Cinderella Star Keke Palmer Goes Glam on the Cover of Essence Magazine

Cinderella star Keke Palmer plays dress-up in a gorgeous gown every night in the hit Rodgers and Hammerstein musical—but on the cover of this month’s Essence magazine, the Broadway headliner is trying out a whole different look! Decked out in a gorgeous black-and-white party dress and beautiful makeup, Palmer is looking incredibly glam—Ella would be proud! The stage and screen star is thrilled to be the first African-American woman to play Cinderella on Broadway. "I know that the role of Cinderella is primarily for a Caucasian girl,” she told Essence, “But it didn't stop me from going in and it didn't stop [casting directors] from seeing me. There is a bit of intimidation. You think about Denzel [Washington], Viola Davis, and you think, 'Only great people can do Broadway.' That was the scariest thing about it, but I'm the type who thrives on pressure.” Read more in the newest issue of Essence, then see Palmer in Cinderella at the Broadway Theatre through January 3, 2015!