“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, a middle-class white neighborhood. Pulsing with the musical beat of the city, “Raisin” depicts a black family’s struggle in the face of change.
The original production of “Raisin” opened on Broadway in October 1973 and closed in December 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 for the cast album, 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:

“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

It’s been 42 years since the musical adaptation of A Raisin in the Sun was last produced in New York City, so here’s 42 reasons why the Astoria Performing Arts Center revival is essential. In 1974, Raisin, the musical version of Lorraine Hansberry’s famous A Raisin in the Sun, won the Tony Award for Best Musical and Best Actress in a Musical for Virginia Capers. After an almost three year run on Broadway, the musical closed and was mysteriously never produced in New York again until the exemplary production currently at the Astoria Performing Arts Center. To commemorate the four decades it’s been gone from NY stages, and perhaps even slightly shame producers who have no problem reviving less exciting works every other year, here are 42 reasons why this production needs to be seen: To rediscover, or discover, Judd Woldin’s infectious score which combined jazz, gospel and 70s’ pop to great effect. The APAC production features wonderful musical direction by Darius Smith who leads a small band that makes the intimate venue feel like a jazz club. Dev Bondarin’s thrilling direction which takes advantage of the rhythm in famous lines from Hansberry’s play and Woldin’s score. Bondarin’s no …Read more