'I Added a New Hyphen!' LaChanze Is Now a Two-Time Tony-Winning Producer

At the Tony Awards, after the statues are given to the winners, they are taken to the media room, where they speak to journalists about their prizes. Playbill was able to have some one-on-one time with some of the 2023 Tony winners. We spoke with now three-time Tony winner LaChanze, who was one of the producers of two of the evening's winning productions: Kimberly Akimbo, which won Best Musical, and Topdog/Underdog, which won Best Revival of a Play—netting LaChanze two statues in one evening.

Watch the video above to see LaChanze react to winning a Tony for the first time as a producer (she's previously a Tony winner for actor). This season was LaChanze's first as a Broadway producer, but already she has aspirations for what she wants her productions to do, and what she wants her position as a Black woman in a seat of power to represent.

As LaChanze tells Playbill: "We need to develop our audiences, we need to cultivate our audiences. And the only way we can get our audiences in the theatre is when they believe they belong to be in it. And the only way we can do that is by showing them that I’m here, reflecting other artists, all of us on every spectrum. We need to be reflected on both sides of the table so that we can continue to grow our audiences.”

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Better known for her acting work on stage and screen, LaChanze previously won a Tony for her performance as Celie in the musical version of The Color Purple. She was also Tony-nominated for her work in the original production of Once On This Island, Summer, and A Trouble in Mind. She has also appeared on Broadway in A Christmas Carol, If/Then, Ragtime, Company, Dreamgirls, and Uptown . . . It's Hot!

For Playbill's complete coverage of the Tony Awards, visit Playbill.com/Tonys.