Keke Palmer Teases Return to Broadway in Debbie Allen-Directed Muhammad Ali Play | Playbill

Video Keke Palmer Teases Return to Broadway in Debbie Allen-Directed Muhammad Ali Play

Palmer spilled the news on The Kelly Clarkson Show.

Keke Palmer may be back on the Broadway boards before we know it.

On January 22, Palmer teased a Broadway return on The Kelly Clarkson Show, telling host Clarkson that she was attached to star in a Broadway-bound play about the life of boxer Muhammad Ali, directed by Debbie Allen.

"It will be my first play, because the first time I did Broadway was a musical," Palmer explained, referring to her critically acclaimed run in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. "This would be a play directed by Debbie Allen, about Muhammad Ali's life and his relationship with Stepin Fetchit. And kind of just like, the exploration of our culture, what it means to have pride. I play Sonji, his first wife, Muhammad Ali's first wife. I'm very excited at the opportunity to do a play!"

Sonji Ali, who married the boxer only one month after their first meeting, was one of the most influential women in Ali's life. Fiercely independent, her refusal to follow him into the Nation of Islam led to their divorce less than two years later. While their marriage was childless, members of Ali's family have maintained that he never truly got over Sonji, referring to her as the true love of his life.

While Palmer did not share the title or a timeline for this project, it can be assumed, based on her description, that it is not one of the two other percolating Ali projects that have snagged headlines in the last year: the indefinitely postponed musical Ali, which was to premiere in Chicago; and the solo play The One, which ran Off-Broadway late last year.

 
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