First Diddy ran the city, now the Bad Boy will run over to Broadway where he will star in a revival of “A Raisin in the Sun,” according to the New York Post.The hip-hop mogul reportedly auditioned for the part several times with the director, the casting director and an agent representing the estate of Lorraine Hansberry, the late playwright.The producer of the show was impressed with Diddy’s humility toward auditioning.”Most big stars won’t audition at all, but Sean was exactly the opposite,” David Binder said.Diddy will be billed under his birth name, Sean Combs, during the production, where he will star as Walter Lee Young.The character dreams of making it rich and escaping the ghetto, while often butting heads with his wife over what to do with an insurance check they’ve inherited.Sidney Poitier starred in the original production of the play, and also in the movie version that was adapted two years later.In recent years hip-hop has proliferated Broadway, as Mos Def starred in 2001’s Topdog/Underdog opposite Jeffery Wright, and Russell Simmons brought his successful HBO show Def Poetry Jam to the famous New York street.Though Combs has no live theatre experience, he has appeared in the independent film “Made” as well as “Monster’s Ball,” which garnered him critical praise for his performance.”A Raisin in the Sun” will be directed by Kenny Leon and most likely open at the Shubert Theatre in April. No other roles in the play have been filed as of yet.
First Diddy ran the
city, now the Bad Boy
will run over to Broadway where he
will star in a revival of “A Raisin in the Sun,” according to the New
York
Post.The hip-hop mogul reportedly auditioned for the part
several times with the
director, the casting director and an agent representing the estate of
Lorraine
Hansberry, the late playwright.The producer of the show was
impressed with
Diddy’s humility toward auditioning.”Most big stars
won’t
audition at all, but Sean was exactly the opposite,” David Binder
said.Diddy will be billed under his birth name, Sean Combs,
during the production,
where he will star as Walter Lee Young.The character dreams
of
making it
rich and escaping the ghetto, while often butting heads with his wife
over what
to do with an insurance check they’ve inherited.Sidney
Poitier
starred in the original production of the play, and also in
the movie version that was adapted two years later.In recent
years hip-hop has proliferated Broadway, as Mos Def starred in
2001’s Topdog/Underdog opposite Jeffery Wright, and Russell Simmons
brought his
successful HBO show Def Poetry Jam to the famous New York
street.Though Combs has no live theatre experience, he has
appeared in the independent film “Made” as well as “Monster’s
Ball,”
which garnered him critical praise for his
performance.”A Raisin
in the Sun” will be directed by Kenny Leon and most likely open at the
Shubert Theatre in April. No other roles in the play have been filed
as
of yet.
