The Color Purple, the musical?

Via AfterEllen, we learn that Chaka Khan, someone I’ve never heard of, is to appear in a broadway version of the Color Purple by Alice Walker.

And by broadway, they mean musical. To which the only answer is, who came up with that idea?!

It appears the stark, depressing novel, which features rape, incest, domestic violence, racism, misogyny, desperate poverty and unhappiness with a few brief glimmers of love, has been turned into a “heartfelt tale of abuse and perseverance, triumphs over adversity”. With sing-a-longs.