LaTanya Richardson Jackson to replace Diahann Carroll in Broadway revival of A Raisin in the SunPosted by Wilson Morales
February 9, 2014
LaTanya Richardson Jackson will play Lena Younger opposite Denzel Washington, Sophie Okenedo and Anika Noni Rose in the upcoming Broadway production of Lorraine Hansberry’s A RAISIN IN THE SUN, directed by Kenny Leon. Miss Jackson assumes the role from Diahann Carroll who has withdrawn from the production.
A representative for the production stated that Carroll withdrew from the production due to the vigorous demands of the rehearsal and performance schedule.
A RAISIN IN THE SUN, currently in rehearsal, will begin performances Saturday evening, March 8 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre (247 West 47 Street). Opening night is Thursday, April 3. The 14-week limited engagement run is scheduled through Sunday, June 15.
Produced by Scott Rudin, the cast also features Stephen Tyrone Williams, Jason Dirden, Stephen McKinley Henderson, David Cromer, and Bryce Clyde Jenkins.
In A Raisin In The Sun, a family’s shared dream for a better life may be, not only deferred, but destroyed by conflicting aspirations, betrayal and racism. Lorraine Hansberry’s classic drama continues to shine an unflinching spotlight on America’s struggle to overcome its past, while paying tribute to those courageous enough to shape a future filled with an abiding faith, in the decency of the human spirit.
LaTanya Richardson Jackson made her Broadway debut in the revival of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Her off-Broadway credits include Love, Loss and What I Wore, Casanova, For Colored Girls…, Spell #7, Unfinished Woman (NYSF); Elliot Loves (Promenade); The Talented Tenth (MTC); From the Mississippi Delta (Negro Ensemble Co.); Boogie Woogie and Booker T., Perdido, Nonsectarian Conversations…, Dr. Beck (Henry Street).She has appeared in the films Mothers and Daughters, Bolden!, Blackout, Freedomland, The Fighting Temptations, U.S. Marshalls, Lone Star, Losing Isaiah, When A Man Loves a Woman, Sleepless in Seattle, Lorenzo’s Oil, Fried Green Tomatoes, Malcolm X. Her TV credits include “100 Centre Street” (A&E), “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge,” “Unchained Memories: Slave Narratives” (HBO), “Jazz,” “Baseball,” “The Civil War” (PBS), “My Super Sweet 16” (MTV), “The Water is Wide” (Hallmark), “Law & Order,” “Boston Public,” “NYPD Blue,” “Judging Amy,” “Chicago Hope,” “Sesame Street,” “Ally McBeal,” “One Life to Live,” “Nightman.”
A Raisin In The Sun originally opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in 1959 and starred Sidney Poitier (Walter Lee Younger), Ruby Dee (Ruth Younger), Diana Sands (Beneatha Younger) and Claudia McNeil (Lena Younger).
In 2004, the Broadway revival production opened at the Royale Theatre and starred Sean Combs (Walter Lee Younger), Audra McDonald (Ruth Younger) and Phylicia Rashad (Lena Younger).
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