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Broadway and "Dreamgirls" Star Anika Noni Rose Cast in Disney's "The Frog Princess"
posted on Apr 23, 2007
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| Disney's "The Frog Princess" |
Tony Award winner and "Dreamgirls" star Anika
Noni Rose will give voice to the lead role in Disney's forthcoming "The
Frog Princess." The actress will play Disney's first African American princess.
Featuring songs by Randy Newman, the animated
musical film will be directed by co-writer Ron Clements, who has penned
the new take on the classic Grimm Brothers fairy tale with John Musker.
Disney Animation has already begun production on the film for a 2009
release.
Rose will lend her voice to the film's
19-year-old-heroine, the first African-American Disney princess, for
the story which is reset in 1920's
New Orleans. The movie will mark a
return to hand-drawn animation for the company (since 2004's "Home on
the Range"), a technique that has given way in recent years to its
computer-generated successor.
The actress, who starred alongside Jennifer
Hudson and Beyoncé as the lead trio in "Dreamgirls," is known to
Broadway audiences for her Tony-winning turn in the musical Caroline,
or Change.
Other stage credits include Broadway's Footloose, Off-Broadway's "Eli's Comin'" and the City Center Encores! mounting of "Purlie."
Creators Clements and Musker have previously
teamed for Disney on the films "The Little Mermaid," "Aladdin,"
"Hercules," "Treasure Planet" and "Basil - The Great Mouse Detective."
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