Raisin is a musical adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry’s revolutionary A Raisin in the Sun, and has a book co-written by the executor of her literary estate, Robert Nemiroff. In segregated 1950s Chicago, Walter Lee Younger and his mother Lena fight over the spending of insurance money. He wants to start a business with friends, while she is eager to move the family out of the south side and into Clybourne Park. Pulsing with the musical beat of the city, Raisin depicts a black family’s struggle in the face of change.

Book by Robert Nemiroff and Charlotte Zaltzberg

Music by Judd Woldin
Lyrics by Robert Brittan

Based on Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin In The Sun 

Directed by Dev Bondarin

May 4 – 27, 2017

Raisin is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.

PRODUCTION HISTORY:

Raisin had its pre-Broadway tryout at Arena Stage in Washington D.C. It opened on Broadway in October of 1973 and closed on December of 1975 after playing 847 performances. The original production was directed and choreographed by Donald McKayle and the cast featured Virginia Capers,Joe Morton, Ernestine Jackson, and Debbie Allen. It won the 1974 Tony Award for Best Musical, a Grammy Award for Best Score, and a national tour followed. APAC’s production will be the first time the show has been fully produced in New York City since its initial Broadway run.

PRESS QUOTES ABOUT RAISIN:

“It warms the heart and touches the soul.” The New York Times

“Raisin is one of those unusual musicals that should not only delight people who love musicals, but might also well delight those who don’t. It’s a musical with a heartbeat very much its own.” The New York Times

“Pure magic…dazzling! Tremendous!…Warms the heart and touches the soul with a human dimension that takes the measurement of man!” – The New York Times

“A tidal wave of soul!” – Ebony