Somebody must have finally told Aretha Franklin how ridiculous it was for her to suggest that Halle Berry portray her in a biopic. First of all, Aretha Franklin is not biracial. And to my knowledge, Halle Berry is no singer. So, the folks that she mentioned on "The View" today made sense. Aretha Franklin said that the casting directors are looking at Fantasia & Jennifer Hudson to play the Queen of Soul on film. But, the really interesting news was that Ms. Franklin is considering Patina Miller for the role at Whoopi Goldberg's behest.
Here's more on Patina Miller(pictured above) from The Philadelphia Tribune :
"Miller has stepped into the shoes of Whoopi Goldberg, who originated the role of nightclub-singer-turned-nun Deloris Van Cartier in the hit 1992 film. She’s the only cast member from the London production to make the switch and so has had to welcome all new actors, a new director, a tweaked script and new songs.
“I’m doing an entirely new show,” she says. “I know this character in and out, so no matter what changes in the show, I know my character’s journey. I know who she is because I’ve lived with her for three years now.”
Goldberg, a producer of the musical, draws on heaven-and-hell imagery to describe her star, who was nominated for an Olivier Award for the role in London: “Patina sings like an angel and works like a devil. She’s fantastic.”
Miller took roundabout path to Broadway and might even have gotten there faster without “Sister Act.” She had been part of workshops for “The Book of Mormon” and “American Idiot” before she left for London, and had to leave the juicy role of Dionne — who sings the opening lines of “Aquarius” — in the Public Theater’s production of “Hair” before it transferred to Broadway.
Even so, Miller has no regrets. Unlike those other roles, her part in “Sister Act” is a star-maker. “If I’m going to do it, I want to do it big,” she says. “What I get to do with this character is really everything. It’s a fleshed-out character. I get to be funny. I get to be serious. I get to lead a show.”
Miller, who graduated with a musical theatre degree from Carnegie Mellon University, says she and her siblings memorized both “Sister Act” movies — the 1992 original and the 1993 sequel with Lauryn Hill — while growing up in Pageland, S.C.
“We would play it and rewind it until we knew all the words — one and two,” Miller says, laughing. She even sang Hill’s version of “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” from the sequel as her solo in a seventh-grade talent show.
“From then I was known as the girl with the big voice,” she says.
Years later, she got Goldberg’s personal approval to play the lead in the “Sister Act” musical. Miller says she was nervous when she met her childhood idol — but equally scared about trying to replace her.
“It was the only thing I was nervous about when I first started. I told Whoopi. I was like, ‘My biggest fear is that people come expecting you and I’m not you.’ She told me, ‘You’re not me. You have an opportunity to create a role for a new stage. Do it your way. It’s your moment. Own it.’”
The critics in London mostly agreed that Miller had owned it, with The Telegraph hailing her “funky, spunky stage presence and great comic timing” and The Times calling her “the show’s great plus.” (END OF EXCERPT) Read the article in its entirety here.
