Twenty-year-old actress, singer and TV presenter Keke Palmer is once again making headlines after being selected to play the title role in Rodger and Hammerstein’s Cinderella which will open on September 9th at New York’s famous Broadway theatre.
Palmer, (real name Lauren Keyana Palmer), who recently made history after becoming the youngest television presenter ever, with her BET show Just KeKe, will be the first African-American to reprise the role of Cinderella on stage.
“I’m sooooo excited to be doing Broadway for the first time, as Cinderella!!” she tweeted on Monday. DREAMS DO COME TRUE!!”
Palmer will be making her stage debut with role, although of course she is no stranger to acting, having featured in popular films such as Barbershop 2: Back in Business, Akeelah and the Be and Joyful Noise. She initially rose to fame after starring in Nickelodeon’s True Jackson VP and currently plays maid and baby nurse Coral on Showtime’s Masters of Sex
“She acts beautifully, she dances, she sings — she’s an amazing young woman,” Robyn Goodman told Associated Press “I think she’s going to be just so lovely.”
Although Palmer will be the first African-American to play the role on stage she will not be the first ever black person to play Cinderalla. In 1997, actress and singer Brandy Norwood played Cinderella in a TV movie alongside Whitney Houston as Fairy Godmother.
Palmer, who according to Huffington Post is a massive Brandy fan feels that her new role would not have been possible without Brandy: I feel like the reason I’m able to do this is definitely because Brandy did it on TV,” Palmer said. “In me doing this, it shows everybody that everything is possible.”
