Chaka Khan News

Grammy Award-winning singer Chaka Khan is getting set to take on what she says may be her toughest role -- making her Broadway debut, even though she admits she doesn't like acting.

Khan has sold millions of albums over the past three decades but has barely cut her teeth as an actor, save for a turn in the gospel musical "Mama I Want to Sing" in London in 1995, and a few cameo appearances on prime time TV.

But following the released her new CD "Funk This," she has thrown herself into rehearsals for the role of Sofie in "The Color Purple" early next year opposite gospel singer Bebe Winans.

In a recent interview with Reuters, the singer, born 54 years ago as Yvette Marie Stevens, talked candidly about taking on Broadway and the difficulty in finding a producing partner after the death of long-time collaborator Arif Mardin:

Q: Is acting something that you want to pursue more seriously?

A: "No. Its not my favorite thing to do, because it's too mundane. It's like working a regular job, the same thing every day. It's not my cup of tea."

Q: So why take on "A Color Purple?"

A: "This is going to be a good career move for me. To keep me visible. It also teaches you a lot of lessons, doing musicals, (such as) patience. I hope to do a good job. But I'm not looking to be a thespian or an actor. If something comes that I can't refuse, I will flow with it. If I can handle it, I'll do it, otherwise, I won't."

Q: You're new CD "Funk This" is hailed as a throwback to your early days. Was that intended?

A: "I worked with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and I wanted to make a funk album. I fell in love with my voice all over again. This project had a lot of live musicians ... and it was reminiscent of Arif Mardin and I -- it reminds me of that kind of stuff."

Q: Were you wary of finding new producers after the passing of Mardin (in June 2006).

A: "I wondered "who gets me?" Who was there when I started and knows the people that I have worked with me? He (Mardin) was like an uncle to me. Several producers (invited to work on the project) didn't get me, or they thought I was Etta James or something. They knew "Tell Me Something Good," but they didn't know me. They weren't the ones."

Q: So working with Jam and Lewis was the right fit?

A: "Immediately. There was divine synchronicity. It was as if he (Mardin) was still there."

Reuters/Nielsen