Zonya Love will make her Broadway debut as Celie in the hit musical The Color Purple, beginning on January 9, 2008, alongside Chaka Khan as Sofia and BeBe Winans as Harpo. Fantasia will play her final performance in the show on January 6 after a critically acclaimed nine-month run. LaKisha Jones, previously announced to play the Church Soloist who opens the show with the gospel number "Mysterious Ways", begins performances on December 19 and will play the role of Sofia at matinees beginning January 9.
A native of Durham, North Carolina, Love received a BFA in theatre from North Carolina A&T State University, and a MFA in theatre from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. She moved to New
York in September 2007 and was teaching theater and Head Start classes when she got a callback for The Color Purple. Her regional credits include Intimate Apparel, Wit, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Children of Eden, The Boys Next Door, Kiss Me Kate and Smokey Joe's Café.
The Color Purple began its third year at the Broadway Theatre on November 1, 2007, and also stars Elisabeth Withers-Mendes as Shug Avery, Alton Fitzgerald White as Mister, Darlesia Cearcy as Nettie and Krisha Marcano as Squeak.
