by Jeroslyn JoVonn

March 22, 2023

She’s Back! Brandy Makes Long-Awaited Return As Cinderella in New Disney+ Musical

Brandy made history as the first Black Disney princess when she starred as Cinderella in the 1997 television movie Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Now, 26 years later, the singer/actress is reprising her iconic role.

On Wednesday, Disney released an official first look at Descendants: The Rise of Red, where Brandy puts back on Cinderella’s signature glass slippers, Variety reported. Paolo Montalban, who played her Prince Charming in the 1997 TV movie, is also returning for the new musical where Charming now serves as king and Cinderella is queen.

First-look images and videos show Brandy and Montalban in their king and queen attire outside a massive castle where their characters rule the Auradon kingdom.

In the 1997 TV film, Brandy and Montalban starred alongside the late Whitney Houston, who played the Fairy Godmother. Whoopi Goldberg, Victor Garber, Natalie Desselle Reid, Bernadette Peters, and Jason Alexander also appeared in the film that garnered seven Emmy nominations, ET reported.

The new musical film follows Chloe (Mia Baker), the lighthearted wide-eyed daughter of Cinderella and Prince Charming, and Red (Kylie Cantrall), the rebellious daughter of the Queen of Hearts, who come together to travel back in time in an effort to prevent the destruction of their kingdom, Auradon.

Rita Ora will star as the Queen of Hearts, with additional cast members including China Anne McClain as Uma, daughter of The Little Mermaid‘s sea witch, Ursula; Morgan Dudley, who plays Ella, the younger version of Cinderella; and Melanie Paxson as the Fairy Godmother.

Disney has yet to announce a release date for the new musical that serves as the fourth installment of the Descendants franchise. The movies tell the stories of the children of Disney’s most infamous villains. The 2015 original debuted on the Disney Channel to over 6 million viewers, followed by two sequels that came out in 2017 and 2019.


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