LaChanze was in the mood to celebrate. “I am so ready to party,” the actress, wearing a sequined red gown with a bold red lip, said on the red carpet before the second annual Black Theater United gala at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Midtown Manhattan on Monday night. LaChanze is the president and a founding member of Black Theater United, a nonprofit that aims to combat racism in the theater community. Mr. Mitchell remembered a call at the time with Ms. McDonald, the director Schele Williams and LaChanze. “They just started saying, ‘We’ve got to do something,’” he said.

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Persons: LaChanze, “, Alicia Keys, Billy Porter, Kristin Chenoweth, Josh Groban —, Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Phylicia Rashad, George Floyd, Mitchell, McDonald, Schele Williams, ‘ We’ve, ’ ” Organizations: Black Theater, Black Theater United, Broadway Locations: Midtown Manhattan, Minneapolis