LaChanze

Infobox actor
name = LaChanze


imagesize = 180px
caption = LaChanze in 2006
birthname = Rhonda LaChanze Sapp
birthdate = birth date and age|1961|12|16
birthplace = St. Augustine, Florida, USA
othername = Rhonda Sapp, LaChanze Sapp, La Chanze Sapp-Gooding, R. Lachanze Sapp
occupation = Actor, singer, dancer
spouse = Calvin J. Gooding (1998-2001)
Derek Fordjour (2005-present)
yearsactive =
website = http://www.lachanze.com
tonyawards = Best Leading Actress in a Musical
2006 "The Color Purple'

LaChanze (born 16 December 1961) is an American actress, singer, and dancer.

Biography

Born Rhonda LaChanze Sapp in St. Augustine, Florida, her stage name "LaChanze" (Creole:"the charmed one"), is taken from her grandmother. Her father was in the Coast Guard and her mother is Rose Hines. LaChanze's childhood love of singing and dancing caused Rose to enroll in the Bowen Peters Cultural Arts Center, in New Haven, Connecticut. It is there that she first discovered her love for performing. At Warren Harding High School in Bridgeport, LaChanze made her debut as Lola in Damn Yankees musical. Living in Connecticut in such close proximity to New York City gave LaChanze access to the world of theatre. LaChanze's first theatre production she ever saw was the musical "Chicago". Graciela Daniels was cast in this production and many years later Ms. Daniels continues to have a lasting impact on LaChanze's professional development as a performer. While she greatly enjoyed the dance world, LaChanze often felt limited and remembers the frequent urge to stop dancing and belt out a dramatic tune or to erupt into an intense monologue. After high school, LaChanze attended The University of the Arts in Philadelphia where she majored in theatre dance,voice, and acting. Her first summer job was as a tap dancer in the ensemble of "Uptown it's Hot" at the Tropicana Hotel in Atlantic City. The show soon moved on to Broadway where LaChanze began her professional theatre career.

On September 11 2001, while she was 8 months pregnant with her second child, her husband, Calvin Gooding, a bond trader at Cantor Fitzgerald, was killed in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. With Gooding she has daughters Celia Rose and Zaya LaChanze.

LaChanze remarried to artist Derek Fordjour on 30 July 2005 and has a stepson Langston through him.

Work

tage

* "The Color Purple" (2005)
* "Dessa Rose" (2005)
* "Once on This Island" (2002)
* "Funny Girl" (2002)
* "Ragtime" (1998)
* "Company" (1995)
* "Once on This Island" (1990)
* "Dreamgirls" (1987)
* "Uptown...It's Hot!" (1986)

=Filmography=
*"The Cosby Show" (1988) (TV)
*"Leap of Faith" (1992)
*"For Love or Money" (1993)
*"The Cosby Mysteries" (1994) (TV)
*"David Searching" (1997)
*"Hercules" (1997)
*"Sex and the City" (1999) (TV)
*"" (2000, 2008) (TV)

Awards and nominations

;Awards
* 1991 Theatre World Award - "Once on This Island"
* 2005 Obie Award for Performance - "Dessa Rose"
* 2006 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical - "The Color Purple";Nominations
* 1991 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical - "Once on This Island"
* 1991 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical - "Once on This Island"
* 2001 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical - "Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin"
* 2005 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical - "Dessa Rose"

References

External links

* [http://www.lachanze.com LaChanze official website]
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* [http://www.americantheatrewing.org/downstagecenter/detail/lachanze LaChanze] - "Downstage Center" interview at American Theatre Wing.org