Mama Broadway singing on the big screen? We’ll take it! Six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald is in final negotiations to appear in Disney’s forthcoming live action Beauty and the Beast. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she will play Garderobe, a former opera singer-turned-wardrobe.
She joins a cast that includes Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as the Beast, Luke Evans as Gaston, Josh Gad as LeFou, Kevin Kline as Maurice and Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts. The movie, directed by Bill Condon, will include music from the original 1991 animated film along with additional songs penned by Alan Menken and Tim Rice.
McDonald has won Tony Awards for her performances in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Carousel, Master Class, Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun and Porgy and Bess. She will return to the Great White Way in March 2016 for Shuffle Along, Or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed. Her previous screen credits include The Sound of Music Live!, Annie, Private Practice and Wit.