As we enter the homestretch for the new musical If/Then (closing March 22), preparations must be made for Tony Award winner LaChanze, because there is no possible way Broadway can let another eight years go by without LaChanze’s voice. (Yes, that was the gap between her final performance as Celie in The Color Purple and her first as Kate in If/Then…)
Below, BroadwayBox suggests five roles in this season or next for the singular-name diva.
Donna in Mamma Mia!
It’s about time we had an African American Donna in the long-running Mamma Mia! and LaChanze is just the lady to suit up in spandex. Just imagine her voice on songs like “Winner Takes It All” and “Money, Money, Money” and of course the title song. And she’d look darn cute in those overalls.
Fantine in Les Miserables
Fans of The Color Purple and Ragtime know LaChanze can sing you some major pain, so let’s hear her rendition of the ultimate heartbreaker “I Dreamed a Dream.”
Miss Honey in Matilda
From one loving kindergarten teacher to another, BroadwayBox is all for hearing LaChanze put on an English accent to star as Matilda’s Miss Honey.
Ilona in She Loves Me
Maybe LaChanze wants a little break after If/Then, so how about we give her a season off and she reappears in 2016 as Laura Benanti’s bespectacled-loving work bestie Ilona in Roundabout’s upcoming She Loves Me Revival?
Elizabeth in If/Then
Okay, this one isn’t Broadway, but…If/Then is hitting in the road, and it would be such a treat to see LaChanze take over Idina Menzel’s role as Liz/Beth.
See LaChanze now, while you still can, in the Broadway musical ‘If/Then’ at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.
