School Girls or the African Mean Girls Play

Three Days of Rain

Musical Revivals

Damn Yankees

Dreamgirls

Evita

The Fantasticks

The Full Monty

The Sound of Music

Solos/Specialties

860 (Billy Crystal)

Celebrity Autobiography