Posted by | Ray Cornelius
Raven Symone has finally seen the light! Umm, the bright lights of Broadway that is!
The former “Cheetah Girl” and “That’s So Raven” star is making her stage debut in the musical adaptation of the movie, “Sister Act.”
Symone is playing the lead role of Deloris Van Cartier, a character that Oscar-winning actress and comedian Whoopi Goldberg made famous during the early 90’s. Goldberg now serves as one of the show’s producers.
Symone recently talked to Blackvoices.com about transitioning from Hollywood to the Great White Way and keeping it real in show business.
Symone on rehearsing for Broadway versus film and television:
The hours are much longer, but you get Mondays off. And there are a couple of secrets that I learned that are certainly different. With cameras, you have to know your angles, your lights and all of that. And you have to know that on stage, too, but it’s a different type of camera focus. Understanding that, and adding what I always wanted to do on stage, and working with the people here to give me that freedom — it’s pretty fun and interesting to see the different techniques that I incorporated from the vocal coach and the different secrets from Mr. Jerry Zaks.
Symone’s advice on staying focused…
The best advice that I can give is: It’s about the work. It’s really about you putting yourself into your work and your career and focusing on that, and not going for the shiny, fake gold teeth that you find out later are not real gold. Go for the long haul. And hopefully it works. I don’t talk about anything else but my work, and that’s what I’m doing and that’s what I portray.
Click here for the full interview with Raven Symone…
Don’t forget to catch “Sister Act: The Musical” playing now at the Broadway Theatre