Denzel Washington and Diahann Carroll to Star in ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ on Broadway

Chris Pizzello/Invision, via Associated Press Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington and Diahann Carroll will star in a Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 drama “A Raisin in the Sun” in the spring of 2014, the producer Scott Rudin said on Thursday. Mr. Washington will play Walter Lee Younger, the ambitious young man at the heart of the play; Ms. Carroll, in her first Broadway appearance in over 30 years, will play Lena, the Younger family matriarch. The production will also star Sophie Okonedo (“Hotel Rwanda”) in her Broadway debut as Ruth Younger, and Anika Noni Rose (“Caroline, or Change”) as Beneatha Younger. Also in the cast are Stephen Tyrone Williams, Jason Dirden and Stephen McKinley Henderson; additional casting is to be announced soon. The production will be directed by Kenny Leon, who directed Mr. Washington’s Tony Award-winning performance in the 2010 Broadway revival of “Fences”.

Previews are to begin March 8, 2014, with opening night set for April 3 at the Barrymore Theater. The production will play a limited engagement through June 15, 2014. “A Raisin in the Sun” was last seen on Broadway in 2004, with a cast that included Sean Combs as Walter Lee, Audra McDonald as Ruth, Phylicia Rashad as Lena and Sanaa Lathan as Beneatha.