LaChanze Sapp-Gooding, known professionally as LaChanze (born December 16, 1961), is an American actress, singer, and dancer. She won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 2006 for her role as Celie Harris Johnson in The Color Purple. LaChanze has subsequently received four more Tony Awards for co-producing Kimberly Akimbo, Topdog/Underdog, The Outsiders, and Purpose. (Via Wikipedia)