Eriq La Salle will play a Relative Stranger in a Hallmark Channel original move slated for a Yuletide bow. The ER alum stars as a man who abandons his wife, kids and extended family, then returns years later when his father dies. He reunites with his estranged brood in the process. Cicely Tyson has been cast as La Salle's mom, while Michael Beach (Third Watch) plays his brother. — MWM
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Leslie Uggams is working on a Lena Horne project that's en route to Broadway.Louis Gossett Jr. is heading back to Broadway with a remake of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, also starring Phylicia Rashad and directed by Debbie Allen.John Amos, of course, is currently on Men in Trees: "Maybe next year the entire cast of that show will be here."Ben Vereen just finished an episode of Grey's Anatomy and wants to go back to Broadway with a gospel-themed project.LeVar Burton is on Day 10 of the shoot for Tempting Hyenas, a feature he's directing. The cast includes himself, Alfre Woodard, Lacey Chabert and Adrienne Barbeau.Cicely Tyson jokes, "I'm looking for a job," saying she may have to pull a Bette Davis and put an ad in the newspapers. "But I, for most of my career, have been unemployed," she says, before noting, "I actually have a number of things in the works."There's awkwardness as Cicely and LeVar get into some sort of debate about the state of today's long-form television and Roots' legacy.
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