A fourth and all-black Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof will open March 7 at the Broadhurst Theatre, it was announced on Tuesday. Directed by Debbie Allen (Fame, fame!), this staging features James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad as Big Daddy and Big Mama, Terrence Howard as their son, Brick, and Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls) as Brick's "in need of an itch scratching" wife, Maggie. Previews begin Feb. 12.
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An all-black revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is still headed for the Great White Way, despite a number of setbacks. When behind-the-scenes catfighting prompted the departure of some key players a few weeks back, the show looked like it had run out of lives. But the New York Post's Page Six now reports that first-time producer Stephen Byrd has lined up a new director, Fame's Debbie Allen, and is in talks with the likes of Dreamgirl Anika Noni Rose, Oscar-winner Louis Gossett Jr. and Tony-winner Phylicia Rashad (Allen's real-life sis) to star. Byrd is also hoping to snag hip-hop hunk LL Cool J for the pivotal role of Brick, a character who spends much of the play solely in pajama bottoms. (I am buying my tickets now.) Although Cat has yet to book a theater or opening date, the Tony Awards have: the kudofest will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall (and watched by tragically few) on Sunday, June 10, on CBS. — Reporting by Raven Snook
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Tony-winner Anika Noni Rose — a.k.a. the Dreamgirl who doesn't have a Grammy or an Oscar or a million-plus Google hits — will voice the title character in Disney's upcoming hand-drawn animated feature The Frog Princess, according to Playbill.com. Set in New Orleans in the '20s, the film is a FEMA female take on the classic Grimm Brothers fairy tale with Rose playing Disney's first-ever African-American heroine — although she'll spend most of her time complaining that it's not easy being green. —Raven Snook
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Per the Hollywood Reporter, John Stamos has joined the cast of ABC's TV-movie adaptation of A Raisin in the Sun, playing Carl Lindner, one of the community members who fights to keep the African-American Younger family from moving in.... Gabrielle Anwar will star opposite Jeffrey Donovan in the USA Network drama pilot Burn Notice, about a special ops agent whose career is mysteriously ended.... Per Variety, Judy Davis and Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls) have joined the cast of USA's The Starter Wife six-hour mini.
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Question: There is a movie called "Dream Girls" that's either supposed to come out in theaters or air on TV — I can't remember when. The cast includes Eddie Murphy, Beyoncé Knowles and some girl from American Idol. Can you please let me know the 411? Thanks.Answer: Dreamgirls is a feature-film adaptation of the late theater director Michael Bennett's 1981 Broadway musical chronicling the rise of the Dreamettes (later simply the Dreams), a 1960s singing trio who bear no small resemblance to the real-life Supremes. The original cast included Jennifer Holliday (the show's breakout star) as Effie, the full-figured belter who gets squeezed out in the group's bid for crossover success;
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