LaChanze Will Kick off Downtown Sessions With Solo Show at Perelman Performing Arts Center

Three-time Tony Award winning LaChanze will perform a solo show for the inaugural season at Perelman Performing Arts Center. The performance, titled An Evening with LaChanze, is co-written by LaChanze and Daniel “Koa” Beaty. It will include direction by Jerry Dixon and musical direction by Marco Paguia and is the first of PAC NY’s Downtown Sessions Series, which expands PAC NYC’s music program by presenting intimate concerts with Tony Award-winning artists.

 The performance is set for October 1, 2023.

An Evening with LaChanze will feature original music by Crystal Monee Hall, American standards, and of course, Broadway favorites.

“We’ve designed an inspiring evening of music and moments,” said LaChanze. “Filling this beautiful new space in lower Manhattan with love, light, and laughter."

LaChanze, a founder and the current President of Black Theatre United, will also perform at BTU’s inaugural Gala on Monday, October 30 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York. Supported by Business for Good (BFG), the gala's theme is “A Salute to Broadway Legends: Past, Present, and Future” and will be a star-studded evening in celebration of the indelible mark that Black culture has had and continues to have on Broadway. Featuring additional performances by BTU Founders Vanessa Williams, Norm Lewis, Audra McDonald, Billy Porter, Capathia Jenkins, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Darius de Haas, NaTasha Yvette Williams and Lillias White, the Gala will honor Oscar, Emmy and Grammy-winning artist Common, Grammy-winning producer, singer and songwriter Kandi Burruss; actress, director, producer and philanthropist LaTanya Richardson Jackson; Academy Award-winning actor and philanthropist Samuel L. Jackson; President of Trate Productions Robyn Coles; Chairman of the Board for Cerevel Therapeutics Dr. N Anthony Coles; and Award-winning Arts & Culture Executive and Director of Steve Jobs Theatre at Apple Dr. Indira Etwaroo.

About LaChanze 

With a career that has spanned thirty-two Broadway seasons, LaChanze consistently brings women of complexity and triumph into the cultural lexicon.

Last season, LaChanze made her debut as producer on two shows, the 20th anniversary revival of Suzan-Lori Parks’ acclaimed Pulitzer-Prize-Winning play, Topdog/Underdog, as well as Kimberly Akimbo, a new musical by Tony Award Winning Composer Jeanine Tesori and Pulitzer-Prize-Winning Playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, earning a combined 11 Tony Award nominations and 6 Tony Award wins, including Best Revival of a Play and Best Musical, respectively. This season, she serves as producer on Here Lies Love by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim and Jaja’s African Hair Braiding written by Jocelyn Bioh and directed by Whitney White. Next season, she will produce The Outsiders, a new musical based on S.E. Hinton’s beloved novel. She will also make her New York City directorial debut with Alice Childress’ Wine in the Wilderness at Classic Stage Company.

LaChanze won a Tony Award for her performance as Celie in The Color Purple, originated the role of Ti Moune in Once on This Island (Tony Award nomination), and upheld her commitment to artistic excellence this past season as Wiletta in Alice Childress’ historic play, Trouble In Mind (Tony Award nomination). Other notable stage performances include roles in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical (Tony Award nomination), 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 TV and film including: “Handel’s Messiah Rocks: A Joyful Noise” (Emmy Award), “East New York,” “The Blacklist,” “Melinda,” The Help, HBO’s “The Night Of,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “The Good Fight,” “Sex And The City,” and Disney animated feature film Hercules among other titles.

She is the President of Black Theatre United, a community of creatives dedicated to awareness, accountability, and advocacy. Proud mother of Celia Rose and Zaya LaChanze. She resides in Westchester, New York with her three cats and gardening hats.