Sheridan Smith is to play singer and TV presenter Cilla Black in a new three-part drama, ITV has announced.
Adding to the drama, the singer was involved in a court case last month, in which a woman aged 32 was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence for threatening to decapitate her after she allegedly gave the woman a "sly" look during filming for a TV show.
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Biopics centred around important African American women from history are a rarity with most recent attempts heading to the small screen, such as Queen Latifah's SAG-winning turn in Bessie, a drama about blues singer Bessie Smith.
In one point of departure from the recital norm, Mr. Daniels brought theatrical drama, and another singer, onto the stage: Anthony Dean Griffey, the tenor, joined him and his accompanist, Martin Katz, in Britten's "Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac".
That piece becomes the movie's climactic ballad, "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" (and not written by Ms. Spears), a wistful anthem of generational angst whose lyrics coyly circle around the drama of the singer's self-proclaimed chastity.
It's just more drama for the singer, who was recently sued for verbally abusing one of her guitar players.
The performance was preceded with days of drama between the singer and the producer, who demanded she not mention him during her appearance onstage or on the red carpet. .
Often there was crossing over after graduation, with music students becoming actors and drama students becoming singers.
