With a career that has spanned thirty-one Broadway seasons, LaChanze consistently brings women of complexity and triumph into the cultural lexicon.
LaChanze won a Tony Award for her performance as Celie in The Color Purple, originated the role of Ti Moune in Once on This Island (Tony Award nomination), and upheld her commitment to artistic excellence this past season as Wiletta in Alice Childress’ historic play, Trouble In Mind (Tony Award nomination). Other notable stage performances include roles in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical (Tony Award nomination), A Christmas Carol, The Secret Life of Bees, If/Then, The Wiz, Ragtime, Uptown… It’s Hot! and Dreamgirls.
On screen, she has delivered memorable roles in both TV and film including: “Handel’s Messiah Rocks: A Joyful Noise” (Emmy Award), “The Blacklist,” “Melinda,” “The Help,” HBO’s “The Night Of,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “The Good Fight,” “Sex And The City,” and Disney animated feature film “Hercules” among other titles.
LaChanze is a two time Tony Award-winning producer. The co-produced the 20th anniversary revival of Suzan-Lori Parks’ acclaimed Pulitzer-Prize-Winning play, Topdog/Underdog, as well as Kimberly Akimbo, a new musical by Tony Award Winning Composer Jeanine Tesori and Tony Award & Pulitzer-Prize-Winning Playwright David Lindsay-Abaire.
She is the President of Black Theatre United, a community of creatives dedicated to awareness, accountability, and advocacy. Proud mother of Celia Rose and Zaya LaChanze. She resides in Westchester, New York with her three cats and gardening hats.
Marylee is a performer, producer & writer.
She is the co-producer and co-host of STAGES PODCAST with Stephanie J. Block. STAGES is in season four and is in partnership with iHeart Radio.
She performed in the first American company of RAGTIME in Los Angeles. She performed the 2023 RAGTIME concert with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She starred in the longest running off-broadway play in theater history, I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE.
Her theater and podcast production company, TIMA, founded with Tony Award winner LaChanze, is part of the investment team for Kimberly Akimbo and she is a co-producer on the upcoming Broadway musical THE OUTSIDERS.
Marylee's album A NEW STAGE is comprised of songs recorded her husband each Father's Day, while their boy was small.
She wrote for Gaiam Yoga, The Elephant Journal, LA & Boston Yoga Magazine, Bliss.com & Life As A Human Magazine. Her essays explore yoga, but focus on her experiences with her son, and the ways he helps her grow. She is a registered yoga teacher, Reiki practitioner and founder of Chakras Yoga. Her Guided Journal LOVE WHERE YOU ARE NOW is available on Amazon.
She lives on a farm in Massachusetts with her husband Michael, an author and biotech executive, and their son Seb, who makes her crazy with his aspiration to be a pro-boxer.