LaChanze in the Color Purple

[binau]

Posted: 12/18/15 at 9:31pm

How was she? Particularly considering the recent revival/Cynthia Erivo etc.?

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 12/18/15 at 9:49pm

Well... she won the Tony, so.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 12/18/15 at 9:54pm

She was excellent. I prefer Cynthia's performance, but they were very different in their approach. I also preferred Fantasia, but again, her performance was very different. So of the three Celies I've seen, she's my LEAST favorite, but that's not to say her performance wasn't wonderful  

 

Truthfully, I think she deserved the Tony that year. I also wonder what she could have done with the part in a more focused, small, and intimate production like the one currently running. She had to fill that huge theater and huge space and did it well, but I think she would have been even better if she was given a more intimate production to work with.  

Updated On: 12/18/15 at 09:54 PM

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 12/18/15 at 10:20pm

When Patrick Pacheco made his prediction on Theater Talk back in 2006, he was given a lot of flack for thinking LaChanze was going to win.

 

@19:14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86Ev0_X8H3c&index=11&list=PL_2Wk1WlmEyQBFMVIDPPx_k-thJZ5Cg8y

 

Luckily, he outsmarted everyone...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4AqyKCLIdk

[adamgreer]

Posted: 12/18/15 at 11:03pm

I enjoyed her but found her performance to be too...regal. Celie's struggle didn't come across for me as clearly as it should have. She was better than Brandi Chavonne Matthews, whom I saw on the tour. Fantasia (who I expected to hate) was my favorite. That was a performance I'll never forget. 

 

Haven't seen Erivo yet.