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McDonald and Others Discuss Ruth on Character Studies

By: Jun. 24, 2005
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Audra McDonald will be just one of a number of acclaimed actresses to discuss the character of Ruth from Lorraine Hansbury's A Raisin in the Sun on the PBS half-hour documentary series Character Studies. The show, which puts the spotlight on iconic characters in great plays and musicals, will air it's "Ruth" episode on Sunday, June 26th at 10:30 PM on WNET, channel 13 and Wednesday, July 5 at 10:30 PM on WLIW, channel 21 (check local listings).

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McDonald captured her fourth Tony for the role in the recent revival that also starred Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and Phylicia Rashad. Also on hand to discuss the role of the wife and mother are Ruby Dee, who created the part in the original 1959 Broadway production, directed by Lloyd Richards, and co-starring Sidney Poitier. Richards, the first African-American director to mount a Broadway drama, will also join featured discussion members Starletta DuPois, who starred with Danny Glover in a television film version, and Ernestine Jackson, from the musical adaptation of the work, Raisin, as well as Rashad, familiar to television audiences as the mother on The Cosby Show, who won a 2004 Tony Award for portraying Ruth's mother-in-law Lena, and veteran actors Ralph Carter, John Fiedler and Joe Morton.  The episode, hosted by Eric Stoltz, will feature original interviews and performance clips that tell the life story of this fictional character battling both family crises and 1950s racism.

Heralded as one of American theatre's all-time great works of dramatic literature, Hansberry's award-winning "A Raisin in the Sun" continues to be presented in regional theatres around the country. Opening on March 11, 1959, the play represented the first by a black woman to be produced on Broadway, and certainly the first to receive a Tony nomination for Best Play (it garnered three other nods as well). This episode includes images from some of those productions to demonstrate its continuing popularity.

The first episode of the series, on The Glass Menagerie's Amanda Wingfield, will also be repeated on WLIW Channel 21 on June 28th 10.30 PM and June 29th 2.30 AM.

For more information, visit www.characterstudies.net.



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