Denzel Washington may be making headlines in Othello on Broadway, but 11 years ago, he was making similar waves for leading A Raisin in the Sun. On April 3, 2014, a starry revival of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. This was the show's second Broadway revival following a 2004 production (both revivals were directed by Kenny Leon).
Written by Hansberry in the late 1950s, A Raisin in the Sun tells the story of Walter Younger and his mother, Lena, who both yearn to move their family out of Chicago's Southside ghetto. When Lena's late husband's insurance check arrives, Lena hopes to use it to buy a house in a white neighborhood鈥攚hile Walter hopes to invest it in a liquor business. The landmark drama, which premiered in 1959, was one of the first on Broadway to examine African-American life on the cusp of the civil rights era.
Kenny Leon鈥檚 2014 revival featured an all-star cast, including Denzel Washington as Walter Lee Youngers, LaTanya Richardson Jackson as Lena Younger, Sophie Okonedo as Ruth Younger, Anika Noni Rose as Beneatha Younger, Stephen McKinley Henderson as Bob, David Cromer as Karl Lindner, Bryce Clyde Jenkins, as Travis Younger, Jason Dirden as George Murchison, Sean Patrick Thomas as Joseph Asagai, Keith Eric Chappelle and Billy Eugene Jones as the Moving Men. Prior to the show's opening night, there were questions of whether Washington, who was 59, was too old to play the 35-year-old Walter Lee (especially opposite Jackson, who was 64 and playing his mother). "Well, none of that matters," wrote . "If anything, Washington comes off as no more mature than his character鈥檚 pre-adolescent son."
The limited engagement played 27 previews and 85 performances before closing June 15, 2014, earning five Tony Award nominations and winning three: Best Revival of a Play, Best Direction of a Play for Leon, and Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for Okonedo. Look back on the production below.
