Tony Winner LaChanze to Join Idina Menzel in the New Broadway Musical If/Then

Talk about a dynamic duo! Tony winner LaChanze will join previously announced star Idina Menzel in the forthcoming Broadway musical If/Then. The stars are headed to the Richard Rodgers Theatre beginning March 4, 2014, in advance of a March 27 opening night, directed by Michael Greif.

In this musical collaboration between Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning Next to Normal composer Tom Kitt and lyricist/librettist Brian Yorkey, LaChanze will play Kate, an elementary school teacher and new neighbor of Elizabeth (Menzel), who moves back to New York on the verge of turning 40 in hopes of finding a fresh start. If/Then is described as a romantic and original new musical about how choice and chance collide and how we learn to love the fallout. Additional casting will be announced shortly.

LaChanze won the 2006 Best Actress Tony Award for The Color Purple and received a Tony nomination for Once on This Island. Additional Broadway credits include Ragtime, Company and Uptown It’s Hot. Off-Broadway credits include Dessa Rosse, The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, The Vagina Monologues and Inked Baby. She has headlined the original concert Love Hangover: LaChanze Sings Diana Ross.

If/Then will have a pre-Broadway tryout at the National Theatre in Washington DC from November 5 through December 8.