Word: oprahism
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Last night was no different. Face to face with the most admired woman in America, Dave was ceaselessly devotional, lobbing questions about Oprah's many good works, all but nominating her for the Nobel Peace Prize and any other she might fancy. At the end of her stint, he took her by the hand - I'm saying the Dark Lord of Cool held Oprah's hand, anyone's hand, for two solid minutes - and escorted her down the block to the Broadway Theatre, for The Color Purple's opening night, as gawkers behind police barriers cheered the lovely couple. Thus...
...Color Purple's $10 million advance, which should be enough to let this adaptation of the Alice Walker novel ride out the mostly mixed reviews it received today. Critics wanted to be respectful yet say that this mixture of melodrama and pop music was just an elevated soap Oprah...
...BEYOND OPRAH...
...Oprah is, no question, the star of the show; her name heads the crowded list of producers (15 individuals, three organizations), and on the marquee a banner proclaims: Oprah Winfrey Presents. She's the name journalists use to get readers' attention, as I have here. She also, you recall, played the earth-mothery Sofia in Steven Spielberg's 1985 movie version of The Color Purple. And there's a character in the book, film and show called Harpo, which as all know is Oprah spelled backward and the name of her production company...
...once you get inside the theater, don't expect this musical to be a Grand Ole Oprah. She's not in the show; she didn't write the book (that's by Pulitzer Prize-winner Marsha Norman) or the score (by Brenda Russell, Allie Willis and Stephen Bray, all Broadway newcomers); she didn't direct (Gary Griffin did). Nor is she the producer who nourished the show through hears of false starts and rewrites; Scott Sanders deserves that credit. Oprah's job has been to promote persuasively for a musical she wants the world to love...