Considering that the new Broadway musical version of The Color Purple is directed by Chicago's own Gary Griffin (as first reported here three years ago), and the lead producer is named Oprah Winfrey, it's only natural that the show's national tour should start in Chicago, as the producers announced this weekend. The show will play a six-month run at the Cadillac Palace starting in April 2007 before taking off for other major cities, but as Chris Jones reports in the Trib, if sales are good it could leave an open-ended run here á la Wicked.