Thank you, church of Oprah

Interesting column from Michael Riedel (aka - the only reason I'd ever link to the New York Post) today about the newly found success of "The Color Purple," which recently added American Idol victor Fantasia to the cast as Celie. Here's a snippet:

Stand outside the Broadway Theatre on any given day, and you'll see four or five buses, some from as far away as Chattanooga and Atlanta, unloading their passengers.

(Not all the groups are from churches. The show also attracts student groups, labor groups, even family reunions.)

What was a steady stream of business last year has turned into a torrent since Fantasia joined the show in April. "The Color Purple" now regularly grosses more than $1 million a week, and advance ticket sales are nearing $10 million.

Church groups are an enormous and, for Broadway, which has long struggled to attract black audiences, relatively untapped market.

Ebenezer African Methodist alone has a 10,000-member congregation. The church has already sent two groups to "The Color Purple" and plans to send more in the fall.

Now, what I find intriguing is not that an American Idol winner has breathed new life into what had been a somewhat struggling show. No, what I find intriguing is that this musical has found such an audience among churches.

The musical version of "The Color Purple" deals with the lesbian relationship between Shug and Celie in a tasteful but quite frank way. One of the loveliest, truest moments in the show is the duet they share, and they even swap a kiss onstage. And the churches keep coming. Somehow, I suspect that a good portion of them are not gay-affirming churches, either.

Pam's House Blend, which has done a fantastic job of chronicling the issue of homophobia in the black church, mentioned a similar disconnect a while back -- UPDATE: thanks, Pam, for sending me the link -- talking about a group of church ladies who in the same breath ridiculed a passing drag queen and mentioned how they wanted to see the latest Tyler Perry project in which he performed in drag as big momma Madea.

Of course, this should surprise none of us. All of us, particularly those of us from more rural areas, probably know people -- perhaps even family members -- who are virulently homophobic but have no problem with us as individuals. Well, guess what? That's a step. It's why we come out, folks. It's why we tell our stories. It's why we celebrate pride.

Happy pride, all. I'll be serving drinks in the VIP section at the pier dance this Sunday, so say hi if you're in the area!