Someone get a crown for Keke Palmer because she’s going to be a princess!
The BET chat host has just signed to play Cinderella on Broadway, according to The Hollywood Reporter! She’ll be stepping into the famous glass slippers starting September 9 in “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella” at the Broadway Theatre.
“Theater offers so much more than I haven’t been able to access doing film and TV and everything like that,” Keke told the Associated Press. “I’m very excited to learn all that it has to offer—that focus and that dedication to perform at a certain level every night.”
This is huge news because this gig makes Keke the first black woman ever to play Cinderella on Broadway. This is the second time that she’s made history in one year. She became the youngest talk show host ever when her show “Just Keke” debuted in June! She’s taking over the role from Paige Faure, who succeeded “Call Me Maybe” singer Carly Rae Jepsen.
Producers behind Cinderella can’t wait to start working with Keke because they anticipate that she’ll bring some really special to the role. She’s already got the major talents needed to shine on The Great White Way. “She acts beautifully, she dances, she sings — she’s an amazing young woman,” Tony Award-winning producer Robyn Goodman told the AP. “I think she’s going to be just so lovely.”
Keke found out about her new gig last week, and by Friday she still hadn’t quite wrapped her mind around the fact that she’s getting ready to make history. “I don’t really celebrate,” she confessed to VanityFair.com. “And besides, I still don’t believe it is real!”
Well, Keke better wake up because this news is very real and very exciting! She’ll be the latest famous black woman to play a princess on Broadway!
Back in 1998 Toni Braxton played Belle in the stage adaptation of Disney’s “Beauty & The Beast.” She later played Aida on in Disney’s Broadway adaptation of the opera. Later that year, “Say Yes” singer Michelle Williams took on the role of Aida. That’s the only Disney musical that wasn’t derived from an existing film, but I’m really hoping that the Mouse House will bring it to the silver screen in the near future!
There’s no word on how long Keke’s engagement will be or what this will mean for production on “Just Keke,” but Cinderella is sure to be one of the hottest tickets in town when she starts!
Keke Palmer To Play Cinderella On Broadway was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
