NEW YORK (AP) — Diahann Carroll has pulled out of the upcoming Broadway revival of “A Raisin in the Sun” and been replaced by LaTanya Richardson Jackson.
A representative for the production said the 78-year-old Carroll withdrew due to the vigorous demands of the rehearsal and performance schedule. It was to mark Carroll’s first time back on Broadway in 30 years
The wife of actor Samuel L. Jackson, Richardson Jackson was last on Broadway in the Tony-winning 2009 revival of “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” by August Wilson. The new production will also star Denzel Washington, Sophie Okonedo and Anika Noni Rose.
Richardson Jackson, 64, is five years older than Washington, 59, who will be playing her son. He was last on Broadway in 2005 in a production of “Julius Caesar.”
“A Raisin in the Sun” starts performances on March 8 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre and the opening night is April 3.
Set in the late 1950s in a rundown South Side Chicago apartment, Lorraine Hansberry’s play deals with the hopes and disappointments of a black family trying to find a better life in a white neighborhood.
This will be the second Broadway revival of the play. The original Broadway production in 1959 featured Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil and Diana Sands, all who reunited for a 1961 film adaptation. The last Broadway revival occurred in 2004, , starring Diddy, Phylicia Rashad, Sanaa Lathan and Audra McDonald.
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