Love Hangover: LaChanze sings Diana Ross and indeed she did. However, she did a little more than that.
An intimate room at 54 Below set the stage for what was guaranteed to be a night to remember. Entering the room with just as much class as Diana Ross herself, LaChanze made her way to the stage wearing a glamorous, shimmery, cold shoulder gown looking as classic as ever. Her set began with Love Hangover and immediately received her audiences’ undivided attention.
“She gave me the permission to be flirty, sexy, and just proud to be a little brown girl.” LaChanze explains why she chose to celebrate the music of the iconic Diana Ross, who also recorded music in this very same room. Talk about destiny. “She was the soundtrack of my life,” she added.
Them There Eyes was next on her set-list as she showed off her jazzy scatting skills and then moved into Last Time I Saw Him with a very theatrical flare, which displayed exactly why she is a Tony and Emmy Award winning actress.
The intoxicatingly sultry sounds of Good Morning Heartache created a very soothing environment for her audience. LaChanze then picked up the pace, and showed her flow with a hip-hop twist to an arrangement of Can’t Hurry Love.
Speaking of arrangements, Baby Love/Where Did Our Love Go was my personal favorite moment of the show. This slow and steady tempo made it easier to focus on the story of love and heartache portrayed in the songs’ original lyrics by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Edward Holland.
To add to the spectacle of this already phenomenal event, surprise guest Jerry Dixon (Broadway: Once on This Island) joined LaChanze for a duet to You’re All I Need To Get By. Her two male background vocalist also did an awesome job at sustaining the soprano vocals originally sung by The Supremes in the 1960’s Billboard #1 hit You Keep Me Hanging On.
LaChanze dedicated a captivating rendition of Be a Lion from the film “The Wiz” to her nephew, while exhibiting some strong vocal chops. She also shared with us her dancing skills with a very Diana-esque, rump shaking breakdown in I’m Coming Out. The audience was on the edge of their seats as she brought this record to a whole new level.
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough seemed to be a crowd favorite ending with a standing ovation before her set was even over. Thank goodness she came back to the stage to take us home with the highly appropriate tune The Boss. LaChanze is the epitome of a truly passionate performer, as she shares her gifts with her audience. We were more than ecstatic to have the opportunity to witness her in what should be a one-woman Broadway show.
You can still see this show. There will be one last performance April 22 at 7 PM. Doors open at 5:30 PM. Tickets are $30-$40 cover charge and there will be a $25 food/beverage minimum.
54 Below is located at 254 W. 54th Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue. For tickets call (646) 476-3551 or visit 54below.com Make reservations TODAY!!!
Reviewed By Ivore Rousell
