Casts Of 'The Color Purple' And 'Hamilton' Pay Tribute To Prince

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The casts of two hit Broadway shows honored Prince in the perfect way.

The cast of "The Color Purple" took the stage after Thursday night's performance of the musical to pay tribute to the pop legend with a powerful rendition of his hit "Purple Rain."

"I did not expect to have to speak tonight, but God has his way," said Jennifer Hudson, who plays Shug Avery in the production. "As we all know, today we lost a legend. Jesus, we lost a legend who was a good friend of mine, Prince, who was dear to all of us."

MORE: 5 Facts About Prince | Prince Videos Through The Years

Hudson told the audience that she and the cast recently "had the honor to be in his presence one last time" after Prince invited them all to an event.

"Tonight if you guys don't mind we would like you all to join us in honoring Prince. He said his music will live on and he will live through his music so we want to keep him alive today with this song," Hudson said, before Cynthia Erivo kicked off the chilling performance.

Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of the hit show "Hamilton" also honored Prince, dancing to "Let's Go Crazy."

"Today we laughed, we cried, we mourned, we danced," Miranda wrote on Twitter Thursday night. "What more could we ask of that electric word, life?"

Earlier in the day, after news of the legendary musician's death broke, Miranda wrote, "Step away from your computer. Walk around, blast some Prince. It's the only thing that has saved my day, it may save yours."

Prince was found dead in his studio compound in suburban Minneapolis on Thursday. He was 57.