December 2007 | blackfilm.com | features | A RAISIN IN THE SUN update

A RAISIN IN THE SUN update
Broadway play to premiere at Sundance before airing on television

ABC presents the Premiere Event of A Raising in the Sun on Monday, February 25 (8-11PM E) on the ABC Television Network.

A Raisin in the Sun tells the story of a family living and struggling in Chickago's South Side in the 1950s. A fiercely moving portrait of people whose hopes and dreams are constantly deferred, "A Raisin in the Sun" was the first play written by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway. The highly anticipated special three-hour television movie adaptation of A Raisin in the Sun is based on the play that inspired a generation.

Sean Combs, who reprises the role of Walter Lee, Jr. which brought him acclaim, stars in the television movie adaptation from Sony Pictures Television, along with the cast of the award-winning Broadway revival who recreate their roles for the new film, including Emmy and Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad, four-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, Tony Award nominee Sanaa Lathan, plus "ER" star John Stamos.

Based on the play that inspired a generation, A Raisin in the Sun tells the story of a family living and struggling on Chicago's South Side in the 1950s. A fiercely moving portrait of people whose hopes and dreams are constantly deferred, A Raisin in the Sun was the first play written by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway. It premiered in 1959 with a cast that included Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, Ruby Dee and Louis Gossett, Jr. A Columbia Pictures feature with the same cast followed in 1961. The classic, still-relevant story now will be showcased in this totally new television movie adaptation," explain press notes.

The movie is executive-produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron's Storyline Entertainment, Sean Combs' Bad Boy World Wide Entertainment Group and Sony Pictures Television. The show's Broadway producers, Carl Rumbaugh, Susan Batson and David Binder, also serve as executive producers. Kenny Leon, who received a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Director for his staging of the play on Broadway, makes his film debut with this movie; and Paris Qualles, writer of the critically acclaimed and Emmy-nominated "Tuskeegee Airmen" and "The Rosa Parks Story," adapted Hansberry's play for the new movie event.

Craig Zadan and Neil Meron produced Hairspray, executive-produced the Oscar-winning Best Picture Chicago and the Emmy-winning Gypsy, Cinderella, Annie, Serving in Silence and Life with Judy Garland. Their films have won six Academy Awards, five Golden Globes, eleven Emmy Awards and two Peabodys. For their work in television, their movies have amassed 66 Emmy nominations.