Chaka Khan in The Color Purple?

[Younger Brother]

I came across an old article about Chaka Khan, who would be joining the Broadway production of The Color Purple back in 2007. How did I never know this before today? Did anybody see her as Sofia?

[Visceral_Fella]

I've always wanted to hear what she sounded like as Sofia. There's seemingly no evidence.

[showchoirguy]

I found this.

[Kev]

I caught Khan as Sofia and she was quite good. Solid handle on the role, comfortable, and very funny. Her alternate, Lakisha Jones, however, was dreadful.

[AC126748]

She wasn't with the show for very long before it closed. At the time, a lot of people called her a diva for having an alternate, considering that Sofia isn't nearly as large a role as Celie. I saw her. She wasn't bad, but she wasn't Sofia. She was Chaka Khan. Luckily, most of the people who came to see her seemed to only care about seeing Chaka, not an actor playing a role.

[THDavis]

Khan went in as Sofia for only a week or two prior to the show closing, correct?

And Lakisha Jones was an American Idol contestant who usually played the Church Soloist when not covering for Sofia, I believe. I went on a Saturday matinee the last week (or possibly the week before) the show closed and I don't think I ended up seeing either.

[AC126748]

I'm pretty sure Khan was with the show for about 6 weeks-two months before it closed. She didn't perform Wednesday or Saturday matinees at all during her run.

[TheLadyoftheWood]

Gospel singer Bebe Winans was also in the show around the same time as Chaka. He was seriously miscast in the role of Harpo.