STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

Casting News: Cicely Tyson Returns to Broadway, Forest Whitaker to Sing for Kasi Lemmons

Oscar-winner Tyson comes back to the stage after thirty years.

Big news from Broadway today: veteran actress Cicely Tyson, 78, is returning to the stage after thirty years to star in the revival of The Trip Is Bountiful

Tyson, who is an Emmy-winner but has yet to snag a Tony Award, will have her chance as the star of this revival of Horton Foote's 1953 drama. The story is about an elderly woman who desires to return to her home but whose daughter and son-in-law won't allow her to travel. Tyson last appeared on Broadway in 1983's Corn Is Green.
On the big screen, Forest Whitaker, 51, is tuning his pipes for a lead role in Kasi Lemmons' musical Black Nativity, based on a Broadway gospel play by Langston Hughes. Jennifer Hudson, 31, will play his daughter in the film and Angela Bassett, 54, will assume the role of his wife. 
Black Nativity centers on a young Black teen from Baltimore who is sent to Harlem by his mother to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged grandparents. The boy then learns the real meaning of faith and family when his grandfather delivers a Christmas Eve sermon. Production is due to begin in early 2013.

BET.com is your #1 source for Black celebrity news, photos, exclusive videos and all the latest in the world of hip hop and R&B music.
Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

(Photos from left: Kevin Winter/Getty Images, Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)

Latest News

Subscribe for BET Updates

Provide your email address to receive our newsletter.


By clicking Subscribe, you confirm that you have read and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. You also agree to receive marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers) and other information from BET and the Paramount family of companies. You understand that you can unsubscribe at any time.