Fantasia Barrino recently opened up about her run in The Color Purple on Broadway.

"I never thought I'd be on Broadway!" said Fantasia in the September 10 issue of OK! Weekly. "The Color Purple was the first show I ever saw. It's hard work, but it's an amazing thing to do."

The 23-year-old joined the cast of Oprah Winfrey's Tony Award-winning Broadway show in April, playing the role of Miss Celie,the abused young woman played by Whoopi Goldberg in Steven Spielberg's 1985 big-screen adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

"I know how it feels to think you're nothing or ugly, so I put myself back into the time when I felt that way," Fantasia said about how she relates to Celie. "Sometimes I don't want to do that, but it makes it easier to play her."

This American Idol's original run in The Color Purple was only supposed to last until October; however the show's producers extended her stay in the cast until January 2008 because it received a box-office boost after she joined the production.

"Sometimes I don't know how I make it through," Fantasia said. "When my body wants to quit, I have to say, 'Okay, just keep pushing.' Once I get on stage and I see and hear the audience, I get some energy."

Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul have already seen Fantasia's Broadway debut in The Color Purple, but fellow judge Simon Cowell has yet to make an appearance.

"Maybe he's afraid he's going to watch it and shed a tear!" Fantasia joked.

Following her run in The Color Purple, Fantasia said she plans on going on tour in the U.S. and abroad.

"Music is my first love," she said. "I really miss it."

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.