"With a career that has spanned 38 Broadway seasons, LaChanze consistently brings women of complexity and triumph into the cultural lexicon. As an actor, LaChanze won her first Tony Award for her performance as Celie in the musical The Color Purple. She originated the role of Ti Moune in Once on This Island, and upheld her commitment to artistic excellence as Wiletta in Alice Childress’s historic play, Trouble in Mind, which led to her earning Tony Award nominations for both productions. Other notable stage performances include roles in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, A Christmas Carol, The Secret Life of Bees, If/Then, The Wiz, Ragtime, Uptown... It’s Hot!, and Dreamgirls.
On screen, she has delivered memorable roles in both television and film including East New York, The Blacklist, The Help, HBO’s The Night Of, Law & Order: SVU, The Good Fight, Sex and the City, and the Disney animated feature film Hercules, among other titles.
Now, in a new phase of her unparalleled career, the award-winning stage actor is transitioning from performer to producer in an effort to expand diversity behind Broadway’s curtains. In 2023, LaChanze made her debut as a producer on two shows, the 20th anniversary revival of Suzan-Lori Parks’s acclaimed Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Topdog/Underdog, and the musical Kimberly Akimbo by Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire. Topdog/Underdog won a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play and Kimberly Akimbo won five, including one for Best Musical. LaChanze also produced the groundbreaking musical Here Lies Love by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, and the play Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, written by award-winning Ghanaian-American playwright Jocelyn Bioh and directed by Obie Award winner Whitney White.
In the coming year, LaChanze will join the producing team of The Outsiders, a new musical based on S.E. Hinton’s beloved novel, and she is also slated to make her New York City directorial debut with Alice Childress’s Wine in the Wilderness at Classic Stage Company this fall.
LaChanze is the president of Black Theatre United, a community of creatives dedicated to awareness, accountability, and advocacy."
Once on this island
Jerry Dixon, Andrea Frierson, Sheila Gibbs, La Chanze, Kecia Lewis-Evans, Gerry McIntyre, Afi McClendon, Milton Craig Nealy, Nikki Rene, Eric Riley, Keith Tyrone, Fuschia Walker, Ellis E. Williams; Steve Marzullo, musical director.
The Color Purple by
(Vocal Selections). Our piano/vocal folio features 13 songs from the Oprah Winfrey-produced Broadway adaptation of the powerful Alice Walker novel. Includes: The Color Purple * Hell No! * Mysterious Ways * Push Da Button * Too Beautiful for Words * What About Love? * and more. The arrangements are standard piano/vocal format with the melody in the piano part.
The Color Purple by
From the Pulitzer-prize winning novel by Alice Walker, and the moving film by Steven Spielberg, has come a soul-stirring new musical and landmark Broadway hit that has critics and audiences on their feet. A musical that evokes a unique emotional response, it tracks the story of its heroine, Celie, from sexual abuse by her stepfather to physical abuse by her husband to "a roof-raising story of triumph." This gorgeously producedcompanion volume revisits what is so powerful about the show. TheColor Purple: A Memory Book has the look and feel of a beautiful antique scrapbook, a keepsake for those who have experienced the musical and want to be able to experience its soaring emotions at any time, or who want to share Celie's journey with their loved ones. But it will also be a memory book of the road The Color Purple took -- from Alice Walker's memories right through to the sketches for the costumes and sets, from the cast's own struggles to the entire libretto, all of which havegiven Celie's against-the-odds triumph new life. Revealing, poignant, and stunning, The Color Purple: A Memory Book is a must-have book for anyone moved by Celie's story.
If/Then - a New Musical by
(Vocal Selections). A dozen selections from this Tony Award-nominated hit Broadway musical starring Idina Menzel, presented in vocal lines with piano accompaniment. Includes: Always Starting Over * Best Worst Mistake * Here I Go * It's a Sign * Love While You Can * Some Other Me * What Would You Do? * You Don't Need to Love Me * You Never Know * and more. Also includes an intro by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey and bios of each.