LaChanze Hits the Road with If/Then

Tony Award-winner LaChanze is taking a road trip with her fellow If/Then original castmates. She will join Tony winner Idina Menzel, James Snyder, and Anthony Rapp in a national tour of the hit musical this fall. The tour kicks off in Denver on October 13 and includes stops in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Tempe, and Costa Mesa. After the original cast appears in these seven cities, the tour will continue with a different principal cast to be announced. The additional stops include Dallas, Chicago, Minneapolis, Toronto, Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta and more.

If/Then is an original contemporary musical about a city planner who relocates to New York after her marriage ends and whose subsequent life plays out simultaneously along two distinct paths. The show began previews at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on March 5, 2014, and officially opened on March 30. It closed on March 22, 2015 after 29 previews and 401 regular performances.

In the musical, LaChanze portrays “Kate,” an elementary school teacher and new neighbor of Menzel’s character “Elizabeth.” LaChanze won the 2006 Best Actress Tony Award for The Color Purple and received a Tony nomination for Once on This Island. Her other Broadway credits include Ragtime, Company and Uptown It’s Hot. LaChanze’s off-Broadway credits include Dessa Rosse, The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, The Vagina Monologues and Inked Baby. She has also headlined the original concert Love Hangover: LaChanze Sings Diana Ross.

If/Then is directed by Michael Greif and features music by Tom Kitt, with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey. If/Then earned Tony Award nominations for Best Original Score and Best Actress (Menzel). The musical features choreography by Larry Keigwin, set design by Tony nominee Mark Wendland, costume design by Emily Rebholz, lighting design by Tony winner Kenneth Posner and sound design by Tony winner Brian Ronan.