Purple problems: What was right and what was wrong with Prince Celebration 2024

MINNEAPOLIS — Celebration 2024 had a more daunting task than usual for its sixth posthumous gathering of Prince fans last weekend in the Twin Cities:

How do you celebrate the 40th anniversary of the "Purple Rain" movie and introduce the work-in-progress "Purple Rain" musical while catering to the hard-core fans who want to experience unreleased material from Prince's fabled vault?

Such Purple problems.

In their second year in charge of Celebration, New Yorkers Londell McMillan and Charles Spicer of Prince Legacy LLC tried to touch all the bases — including live performances, panel discussions and almost-purifying cruises on Lake Minnetonka — and, despite some disorganization and other hiccups, Celebration 2024 was a praiseworthy re-imagining.

Unlike the previous years, I wasn't able to attend all the activities in the five-day event because I had other assignments, including concerts by Morgan Wallen and New Kids on the Block. But I monitored social media accounts and interviewed Celebration-goers, both veterans and newcomers.

Here are some thoughts:

For the first time, many of Celebration's activities were in downtown Minneapolis to acknowledge "Purple Rain." The Revolution revisited First Avenue for two nights with guest vocalist Judith Hill, a Prince protege from a later era. The State Theatre was the scene of performances by Morris Day and the New Power Generation, a screening of a new high-def "Purple Rain" movie, and a presentation of the "Purple Rain" musical with creative principals and workshop actors.

Purple fams — Prince didn't like the word fans, short for fanatics — loved watching the newly 4K film with more than 1,000 other devotees. "It was like seeing 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' again because everyone knew the lines," said longtime Purple believer Marilynn McNair of Atlanta.

Hearing from the book writer, music supervisor and director of the musical — all relatively young but with impressive Broadway credits — allayed fans' fears that the new project is looking to tell Prince's story. No, it's based on the plot of the movie, with the characters more fleshed out. A few musical numbers were performed by a workshop cast and everyone was wowed by the wondrous Rachel Webb as Apollonia.

"RIDICULOUS," Rhonda Nicole, a singer and Celebration vet, declared about Webb on X. "The preview was incredible."

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