"I think it pisses God off when you walk by the color purple in a field and don't notice it."

Those immortal words written by novelist Alice Walker will soon be bellowed on the Broadway stage — perhaps in song as The Color Purple will be made into a musical, according to several reports.

Regina Taylor, known as an actress from such plays as Machinal, A Map of the World and Jar the Floor, is penning the new stagework. Her playwriting credits include Urban Zulu Mambo, Oo-Bla-Dee, The Ties That Bind and Drowning Crow. The music will comprise the works of pop songwriters Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray.

Matthew Warchus (Follies, True West and Art) is set to helm the production which aims for a 2004 Broadway open. The tuner will be produced by Creative Battery, a new company founded by producer Scott Sanders.

The story of "The Color Purple" follows a teenager who gives birth to two of her father's children and then is married off to a man who sought her sister. The man convinces the sisters' father to separate the two and makes sure they never communicate by intercepting letters between them. Abused and alone, the heroine struggles to find her identity and love. The novel was adapted for the screen in 1985 under the direction of Steven Spielberg. The movie version starred Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover.

— by Ernio Hernandez