Kenita Miller as Celie and LaToya London as Nettie are sisters in The Color Purple, through Sunday in Providence.

Courtesy of PPAC Paul Kolnik

No question about it, The Color Purple is the best show to hit the Providence Performing Arts Center this season. It’s a big, sprawling musical with a lot of heart, the kind of show that can’t help but touch you.

And then there’s the dynamite cast, the cool sets and sharp costumes that all make this a must-see event. Just hearing Kenita R. Miller as Celie sing her heart out in “I’m Here” is worth the price of a ticket.

The show, of course, is taken from Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about life in the rural south during the 1930s, the hard times, the suffering and the joy.

It follows the life and times of Celie, a young girl who is married off to an abusive farmer, and who struggles to keep in touch with her sister and her two kids, who were fathered out of wedlock and given away at birth. It’s a story about her own self-empowerment, and her ability to accept herself.

Along the way, we meet an array of characters who scriptwriter Marsha Norman has drawn with care and affection. There’s Celie’s stepson Harpo and his on-again-off-again relationship with headstrong Sophia, one of the catchier characters in the lineup. And there is sexy, sultry Shug Avery, whom everyone seems to have the hots for, including Celie.

The big plus in this show, though, is the music — rollicking gospel tunes dished up with plenty of soul by a troupe of sensational singers. Really, there wasn’t a weak voice in the lot, with many of the singers giving rafter-raising renditions of songs.

In fact, there wasn’t a rough spot in the show, which is on the longish side but never drags. Norman, a Pulitzer Prize-winner herself, has done a brilliant job boiling down this epic novel into a fast-paced and compelling tale. It’s also a handsome looking show, from the crack choreographic numbers to woodsy sets of lacy treetops, glowing fields and blazing skies.

One of the splashier moments transports us to Africa where Celie’s sister, Nettie, is working as a missionary. Celie’s husband, Mister, has hidden the numerous letters Nettie has sent home to Celie, but now they have been discovered and Celie is devouring one detailing Nettie’s adventures, which are acted out by a band of Africans in colorful native garb engaged in a tribal dance.

But the story of The Color Purple belongs to Celie, who is wonderfully portrayed by Miller and who comes to this tour via the Broadway cast. She’s got that girlish charm in the opening moments of the show, when she is still an innocent child, before getting married off.

She reluctantly goes with Mister so Nettie, his first choice, can complete her education and become a teacher. But her life becomes a “living hell,” as she later tells her abusive husband.

At some point she musters the strength to stand up to Mister, to tell him off and bid farewell. And that’s when the PPAC audience cheered her on, applauding each time she lit into Mister.

And then she sings “I’m Here,” that life-affirming anthem that brought down the house.

Miller’s got a voice that won’t quit, a soaring instrument that seems so unlikely coming from such a tiny, delicate woman.

But there were many standout singers, including Angela Robinson’s Shug, who joins Miller in a moving duet at the end of the first act, “What About Love?”

Carol Dennis provided some sizzling vocals in the opening moments of the show as the Church Soloist, one of a gaggle of nattering ladies who comment on the goings-on in town.

Mike Hodge plays Mister’s father.

Rounding out the leads was Rufus Bonds Jr. as Mister, a man with a mean streak but a booming voice, and LaToya London as long-lost sister Nettie.

While the show is to some extent about the African-American struggle, it’s also got a more universal message about enduring in the face of adversity. And in that sense it has something to say to all of us.

See it if you can.

The Color Purple runs through Sunday at the Providence Performing Arts Center, 220 Weybosset St., Providence. Tickets are $73-$46. Call (401) 421-2787 or log on to www.ppacri.org.

cgray@projo.com