Michelle Obama adds dates in U.S., Canada, Europe to ‘Becoming’ book tour

WASHINGTON – Former first lady Michelle Obama is adding stops in the U.S., Canada and Europe to her wildly successful book tour for her blockbuster memoir, “Becoming,” Crown Publishing and Live Nation, the show producer, announced on Tuesday.

Obama kicked off her tour on Nov. 13 at the United Center in Chicago, with the “show” that night a conversation with Oprah Winfrey. Obama’s brand is so strong that she can fill pricey seats at the same time she is selling her book.

The format has been basically the same: Obama in discussion with a friend who is also a person of some note – with an exception where former President Barack Obama was a surprise guest on stage during a Washington DC show.

Part autobiography, part self-help, “Becoming” is the story about a young woman from a close family on the South Side of Chicago of very modest means who, with her husband, become the first African American couple in the White House.

The “Becoming” tour spills into 2019 with 21 more events: six stops Europe; four in Canada and 11 in the U.S. starting Feb. 8 in Tacoma, Washington and ending May 12 in Nashville.

The roadshow’s U.S. stops will be in Tacoma, Portland, Phoenix, Austin, Houston, St. Paul, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Ft. Lauderdale; Atlanta and Nashville. In Canada, Obama will appear in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Edmonton. In Europe, she will discuss her book in Denmark, Stockholm, Oslo, London, Paris and Amsterdam.

In 2019, in a change from this year, not all venues will be in giant arenas; some events will be in smaller theaters, Live Nation and Crown said in a release.

Obama rescheduled the Dec. 5 Paris show, canceled so she could attend the state funeral for President George H.W. Bush.

“Becoming” is now in its sixth printing with 3.8 million copies in the U.S. and Canada and 6 million worldwide.

Here’s a list of the dates and venues:

BECOMING: AN INTIMATE CONVERSATION WITH MICHELLE OBAMA 2019 DATES: