Denzel Washington Confirms Broadway Return in A RAISIN IN THE SUN

On the red carpet premiere of his new film '2 Guns' last night, actor Denzel Washington confirmed recent reports that he will return to the Broadway stage next spring in a revival of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun.

"We start previews in March," confirmed the Tony Award-winner. "I'm trying to keep up with my wife. My wife has been doing a lot more theater than me." The actor's wife, Pauletta Pearson, is currently starring in 'Power Play' at North Carolina's National Black Theatre Festival.

Joked the 58-year-old actor on the possibility of one day starring in a musical production, "I'm looking forward to one day singing... I can sing. I can sing ... in the shower!"

Washington, whose stage credits include Broadway's 'Fences', will take on the role of Walter Younger, the hero of playwright Lorrain Hansberry's masterpiece.

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.

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).

Source: Associated Press

Photo Credit: Peter James Zielinski