Casting News: Viola Davis and Audra McDonald

Posted by | Ray Cornelius

Oscar-nominated actress Viola Davis is teaming up with Shonda Rhimes for a deliciously new legal thriller titled, How to Get Away with Murder.

According to Indie Wire, Davis will play Annalise Dewitt, a law professor and criminal defense attorney who is described as  “brilliant, passionate, creative, charismatic and ruthless in the courtroom and the classroom. The character is an excellent manipulator of people, particularly her law students — five of whom she selects to work with her at the firm. Married to a psychology professor and having an affair that no one can know about, she calls her Criminal Law 100 class ‘How to Get Away With Murder.’”

Tony-winning Broadway star Audra McDonald has been tapped to play jazz icon, Billie Holliday in a production of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. According to the L.A. Times the show follows the heroine addicted singer as she tries to make it through a concert despite her health problems.

The show features many of Lady Day’s classic hit tunes and is scheduled to begin on March 25 with an official opening date on April 13.

McDonald, who is also an accomplished singer, has appeared in A Raisin in the Sun  and Porgy and Bess. She is also slated to star alongside Oprah Winfrey in a revival of the Broadway play Night, Mother  in 2015.

Congrats to both ladies!

Photo Credits: Jezebel.com and AcesShowbiz.com