Character guide
Mister
from The Color Purple
Mister is Celie's abusive husband in The Color Purple, the 2005 Broadway musical with music by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray.
- Show
- The Color Purple
- Broadway premiere
- 2005
- Role
- Lead
- Music by
- Russell, Willis & Bray
Mister on stage vs screen
Broadway compared with the 1985 film and 2023 movie musical
On screen, Mister is Albert Johnson in both films: Danny Glover played him in Steven Spielberg's 1985 adaptation of the novel, and Colman Domingo in the 2023 movie musical. The stage version gives his change of heart its own music, Mister's Song, which traces his transformation after Celie leaves him.
Kingsley Leggs originated Mister in the 2005 Broadway production, opposite LaChanze's Celie. In the 1985 film, which is not a musical, Glover's Mister has no songs at all, so the stage show was the first version to let the character sing his reckoning.
Who is Mister?
Known formally as Albert, Mister is the man Celie is forced to marry as a teenager, and for most of the story he treats her with contempt and cruelty while carrying on an open relationship with Shug Avery. His own harshness is shown to have roots in a difficult relationship with his own domineering father, though the show does not excuse his behavior toward Celie.
Only late in the story, after Celie finally leaves him, does Mister begin to reckon with the damage he has caused, arriving at a partial and hard won redemption by the show's end. His arc gives the musical one of its more difficult moral questions about accountability and change.
Mister's role in The Color Purple
Mister is a lead role that requires a performer able to be genuinely unsympathetic for most of the show while still finding the humanity that makes his late change of heart believable rather than cheap. His late solo, reflecting on his own cruelty, is a key moment in the show's final stretch.
Kingsley Leggs originated the role in the 2005 Broadway production, bringing both menace and eventual regret to the part. The role remains notable for asking audiences to sit with an abuser's story without ever losing sight of Celie's perspective as the show's true center.
Mister: frequently asked questions
What show is Mister from?
Mister is a lead character in The Color Purple, which opened on Broadway in 2005.
Is Mister a lead or supporting role?
Mister is a lead role, serving as the story's central antagonist.
Who wrote the music for The Color Purple?
Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray composed the music and lyrics.
Think you can name today's mystery character in eight guesses?
Play today's Character GuesserMore characters from The Color Purple
The Color Purple show guideMusical theatre characters A to Z