The town has been buzzing with the talk of Denzel Washington returning to Broadway. Well, it seems that the rumors are no longer rumors but facts. The 2010 Tony Award winner for his work in ‘Fences‘, has confirmed that her will return in a revival of ‘A Raisin In The Sun‘. Yes. You read it right. The Lorraine Hansberry play will receive another revival in 2014 that will star Mr. Washington as limousine driver Walter Lee Younger. As he walked the red carpet with his wife, Pauletta Pearson, for the premiere of his new movie ‘2 Guns’ had a few things to say about his return.
“We start previews in March,” he said.
Washington then explained his motivation for returning to the stage.
“I’m trying to keep up with my wife. My wife has been doing a lot more theater than me,” he said as Pearson smiled.
Washington said they were heading to North Carolina for the National Black Theatre Festival, where Pearson is starring in the award-winning “Power Play.”
“I’m looking forward to one day singing,” Washington said playfully to Pearson’s amusement. “See, I just wanted to get something out of her. She knows I can’t sing. But she can sing.”
As they walked away, the 58-year-old actor continued: “I can sing. I can sing … in the shower.”
We’re here at the National Black Theatre Festival and we’re waiting to see him so that maybe we can ask him a few questions ourselves.
It’s also been confirmed by Mr. Washington that Diahann Carroll will portray his mother, Lena Younger, in the revival. Carroll hasn’t been on the Broadway stage in 30 years.
Now, speculation is everywhere on who will play his wife, Ruth Younger, and his sister, Beneatha Younger. However, talk is stuck on Sophie Okonedo as Ruth and Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose as Beneatha. Let’s hope this is true.
The show has so much history surrounding it. It was last revived in 2004 starring Phylicia Rashad (Lena), who made history by being the first play woman to win the Tony for a leading role in a play, Sean P. Diddy Combs (Walter Lee) , the Queen of Broadway, Audra McDonald (Ruth), and Sanaa Lathan (Beneatha).
A Raisin in the Sun centers on an African-American family living in post- World War II Chicago. Patriarch Walter works as a limo driver and dreams of providing a better future for his family. When his mother receives an insurance check, she plans to buy a home in an all-white neighborhood. The play premiered on Broadway on March 11, 1959, and earned four Tony Award nominations including Best Play as well as acting nods for stars Sidney Poitier and Claudia McNeil. A 2004 revival, also directed by Leon, won Tonys for Phylicia Rashad and Audra McDonald. The production starred Sean Combs as Walter in his Broadway debut.
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