Tony Award Winner LaChanze set for Trent Armand Kendall Broadway Download 8/24

Rhonda LaChanze Sapp, better known by her stage name LaChanze (Creole: the charmed one), taken from her grandmother, was born in St Augustine, Florida.

Grew up in Connecticut, her parents nurtured her love for performing by enrolling her in high schools for the performing arts.

After high school, LaChanze studied Drama at Morgan State University, before transferring to the University of the Arts, she studied Theatre and Dance. Her first Summer job was as a tap dancer in the ensemble of out of town tryout of "Uptown...It's Hot!." She made her Broadway debut in the same show in 1986.

"The rest is history," as they say.

LaChanze played 'Ti Moune' in the Broadway hit "Once On This Island" in 1990 and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and won a Drama Desk Award for outstanding Actress in a Musical.

She was a replacement 'Sarah' in "Ragtime" on Broadway.

She played the role of 'Viveca' in Playwrights Horizons Off-Broadway production of "The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin." She received a Drama Desk Nomination for her performance.

In 2005, she played a runaway slave in the Musical "Dessa Rose," Off-Broadway at the Mitzi Newhouse Theatre at Lincoln Center. She received an Obie Award for this performance.

LaChanze starred as 'Celie' in the original Broadway production of "The Color Purple," This performance was awarded with the 2006 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical!

In 2008, she participated in the Boston Pops Concert, "Handel's Messiah Rocks" at Emerson College, this performance was filmed for PBS.

She starred as 'Glinda' in the City Center Encore! concert production of "The Wiz." She returned to Broadway as 'Kate' in "If/Then" and took the show on national tour.

Broadway Download is a live, weekly digital radio broadcast, Wednesdays 5:00-5:55 PM, City World Radio Network. Kendall serves as host /producer with Richard E. Waits as co-host /associate producer. The content is Music, Industry, Talk and Hot Topics. For more, visit www.cityworldradio.com.

Upcoming guest include: Carly Huges. Past guests: Tony Yazbeck, Montego Glover, Harbor Lights Theater Company founders, Stu James, Frederick B. Owens, Felicia Finley, Paul Stancato, Nathan Lee Graham, Emily Skinner Alice Ripley, Henry Krieger, Chad Kimball, Timothy Ware, James Monroe Iglehart, Clint Ramos, Kathy Brier, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Capathia Jenkins.

Waits (Buffalo State College Theatre Major /Dance Minor) is an active, civic minded New Yorker whose acting and showmanship have led him to stages the world over. He is the writer and star of his edgy one man show, "Mama Rose."

Kendall is a mid-westerner (B.A., University of Missouri-Columbia) who studies Radio, TV, and Theater. He graduated and emerged as a Broadway actor, writer/producer and recording artist who has also toured nationally and starred on London's West End. In College, Kendall briefly enjoyed hosting his own weekly jazz radio show. City World Radio Network, "broadcasting from the city to the world,' is a return to an early love.

"Showtune-in" to Trent Armand Kendall Broadway Download Wednesdays, 5:00-5:55 PM, City World Radio Network. Call in and chat live 212-631-7553. Weekly broadcasts are archived for four weeks and available for streaming. Visit www.cityworldradio.com and www.trentkendall.com for more.