A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry returns to Broadway for 14 weeks starring Denzel Washington last seen in Fences 2012 and Diahann Carroll last on Broadway with The Vargina Monoloques 1999 and is Directed by Kenny Leon.
A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem “Harlem” (also known as “A Dream Deferred”) by Langston Hughes. The story is based upon a black family’s experiences in the Washington Park Subdivision of Chicago’s Woodlawn neighbourhood.
Walter and Ruth Younger and their son Travis, along with Walter’s mother Lena (Mama) and sister Beneatha, live in poverty in a dilapidated two-bedroom apartment on Chicago’s south side. Walter is barely making a living as a limousine driver. Though Ruth is content with their lot, Walter is not and desperately wishes to become wealthy, to which end he plans to invest in a liquor store in partnership with Willy, a street-smart acquaintance of Walter’s whom we never meet.
Denzel Washington – Diahann Carroll – Anika Noni Rose – Sophie Okonedo
At the beginning of the play, Mama is waiting for an insurance check for ten thousand dollars. Walter has a sense of entitlement to the money, but Mama has religious objections to alcohol and Beneatha has to remind him it is Mama’s call how to spend it. Eventually Mama puts some of the money down on a new house, choosing an all-white neighbourhood over a black one for the practical reason that it happens to be much cheaper. Later she relents and gives the rest of the money to Walter to invest with the provision that he reserve $3,000 for Beneatha’s education.
Walter passes the money on to Willy’s naive sidekick Bobo, who gives it to Willy, who absconds with it, depriving Walter and Beneatha of their dreams, though not the Youngers of their new home. Meanwhile, Karl Lindner, a white representative of the neighbourhood they plan to move to, makes a generous offer to buy them out. He wishes to avoid neighbourhood tensions over interracial population, which to the three women’s horror Walter prepares to accept as a solution to their financial setback. Lena says that while money was something they try to work for, they should never take it if it was a person’s way of telling them they weren’t fit to walk the same earth as them.
First production on Broadway was 1959 Starring Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Louis Gossett, Ruby Dee, Diana Sands and Directed by Lloyd Richards and ran for 530 Performances at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre and won 4 Tony Awards.
Best Play – Written by Lorraine Hansberry; produced by Philip Rose, David J. Cogan Best Actor in Play – Sidney Poitier Best Actress in a Play – Claudia McNeil Best Direction of a Play – Lloyd Richards
Playing at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre
Previews from March 08 2014 …..Opening Night April 03 2014
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
243 W 47th St, New York, NY 10036, United States ** Full Theatre Details Click Here
Full Cast 2014
| Diahann Carroll | Lena Younger Mother | |
| Denzel Washington | Walter Lee Younger Brother |
| David Cromer | Karl Lindner | |
| Jason Dirden | George Murchison | |
| Stephen McKinley Henderson | Bobo | |
| Bryce Clyde Jenkins | Travis Younger | |
| Sophie Okonedo Broadway debut | Ruth Younger | |
| Anika Noni Rose | Beneatha Younger | |
| Stephen Tyrone Williams | Joseph Asagai |
Full Cast 2004
| Sean Combs Broadway debut | Walter Lee Younger Brother | |
| Audra McDonald | Ruth Younger | |
| Phylicia Rashad | Lena Younger Mother |
| Sanaa Lathan Broadway debut | Beneatha Younger | |
| Bill Nunn Broadway debut | Bobo |
| David Aaron Baker | Karl Lindner | |
| Lawrence Ballard | Moving Man | |
| Teagle F. Bougere | Joseph Asagai | |
| Frank Harts Broadway debut | George Murchison | |
| Billy Eugene Jones | Moving Man | |
| Alexander Mitchell | Travis Younger |
Full Cast 1959
| Sidney Poitier | Walter Lee Younger Brother |
| Ruby Dee | Ruth Younger | |
| Ivan Dixon | Joseph Asagai | |
| Lonne Elder III | Bobo | |
| John Fiedler | Karl Lindner | |
| Louis Gossett | George Murchison | |
| Ed Hall | Moving Man | |
| Claudia McNeil | Lena Younger Mother | |
| Diana Sands | Beneatha Younger | |
| Glynn Turman | Travis Younger | |
| Douglas Turner | Moving Man |
* The Ethel Barrymore Theatre trade names or copyright are used herein for factual descriptive purposes only.
