American Idols bring Purple to L.A.

When The Color Purple opens tonight at the Pantages Theatre, much of the talk will center on American Idol season three winner Fantasia Barrino’s return to the show. The funny thing is she will be starring alongside the woman whose shocking elimination from that same season’s competition arguably paved the way for Fantasia’s victory, fourth runner-up La Toya London, whose coronation as America’s favorite singer was for many a foregone conclusion. The two now have to play sisters.

But if you were expecting any backstage rivalry — sibling or otherwise — think again.

“People see it, and they’re like, ‘You guys come off really good as sisters,’” London said. “And it’s because, offstage, we are — we truly are.”

London plays Nettie, who as a child was forced by cruel circumstances to leave her beloved older sister Celie (Barrino) behind, but not before promising to write. “Nothing but death can keep me from it,” she says in Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, on which the musical is based.

Nettie never writes — or so it seems — and Celie takes her for dead.

That isn’t the whole story, but the uninitiated would be better served by finding the rest out for themselves. Suffice it to say that The Color Purple is a simple but profound story of self-discovery with a back drop of racial issues, which unfold with a certain haphazard grace.

If it doesn’t sound like musical material, that’s because it isn’t. The announcement that Walker’s book would be musicalized for the Broadway stage was as unexpected to London as to the next person.

“I was very surprised that they made it into a musical, because it’s such a heavy piece of literature,” London said. “As a play, yes, but you wonder, ‘How are they going to add music to this and not water it down?’ And they succeeded.”

The show, since it opened in 2006, has been showered with praise, including a Tony for the woman who originated the role of Celie, LaChanze.

For someone like London, who grew up with only a vague notion of what Broadway was — “I’d only heard the term,” she said, adding that she never had any theatrical aspirations — being cast in such a large production was a big deal.

“I was really, really happy,” London said. “I felt like it was meant to be, especially when I went into my New York audition.”

At her callback, London showed up in full Nettie garb. She wanted to say, “Hands down, I’m her.” She did.

London has been performing in the touring production of The Color Purple ever since.

As a singer first and an actress second, the show’s music — a bluesy, churchy, pop-gospel soundtrack — particularly resonated with her.

“The songs that they do have in there are perfect, and they go with the time period,” London said. “They express the emotion that’s happening at that time on stage. It’s just beautiful, beautiful music, well put together.”

Although London had seen Steven Spielberg’s film adaptation of The Color Purple enough times to have memorized every line, she had only touched on Walker’s book by this point. During rehearsals, she revisited the book, which put the play into perspective.

“I got a better understanding of the story, because the movie only can express so much within the time frame,” she said. “The book definitely spells it all out for you.”

She emphasized the ending in particular, which Spielberg changed slightly but the musical retains. It involves a certain reconciliation between two major characters, which has emotional as well as thematic significance.

London will be finished with The Color Purple at the end of February, after which she plans to return to her music.

In the meantime, she hopes to touch as many lives as she can before the run ends. Asked what people should take away from the show, she quickly replied, “Inspiration.”

“That if a person is insecure or afraid to go after life or go after their dreams, if a person is abused or [is] the abuser, hopefully it just brings change into people’s lives or creates some type of sense of wanting to change and to want better for yourself — whether you change your situation, your surroundings or your attitude,” London said. “This is a story about love and forgiveness, and loving yourself and finding the beauty within yourself.”