Screen star Raven-Symoné will join the cast of Sister Act this March, according to Deadline.com. She will take on the leading role of Deloris Van Cartier, an aspiring disco singer who goes into hiding at a convent after witnessing a crime. Deloris is currently played by Patina Miller, who earned a Tony nomination for the role as well as an Olivier Award nomination for the show’s London engagement. Miller will play her final show on March 18, she revealed via Twitter.
Raven-Symoné became a child star on The Cosby Show, followed by a role on the hit sitcom Hangin’with Mr. Cooper. She went on to headline her own Disney channel show, That’s So Raven, along with Disney Channel TV movies The Cheetah Girls and The Cheetah Girls 2 and such films as Dr. Dolittle and Dr. Dolittle 2. She also stars in the new ABC Family series State of Georgia.
Based on the hit 1992 film starring Whoopi Goldberg, Sister Act features music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater and a book by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner. The story follows disco diva Van Cartier, who witnesses a murder and is put in protective custody in the one place cops are sure she won't be found: a convent. Disguised as a nun, she finds herself at odds with both the rigid lifestyle and an uptight Mother Superior. Using her fabulous disco-ness and killer voice to inspire the choir, Deloris breathes new life into the church and community, but in doing so blows her cover. Soon it’s nun-on-the-run time but she finds salvation in the heavenly power of her newly found sisterhood.
Sister Act currently stars Carolee Carmello as Mother Superior, as well as Fred Applegate, Sarah Bolt, John Treacy Egan, Demond Green, Chester Gregory, Kingsley Leggs, Marla Mindelle, Audrie Neenan and Caesar Samayoa.