VALDOSTA – Playing Prince, Marshall Charloff said he never worried about support from the man himself. No, it’s the hard-core Prince fans he has to win over, each and every night.

Charloff plays Prince in The Purple xPeRIeNCE, scheduled to stop next week in Valdosta as part of the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts Presenter Series.

In a recent phone interview, Charloff said he grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is the birthplace of Prince. He said he knew Prince and worked with Prince. As a youth, he had the opportunity to watch Prince and the Revolution rehearse in Prince’s studio.

Charloff teamed with a member of the Revolution to form The Purple xPeRIeNCE. In 2011, he and Matt Fink, better known as Dr. Fink, a keyboard player in the Revolution, created the tribute show.

With that connection, the five-piece Purple xPeRIeNCE was under the watchful eye of Prince.

“So Prince was very aware of what we were doing and supportive,” Charloff said.

So, no worries from Prince starting The Purple xPeRIeNCE. Charloff said early on, the nerve-racking thing was the fans.

“Prince has hard-core fans who are very protective of his music and image,” Charloff said. “Early on, a lot of these fans said if Dr. Fink is in the band, it must be OK.”

Still, a lot of Prince fans remain skeptical, he said.

“It’s pretty common. Every show. … I know who they are. I see them in the audience,” Charloff said. “They have their arms crossed. They have that look. I always win them over. A few songs in and they’re won over.

“But it’s really not me that wins them over. It’s the spirit of the music.”

In addition to playing Prince in The Purple xPeRIeNCE and sharing stories about his encounters with Prince in a separate, smaller, one-man show called “Purple Piano,” Charloff is a musician in his own right. He has recorded albums of his own music, often playing all of the instruments, often soft jazz compositions. He also works as a producer.

The Purple xPeRIeNCE is the final show of the 2022-23 Presenter Series season. It is scheduled to play 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 7, Performing Arts Center, 3101 Barack Obama Boulevard. Note the difference in venue than other Presenter Series shows. More information: Visit the arts center, 527 N. Patterson St., call (229) 247-2787; or visit turnercenter.org.

The Valdosta Daily Times is a longtime Presenter Series sponsor.