Jordan Fisher to Know What It Sounds Like When Doves Cry

Jordan Fisher got his start in Disney properties like Teen Beach Movie, won Dancing With the Stars, and has since become a Broadway mainstay as a replacement heartthrob in Hadestown and Moulin Rouge! Now he’ll take on a story that is significantly grimier. Fisher will lead the upcoming musical Purple Rain, playing The Kid — the role that Prince created for himself. The part requires Fisher to sing some of the most famous songs in rock history, as Prince classics like “When Doves Cry,” “Purple Rain,” and “Let’s Go Crazy” are all from the original film’s soundtrack. The level to which the role has been updated (in the film, he physically assaults his girlfriend, Apollonia) is unclear at this point.

“We know that Jordan Fisher is an extraordinary talent, but what’s been thrilling about watching him inhabit ‘The Kid’ is discovering the fire beneath the surface: the swagger, vulnerability and restless creative spirit we recognize in Prince,” director Saheem Ali said in a statement. “Jordan brings all of that to the role, along with an infectious generosity that makes everyone around him better. He’s finding something raw, surprising, and deeply human in this iconic character, and I can’t wait for Broadway audiences to experience it.” 

Fisher is new to the project for Broadway along with the much of the creative team. At the show’s out-of-town tryout in Minneapolis, the stage adaptation was torn apart by critics, with the New York Times saying that the show “falls prey to a pair of modern impulses: correcting its source’s sexist lapses … and underlining motivations in all-caps bold.” The producers replaced director Lileana Blain-Cruz with Ali and substituted new book writer Peter Duchan (Dogfight) for Pulitzer Prize winner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Appropriate, Purpose). The new version of Purple Rain begins previews on March 12, 2027, and opens on April 12 at the Majestic Theatre. Hopefully Broadway doesn’t leave it standing alone in a world that’s so cold.