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A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959.^[1] The title comes from the poem "Harlem" (also known as "A Dream Deferred"^[2]) by Langston Hughes. The story is based upon a black family's experiences in the Washington Park Subdivision of Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood.

Plot

A Raisin in the Sun portrays a few weeks in the life of the Youngers, an African-American family living in Southside Chicago sometime between World War II and the 1950s. When the play opens, the Youngers are about to receive an insurance check for $10,000 from the deceased Mr. Younger’s life insurance policy. Each of the adult members of the family has an idea as to what he or she would like to do with this money. The matriarch of the family, Mama, wants to buy a house to fulfill a dream she shared with her husband. Mama’s son, Walter Lee, would rather use the money to invest in a liquor store with his friends. He believes that the investment will solve the family’s financial problems forever. Walter’s wife, Ruth, agrees with Mama, however, and hopes that she and Walter can provide more space and opportunity for their son, Travis. Beneatha, Walter’s sister and Mama’s daughter, wants her mother to use the money for whatever be her will. Mama does mention she'd also like to use the money for Beneatha's medical school tuition. She also wishes that her family members were not so interested in joining the white world. Beneatha instead tries to find her Yoruban identity by looking back to the past and to Africa.

As the play proceeds, the Youngers clash over their competing dreams. Ruth discovers that she is pregnant but fears that if she has the child, she will put more financial pressure on her family members. When Walter says nothing to Ruth’s admission that she is considering abortion, Mama puts a down payment on a house for the whole family. She believes that a bigger, brighter dwelling will help them all. This house is in Clybourne Park, an entirely white neighborhood. When the Youngers’ future neighbors find out that the Youngers are moving in, they send Mr. Lindner, from the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, to offer the Youngers money in return for staying away. The Youngers refuse the deal, even after Walter loses the rest of the money ($6,500) to his friend Willy Harris, who persuades Walter to invest in the liquor store and then runs off with his cash.

In the meantime, Beneatha wants to get rejected by her suitor, George Murchison, whom she believes to be shallow and blind to the problems of race. Subsequently, she receives a marriage proposal from her Nigerian boyfriend, Joseph Asagai, who wants Beneatha to get a medical degree and move to Africa with him (Beneatha does not make her choice before the end of the play, but we see a hopeful ending). The Youngers eventually move out of the apartment, fulfilling the family’s long-held dream. Their future seems uncertain and slightly dangerous, but they are optimistic and determined to live a better life. They believe that they can succeed if they stick together as a family and resolve to no longer defer their dreams.

Litigation

All experiences in this play echo a lawsuit (Hansberry v. Lee, 311 U.S. 32 (1940)), to which the Hansberry family was a party when they fought to have their day in court because a previous class action about racially motivated restrictive covenants (Burke v. Kleiman, 277 Ill. App. 519 (1934) was similar to the case at hand. This case was held prior to the passage of the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in housing and created the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. The Hansberrys won their right to be heard as a matter of due process of law in relation to the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Supreme Court held that the Hansberry defendants were not bound by the Burke decision because the class of defendants in the respective cases had conflicting goals, and thus could not be considered to be the same class.

Interestingly, the plaintiff in the first action was Olive Ida Burke, who brought the suit on behalf of the property owner's association to enforce the racial restriction in 1934. Her husband, James Burke, was the person who sold the property to Carl Hansberry (Lorraine's father) when he changed his mind about the validity of the covenant. Mr. Burke's decision may have been motivated by the changing demographics of the neighborhood, but it was also influenced by the Depression. The demand for houses was so low among white buyers that Mr. Hansberry may have been the only prospective purchaser available.^[3]

Lorraine reflects upon the litigation in her book To Be Young, Gifted, and Black:

"25 years ago, [my father] spent a small personal fortune, his considerable talents, and many years of his life fighting, in association with NAACP attorneys, Chicago’s ‘restrictive covenants’ in one of this nation's ugliest ghettos. That fight also required our family to occupy disputed property in a hellishly hostile ‘white neighborhood’ in which literally howling mobs surrounded our house… My memories of this ‘correct’ way of fighting white supremacy in America include being spat at, cursed and pummeled in the daily trek to and from school. And I also remember my desperate and courageous mother, patrolling our household all night with a loaded German Luger (pistol), doggedly guarding her four children, while my father fought the respectable part of the battle in the Washington court."

The Hansberry house, the red brick three-flat at 6140 S. Rhodes in Washington Park which they bought in 1937, is up for landmark status before the Chicago City Council's Committee on Historical Landmarks Preservation.^[4]

Production and reception

With a cast in which all but one minor character are African-American, A Raisin in the Sun was considered to be a risky investment, and it took over a year for producer Philip Rose to raise enough money to launch the play. After touring to positive reviews, it premiered on Broadway on March 11, 1959. Waiting for the curtain to rise on opening night, Hansberry and producer Phillip Rose did not expect the play to be a success, for it had already received mixed reviews from a preview audience the night before. Though it received popular and critical acclaim, reviewers argued about whether the play was "universal" or particular to African-American experiences.^[5] The New York Drama Critics' Circle named it the best play of 1959, and it ran for nearly two years and was produced on tour. A Raisin in the Sun was the first play written by a black woman to be produced on Broadway, as well as the first play with a black director (Lloyd Richards) on Broadway.^[6]

Hansberry noted that it introduced details of black life to the overwhelmingly white Broadway audiences, while director Richards observed that it was the first play to which large numbers of blacks were drawn.^[6] The New York Times stated that A Raisin in the Sun "changed American theater forever."^[7]

In 1960 A Raisin In The Sun was nominated for four Tony Awards:

Best Play - Written by Lorraine Hansberry; produced by Philip Rose, David J. Cogan
Best Actor in Play - Sidney Poitier
Best Actress in a Play - Claudia McNeil
Best Direction of a Play - Lloyd Richards

Other versions

1961 film

In 1961, a film version of A Raisin in the Sun was released featuring its original Broadway cast of Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, Ivan Dixon, Louis Gossett, Jr. and John Fiedler. Hansberry wrote the screenplay, and the film was directed by Daniel Petrie. It was released by Columbia Pictures and Ruby Dee won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress. Both Poitier and MacNeil were nominated for Golden Globe Awards, and Petrie received a special "Gary Cooper Award" at the Cannes Film Festival.

1973 musical

In 1973, the play was turned into a musical, Raisin. The book of the musical, which stayed close to the play, was written by Hansberry's former husband, Robert Nemiroff. Music and lyrics were by Judd Woldin and Robert Brittan. The cast included Joe Morton (Walter Lee), Virginia Capers (Momma), Ernestine Jackson (Ruth), Debbie Allen (Beneatha) and Ralph Carter (Travis, the Youngers' young son). The show won the Tony Award for Best musical.

1989 TV film

In 1989 it was adapted into a movie starring Danny Glover and Esther Rolle. This production received three Emmy Award nominations, but all were for technical categories. Bill Duke directed the production, while Chiz Schultz produced the production, which also featured Starletta DuPois and John Fiedler, who had starred in the original Broadway production and the 1961 film version. This production was based on an off-Broadway revival produced by the Roundabout Theatre.

The cast included Danny Glover (Walter Lee), Starletta DuPois (Ruth), Esther Rolle (Mama), and Kim Yancey (Beneatha).

2004 Broadway revival

There has been one Broadway revival in 2004^[8] at the Royale Theatre with the following cast:

Sean Combs – Walter Lee Younger
Audra McDonald – Ruth Younger
Phylicia Rashad – Lena Younger
Sanaa Lathan – Beneatha Younger
Bill Nunn – Bobo
David Aaron Baker – Karl Lindner
Lawrence Ballard – Moving Man
Teagle F. Bougere – Joseph Asagai
Frank Harts – George Murchison
Billy Eugene Jones – Moving Man
Alexander Mitchell – Travis Younger

2008 TV film

In 2008, Sean Combs starred in a television film directed by Kenny Leon. The film debuted at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and was broadcast by ABC on February 25, 2008. According to Nielsen Media Research, the program was watched by 12.7 million viewers and ranked #9 in the ratings for the week ending March 2, 2008.^[9]

Cultural references

The 2010 Bruce Norris play Clybourne Park depicts events in the same house that take place before and after the events in Raisin in the Sun.^[10]

Season 1, Episode 3 of Strangers with Candy is based around a school production of A Raisin in the Sun, and features an excerpt from the 1961 movie as well as Stephen Colbert reciting "A Dream Deferred" just before the closing credits.

References

^ http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=2083
^ http://www.cswnet.com/~menamc/langston.htm
^ Kamp, Allen R. "The History Behind Hansberry v. Lee," 20 U.S. Davis L. Rev. 481 (1987)
^ 'Raisin in the Sun' home for landmark?, Maudlyne Ihejirika, The Chicago Sun-Times, February 5, 2010
^ 'Robin Bernstein, "Inventing a Fishbowl: White Supremacy and the Critical Reception of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun," Modern Drama 42(1): 16-27.
^ ^a ^b Corley, Cheryl, 'A Raisin in the Sun', Present at the Creation, National Public Radio, March 11, 2002
^ Rich, Frank, Theater: 'Raisin in Sun,' Anniversary in Chicago, New York Times, October 5, 1983
^ http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=13596
^ New York Times Feb 25, 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/25/arts/television/25bell.html
^ Brantley, Ben, "Good Defenses Make Good Neighbors," New York Times, Feb. 22, 2010.

External links

Listen to the play online

[1] ttp://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=2083

[2] ttp://www.cswnet.com/~menamc/langston.htm

[3] Kamp, Allen R. "The History Behind Hansberry v. Lee," 20 U.S. Davis L. Rev. 481 (1987)

[4] 'Raisin in the Sun' home for landmark?, Maudlyne Ihejirika, The Chicago Sun-Times, February 5, 2010

[5] 'Robin Bernstein, "Inventing a Fishbowl: White Supremacy and the Critical Reception of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun," Modern Drama 42(1): 16-27.

[Corley-6] Corley, Cheryl, 'A Raisin in the Sun', Present at the Creation, National Public Radio, March 11, 2002

[7] Rich, Frank, Theater: 'Raisin in Sun,' Anniversary in Chicago, New York Times, October 5, 1983

[8] ttp://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=13596

[9] New York Times Feb 25, 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/25/arts/television/25bell.html

[10] Brantley, Ben, "Good Defenses Make Good Neighbors," New York Times, Feb. 22, 2010.

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+{{italicstitle}}
-{{for|the 1961 film|A Raisin in the Sun (film)}}
+{{otheruses}}
-{{for|the 2008 telemovie|A Raisin in the Sun (2008 film)}}
 [[File:RaisinInTheSun.JPG|thumb|1st edition cover]]
-'''''A Raisin in the Sun'''''  is a play by [[Lorraine Hansberry]] that debuted on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in 1959.  The title comes from the poem "A Dream Deferred" by [[Langston Hughes]]. The story is based upon a black family's experiences in the [[Washington Park Subdivision]] of [[Chicago, Illinois |Chicago]]'s [[Woodlawn, Chicago|Woodlawn]] neighborhood. ''A Raisin in the  Sun'' was the first play written by a [[black (race)|black]] woman to be produced on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]], as well as the first play with a black director ([[Lloyd Richards]]) on Broadway. Waiting for the curtain to rise on opening night, Hansberry and producer, Phillip Rose, did not expect the play to be a success, for it had already received mixed reviews from a preview audience the night before.<ref> Corley, Cheryl.  "A Raisin in the Sun,"  [[NPR]]. March 11, 2002. </ref>
+'''''A Raisin in the Sun'''''  is a play by [[Lorraine Hansberry]] that debuted on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in 1959.<ref>http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=2083</ref>  The title comes from the poem "Harlem" (also known as "[[A Dream Deferred]]"<ref>http://www.cswnet.com/~menamc/langston.htm</ref>) by [[Langston Hughes]]. The story is based upon a black family's experiences in the [[Washington Park Subdivision]] of [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]]'s [[Woodlawn, Chicago|Woodlawn]] neighborhood.
 ==Plot==
+''A Raisin in the Sun'' portrays a few weeks in the life of the Youngers, an African-American family living in  [[Southside Chicago]] sometime between [[World War II]] and the 1950s. When the play opens, the Youngers are about to receive an insurance check for $10,000 from the deceased Mr. Younger’s life insurance policy. Each of the adult members of the family has an idea as to what he or she would like to do with this money. The matriarch of the family, Mama, wants to buy a house to fulfill a dream she shared with her husband. Mama’s son, Walter Lee, would rather use the money to invest in a [[liquor]] store with his friends. He believes that the investment will solve the family’s financial problems forever. Walter’s wife, Ruth, agrees with Mama, however, and hopes that she and Walter can provide more space and opportunity for their son, Travis. Beneatha, Walter’s sister and Mama’s daughter, wants her mother to use the money for whatever be her will. Mama does mention she'd also like to use the money for Beneatha's medical school tuition. She also wishes that her family members were not so interested in joining the white world. Beneatha instead tries to find her [[Yoruba culture|Yoruban]] identity by looking back to the past and to Africa.
-Walter and Ruth Younger and their son Travis, along with Walter's mother Lena (Mama) and sister Beneatha, live in poverty in a dilapidated one-bedroom apartment on Chicago's south side.  Walter is barely making a living as a limousine driver.  Though Ruth is content with their lot, Walter is not and desperately wishes to become wealthy, to which end he plans to invest in a liquor store in partnership with Willy, a street-smart acquaintance of Walter's whom we never meet.  At the beginning of the play Mama is waiting for an insurance check for ten thousand dollars.  Walter has a sense of entitlement to the money but Mama has religious objections to liquor and Beneatha has to remind him it is Mama's call how to spend it.  Eventually Mama puts some of the money down on a new house, choosing an all-white neighborhood over a black one for the practical reason that it happens to be much cheaper.  Later she relents and gives the rest of the money to Walter to invest with the proviso that he reserve $3,000 for Beneatha's education.  Walter passes the money on to Willy's naive sidekick Bobo, who gives it to Willy, who absconds with it, depriving Walter and Beneatha of their dreams though not the Youngers of their new home.  Meanwhile Karl Lindner, a white neighbor, makes a generous offer to buy them out to avoid his neighborhood becoming mixed, which to the three women's horror Walter prepares to accept as a solution to their financial setback.
+As the play proceeds, the Youngers clash over their competing dreams. Ruth discovers that she is pregnant but fears that if she has the child, she will put more financial pressure on her family members. When Walter says nothing to Ruth’s admission that she is considering abortion, Mama puts a down payment on a house for the whole family. She believes that a bigger, brighter dwelling will help them all. This house is in Clybourne Park, an entirely white neighborhood. When the Youngers’ future neighbors find out that the Youngers are moving in, they send Mr. Lindner, from the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, to offer the Youngers money in return for staying away. The Youngers refuse the deal, even after Walter loses the rest of the money ($6,500) to his friend Willy Harris, who persuades Walter to invest in the liquor store and then runs off with his cash.
-While all this is going on, Walter's character and direction in life are being defined for us by two men, Beneatha's wealthy and educated boyfriend George Murchison, and Joseph Asagai, a Nigerian medical student at a Canadian university on a visit to America.  Neither man is actively involved in the Youngers' financial ups and downs.  George represents the "fully assimilated black man" who denies his African heritage with a "smarter than thou" attitude which Beneatha finds disgusting, while dismissively mocking Walter's lack of money and education.  Joseph patiently teaches Beneatha about her African heritage; he gives her thoughtfully useful gifts from Africa, while pointing out she is unwittingly assimilating herself into white ways, for example with her straightened hair which he characterizes as "mutilation."
+In the meantime, Beneatha wants to get rejected by her suitor, George Murchison, whom she believes to be shallow and blind to the problems of race. Subsequently, she receives a marriage proposal from her Nigerian boyfriend, Joseph Asagai, who wants Beneatha to get a medical degree and move to Africa with him (Beneatha does not make her choice before the end of the play, but we see a hopeful ending). The Youngers eventually move out of the apartment, fulfilling the family’s long-held dream. Their future seems uncertain and slightly dangerous, but they are optimistic and determined to live a better life. They believe that they can succeed if they stick together as a family and resolve to no longer defer their dreams.
-Beneatha is upbraided by Joseph for her materialism when she becomes distraught at the loss of the money.  She eventually accepts his point of view, along with his proposal of marriage and his invitation to move with him to Nigeria to practice medicine.
-Walter is oblivious to the stark contrast between George and Joseph: his pursuit of wealth can only be attained by liberating himself from Joseph's culture, to which he attributes his poverty, and rising to George's level, wherein he sees his salvation.  To Walter this is the American dream, which he pursues as fruitlessly as Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's [[Death of a Salesman]], with the added handicap of being black in white America.  But whereas Loman dies, Walter redeems himself and black pride at the end by changing his mind and not accepting the buyout offer.
-==Original Broadway Cast==
-*[[Sidney Poitier]]  -   Walter Lee Younger
-*[[Claudia McNeil]] -  Lena Younger
-*[[Ruby Dee]] -    Ruth Younger
-*[[Diana Sands]] -  Beneatha Younger
-*[[Ivan Dixon]] -  Joseph Asagai
-*[[Glynn Turman]] -  Travis Younger
-*[[John Fiedler]] -  Karl Lindner
-*[[Lonne Elder III]] -  Bobo
-*Ed Hall -  Moving Man
-*[[Douglas Turner Ward]] -  Moving Man
-*[[Louis Gossett Jr.]] (as Louis Gossett) -  George Murchison
-Written by [[Lorraine Hansberry]]; Directed by [[Lloyd Richards]]
-Designed by [[Ralph Alswang]]; Lighted by [[Ralph Alswang]]; Costumes by [[Matt Levy]]; Sound Design by [[Masque Sound Engineering Company]]
-General Manager: [[Walter Fried (Broadway manager)|Walter Fried]]
-Production Stage Manager: [[Leonard Auerbach]]; Stage Manager: [[Mervyn Williams]]
-By W.D. White
 ==Litigation==
+All experiences in this play echo a lawsuit (''[[Hansberry v. Lee]]'', 311 U.S. 32 (1940)), to which the Hansberry family was a party when they fought to have their day in court because a previous class action about racially motivated restrictive covenants (''Burke v. Kleiman'', 277 Ill. App. 519 (1934) was similar to the case at hand. This case was held prior to the passage of the [[Fair Housing Act]], which prohibits discrimination in housing and created the [[Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity]].  The Hansberrys won their right to be heard as a matter of due process of law in relation to the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]]. The [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] held that the ''Hansberry'' defendants were not bound by the ''Burke'' decision because the class of defendants in the respective cases had conflicting goals, and thus could not be considered to be the same class.
-The experiences in this play echo a lawsuit (''[[Hansberry v. Lee]]'', 311 U.S. 32 (1940)), to which the Hansberry family was a party when they fought to have their day in court because a previous class action about racially motivated restrictive covenants (''Burke v. Kleiman'', 277 Ill. App. 519 (1934) was similar to the case at hand. They won their right to be heard as a matter of due process of law in relation to the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]]. The [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] held that the ''Hansberry'' defendants were not bound by the ''Burke'' decision because the class of defendants in the respective cases had conflicting goals, and thus could not be considered to be the same class.
 Interestingly, the plaintiff in the first action was Olive Ida Burke, who brought the suit on behalf of the property owner's association to enforce the racial restriction in 1934. Her husband, James Burke, was the person who sold the property to Carl Hansberry (Lorraine's father) when he changed his mind about the validity of the covenant. Mr. Burke's decision may have been motivated by the changing demographics of the neighborhood, but it was also influenced by [[the Depression]]. The demand for houses was so low among white buyers that Mr. Hansberry may have been the only prospective purchaser available.<ref>Kamp, Allen R. "The History Behind ''Hansberry v. Lee''," ''20 U.S. Davis L. Rev.'' 481 (1987)</ref>
@@ Line 46: / Line 20: @@
 "25 years ago, [my father] spent a small personal fortune, his considerable talents, and many years of his life fighting, in association with NAACP attorneys, Chicago’s ‘restrictive covenants’ in one of this nation's ugliest ghettos. That fight also required our family to occupy disputed property in a hellishly hostile ‘white neighborhood’ in which literally howling mobs surrounded our house… My memories of this ‘correct’ way of fighting white supremacy in America include being spat at, cursed and pummeled in the daily trek to and from school. And I also remember my desperate and courageous mother, patrolling our household all night with a loaded German [[Luger (pistol)|Luger]] (pistol), doggedly guarding her four children, while my father fought the respectable part of the battle in the Washington court."
 </blockquote>
+The Hansberry house, the red brick three-flat at 6140 S. Rhodes in [[Washington Park, Chicago (neighborhood)|Washington Park]] which they bought in 1937, is up for landmark status before the Chicago City Council's Committee on Historical Landmarks Preservation.<ref>[http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2031043,CST-NWS-raisin05.article 'Raisin in the Sun' home for landmark?], Maudlyne Ihejirika, ''[[The Chicago Sun-Times]]'', February 5, 2010</ref>
+==Production and reception==
+With a cast in which all but one minor character are African-American, ''A Raisin in the Sun'' was considered to be a risky investment, and it took over a year for producer [[Philip Rose (theatrical producer)|Philip Rose]] to raise enough money to launch the play.  After touring to positive reviews, it premiered on Broadway on March 11, 1959. Waiting for the curtain to rise on opening night, Hansberry and producer Phillip Rose did not expect the play to be a success, for it had already received mixed reviews from a preview audience the night before.  Though it received popular and critical acclaim, reviewers argued about whether the play was "universal" or particular to African-American experiences.<ref>[http://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/3659695 'Robin Bernstein, "Inventing a Fishbowl: White Supremacy and the Critical Reception of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun," Modern Drama 42(1): 16-27.]</ref> The [[New York Drama Critics' Circle]] named it the best play of 1959, and it ran for nearly two years and was produced on tour.  ''A Raisin in the  Sun'' was the first play written by a [[black (race)|black]] woman to be produced on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]], as well as the first play with a black director ([[Lloyd Richards]]) on Broadway.<ref name=Corley>Corley, Cheryl, [http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/raisin/ 'A Raisin in the Sun', Present at the Creation], [[National Public Radio]], March 11, 2002</ref>
+Hansberry noted that it introduced details of black life to the overwhelmingly white Broadway audiences, while director Richards observed that it was the first play to which large numbers of blacks were drawn.<ref name=Corley/>  The ''[[New York Times]]'' stated that ''A Raisin in the Sun'' "changed American theater forever."<ref>Rich, Frank, [http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?_r=1&res=9D04E7DF173BF936A35753C1A965948260&oref=slogin  Theater: 'Raisin in Sun,' Anniversary in Chicago], [[New York Times]], October 5, 1983</ref>
+In 1960 ''A Raisin In The Sun'' was nominated for four [[Tony Awards]]:
+* Best Play -  Written by [[Lorraine Hansberry]]; produced by Philip Rose, [[David J. Cogan]]
+* Best Actor in Play -  [[Sidney Poitier]]
+* Best Actress in a Play -  [[Claudia McNeil]]
+* Best Direction of a Play -  [[Lloyd Richards]]
 ==Other versions==
-===1961 film===
+=== 1961 film ===
 {{Main|A Raisin in the Sun (film)}}
-In 1961, a film version of ''A Raisin in the Sun (film) A Raisin in the Sun'' was released featuring its original Broadway cast of [[Sidney Poitier]], [[Ruby Dee]], [[Claudia McNeil]], [[Diana Sands]], [[Ivan Dixon]], [[Louis Gossett, Jr.]] and [[John Fiedler]].  Hansberry wrote the screenplay, and the film was directed by [[Daniel Petrie]].  It was released by [[Columbia Pictures]] and Ruby Dee won the [[National Board of Review]] Award for Best Supporting Actress.  Both Poitier and MacNeil were nominated for [[Golden Globe Award]]s, and Petrie received a special "Gary Cooper Award" at the [[Cannes Film Festival]].  However, the film received no [[Academy Award]] nominations.
+In 1961, a film version of ''A Raisin in the Sun'' was released featuring its original Broadway cast of [[Sidney Poitier]], [[Ruby Dee]], [[Claudia McNeil]], [[Diana Sands]], [[Ivan Dixon]], [[Louis Gossett, Jr.]] and [[John Fiedler]].  Hansberry wrote the screenplay, and the film was directed by [[Daniel Petrie]].  It was released by [[Columbia Pictures]] and Ruby Dee won the [[National Board of Review]] Award for Best Supporting Actress.  Both Poitier and MacNeil were nominated for [[Golden Globe Award]]s, and Petrie received a special "Gary Cooper Award" at the [[Cannes Film Festival]].
+=== 1973 musical ===
-It was not rated by the [[MPAA]], 128 minutes long, and was filmed in [[black and white]].
-===Musical===
 {{Main|Raisin (musical)}}
-In 1973, the play was turned into a musical, ''[[Raisin (musical)|Raisin]]''.  Hansberry's former husband, Robert Nemiroff, wrote the book of the musical.  It won the 1974 [[Tony Award for Best Musical|Tony Award for Best musical]]
+In 1973, the play was turned into a musical, ''[[Raisin (musical)|Raisin]]''.  The book of the musical, which stayed close to the play, was written by Hansberry's former husband, Robert Nemiroff.  Music and lyrics were by Judd Woldin and Robert Brittan.  The cast included Joe Morton (Walter Lee), Virginia Capers (Momma), Ernestine Jackson (Ruth), Debbie Allen (Beneatha) and Ralph Carter (Travis, the Youngers' young son).  The show won the [[Tony Award for Best Musical|Tony Award for Best musical]].
+=== 1989 TV film ===
+In 1989 it was adapted into a movie starring [[Danny Glover]] and [[Esther Rolle]]. This production received three [[Emmy Award]] nominations, but all were for technical categories.  [[Bill Duke]] directed the production, while Chiz Schultz produced the production, which also featured [[Starletta DuPois]] and [[John Fiedler]], who had starred in the original Broadway production and the 1961 film version.  This production was based on an off-Broadway revival produced by the [[Roundabout Theatre]].
+The cast included Danny Glover (Walter Lee), Starletta DuPois (Ruth), Esther Rolle (Mama), and Kim Yancey (Beneatha).
+=== 2004 Broadway revival ===
+There has been one Broadway revival in 2004<ref>http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=13596</ref> at the Royale Theatre with the following cast:
+*[[Sean Combs]] – Walter Lee Younger
+*[[Audra McDonald]] – Ruth Younger
+*[[Phylicia Rashad]] – Lena Younger
+*[[Sanaa Lathan]] – Beneatha Younger
+*Bill Nunn – Bobo
+*David Aaron Baker – Karl Lindner
+*Lawrence Ballard – Moving Man
+*Teagle F. Bougere – Joseph Asagai
+*Frank Harts – George Murchison
+*Billy Eugene Jones – Moving Man
+*Alexander Mitchell – Travis Younger
-===TV Films===
+=== 2008 TV film ===
+{{Main|A Raisin in the Sun (2008 film)}}
-====1989 Adaptation====
+In 2008, Sean Combs starred in a television film directed by Kenny Leon. The film debuted at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and was broadcast by ABC on February 25, 2008. According to Nielsen Media Research, the program was watched by 12.7 million viewers and ranked #9 in the ratings for the week ending March 2, 2008.<ref>New York Times Feb 25, 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/25/arts/television/25bell.html</ref>
-In [[1989]] it was adapted into a [[Television movie|made for TV movie]] starring [[Danny Glover]] and [[Esther Rolle]]. This production received three [[Emmy Award]] nominations, but all were for technical categories.  [[Bill Duke]] directed the production, while Chiz Schultz produced the production, which also featured [[Starletta DuPois]] and [[John Fiedler]], who had starred in the original Broadway production and the 1961 film version.  This production was based on an off-Broadway revival produced by the [[Roundabout Theatre]].
+==Cultural references==
-The cast, along with their character names, for the 1989 production are as follows: Danny Glover as "Walter Lee," Starletta DuPois as "Ruth," Esther Rolle as "Mama," and Kim Yancey as "Beneatha."
+The 2010  [[Bruce Norris (playwright)|Bruce Norris]] play ''[[Clybourne Park]]'' depicts events in the same house that take place before and after the events in ''Raisin in the Sun.''<ref>Brantley, Ben, "Good Defenses Make Good Neighbors," New York Times, Feb. 22, 2010.</ref>
+Season 1, Episode 3 of ''[[Strangers with Candy]]'' is based around a school production of ''A Raisin in the Sun'', and features an excerpt from the 1961 movie as well as [[Stephen Colbert]] reciting "[[A Dream Deferred]]" just before the closing credits.
-====2008 Adaptation====
-{{Main|A Raisin in the Sun (2008 TV film)}}
-Another made for television film, premiered on [[February 25]], [[2008]] on [[ABC (network)|ABC]]. The cast is mostly made up of actors from the 2004 revival, including [[Sean Combs|Sean "Diddy" Combs]], [[Phylicia Rashad]], [[Audra McDonald]], [[Sanaa Lathan]], [[Sean Patrick Thomas]] and [[John Stamos]].  This version of the play was directed by [[Kenny Leon]].
 ==References==
+{{reflist}}
-<references />
 ==External links==
 *[http://town.hall.org/radio/HarperAudio/355_harp_00_ITH.html Listen to the play online]
-*[http://alexalonso.org/Academic/raisin.html Read analysis of play] by Alex Alonso
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Raisin In The Sun, A}}
-[[Category:Lorraine Hansberry plays]]
+[[Category:Plays by Lorraine Hansberry]]
 [[Category:1959 plays]]
+[[Category:Plays about race]]
+[[Category:Chicago, Illinois in fiction]]
+[[Category:Plays set in the United States]]
+[[Category:African American plays]]
 [[de:A Raisin in the Sun]]
 [[ja:ア・レーズン・イン・ザ・サン]]
+[[simple:A Raisin In The Sun]]