Leading Ladies Set for Atlanta Color Purple Bow
LaChanze, who will play Celie in The Color Purple, received a Theatre World Award and a Tony nomination for her acclaimed performance as peasant girl Ti Moune in Once on This Island. She also appeared on the Great White Way in Uptown…It's Hot!, Dreamgirls, Company and Ragtime. Her off-Broadway credits include Once on This Island which originated at Playwrights Horizons, The Vagina Monologues and The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin. She recently starred in the Paper Mill Playhouse production of Baby and is also attached to the new Lynn Ahrens/Stephen Flaherty musical Dessa Rose, which is expected to play at Lincoln Center Theater's Mitzi E. Newhouse this coming winter.
Fields is a Jeff Award-winning actress best known for her word in the Chicago area. At the Goodman Theater she has appeared in The Rose Tattoo, The Amen Corner, A Christmas Carol, Ties That Bind and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Her work at Marriott's Lincolnshire Theatre includes the musicals Showboat, Carousel, Damn Yankees, Big River, Dreamgirls, The Wiz and Hot Mikado. She is on the Artistic Board of Illinois' Apple Tree Theatre, where her credits include Once on This Island and Ain't Misbehavin'. Fields is set to portray Sofia in The Color Purple.
Lenox, who will play Shug in The Color Purple, is currently standing by for the title character in the Broadway production of Caroline, or Change, after having originated the role of The Moon in the musical's premiere at The Public Theater last season. She has also appeared on the Great White Way in Ain't Misbehavin', Dreamgirls, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm and Kiss Me, Kate. Her off-Broadway credits include Beehive, Merrily We Roll Along, Identical Twins from Baltimore, Dinah Was for which she received an Obie Award, Miss Evers' Boys, Crowns and Cavedweller.
Sengbloh serves as the standby for the title character in Aida, going on in the role every Wednesday and Saturday matinee. It is her Broadway debut. She appeared in national tours for Aida and Rent. Her regional theater credits include Jar the Floor, Dinah Was, Chess, Keep the Faith, Soweto! Soweto! and Times. In The Color Purple, she will play Nettie.
The musical version of The Color Purple is based on Alice Walker's popular novel and the film of the same name which featured Whoopi Goldberg as Celie, Oprah Winfrey as Sofia, Margaret Avery as Shug and Akosua Busia as Nettie. The tuner features a score by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray and a book by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Marsha Norman who replaced original librettist Regina Taylor. The creative team also includes director Gary Griffin, choreographer Ken Roberson, musical director Linda Twine, set designer John Lee Beatty, lighting designer Brian MacDevitt, costume designer Paul Tazewell and sound designer Jon Weston.
The Color Purple is scheduled to run at the Alliance Theatre from September 9 through October 17 and is aiming for a Broadway berth in 2005.