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I co-directed a version of For Colored Girls ...when I was in college. This choreopoem is like a rite of passage for so many black actresses. Tyler Perry has a phenomenal cast. I know each actress (except for maybe Janet whose acting to me is still subpar) will rock her part. Still I can't help but fear what he will do with this masterpiece. Below he shares his approach to his film adaptation as reported on black voices at aol.com
"After reading the play a thousand times and listening to these poems a million times, it hit me," he continued. "There was only one way to approach it. So what I did was, I put these characters in the situations around the poems, so that they could speak the dialogue of the book without it sounding like a poem. And I have to tell you, I wasn't sure that it could be done. But, after listening to Phylicia Rashad, Thandie Newton, Kerry Washington, Macy Gray, Kimberly Elise, Tessa Thompson, Whoopi Goldberg, Loretta Devine, Anika Noni Rose and Janet Jackson say these words it was awesomely seemless."
Even though I am a Madea fan and overall I appreciate Tyler Perry's work, I still do not see his screenwriting/character development skill set on par with Ntozake Shange's genius. I like his idea of putting these characters in situations around the poems, so the dialogue sounds more colloquial, but I already feel a tad disappointed when I think about seeing the film. His last film Why Did I Get Married Too? I thought was his worst. The drama was so over the top, it trivialized the issues he endeavored to address and that is what I fear will happen in For Colored Girls.....
Nevertheless, the movie's powerhouse cast bringing Ntozake's words to life on the big screen is exciting enough to get me to the theatre. I hope that at least I can leave the theatre sincerely feeling that he did a nice try or a decent job. We'll see.....The trailer below is definitely filled with pain and drama. It looks like these ladies BRING IT! November 5th. I am there!
BTW, today Tyler Perry is going to be on Oprah Winfrey supposedly giving - in own words - his "most revelatory interview he has ever done" (I still don't think that means he is going to say he's gay )
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