RAISIN • The Black Rep

In a cramped apartment on Chicago’s South Side, the Youngers are about to receive a windfall from an insurance payout, and a couple members of the family have different ideas about how best to spend it. Based on Lorraine Hansberry’s remarkable landmark drama, A Raisin in the Sun, this Tony award-winning musical adaptation preserves all of the emotional beats of the play, with songs that add breadth to the lives of its characters, while only occasionally interrupting the momentum of the plot. But this is a quibble with the musical, and not the production. Under the direction of The Black Rep’s founder, Ron Himes, Raisin soars and dips through the aspirations and hardships of a working-class family living in the 1950s, when a piece of the American Dream glinted just inside the fringes of what seemed possible.

Lena Younger (Anita Michelle Jackson) and
Ruth Younger (Adrianna Jones).
Photos by Keshon Campbell.
Courtesy of The Black Rep.

Anita Michelle Jackson is the matriarch of the family, Lena Younger, anchoring the Youngers with an unassuming strength, and wowing with a powerful, "Measure the Valleys”. Duane Martin Foster’s full-bodied vocals were a standout as Walter Lee Younger, and Foster shared great chemistry with his wife, Ruth, here wonderfully acted by Adrianna Jones. Walter’s internal pressures and frustrations generate friction between them from time to time, but their squabbles are tempered by a closeness that’s evident once the dust settles. Beneatha is Walter Lee’s little sister -- eager to cultivate whatever interests strike her fancy, and Andrea Mouton lends a modernity to Beneatha that works well against the rest of the family. A cultural interest is sparked by her Nigerian boyfriend, Joseph Asagai, a charming and infectiously hopeful Robert McNichols, and Will Bonfiglio is pitch-perfect as the blundering representative of a neighborhood association. 11-year-old Jaron Bentley was fantastic as Walter Lee’s son Travis, and impressive in his scene-stealing turn in "He Come Down This Morning" along with his solo number, ”Sidewalk Tree".

Walter Lee Younger (Duane Martin Foster).
Photos by Keshon Campbell.
Courtesy of The Black Rep.

Tim Jones’s scenic design includes city silhouettes and the Younger’s dingy but orderly kitchen and living room, with lighting design by Tony Anselmo, broadly illuminating the set with ever-shifting backdrop colors, seeming to inform scene changes as opposed to shifts in the time of day. Gregory Horton’s terrific costumes hit the mark and Kirven Douthit-Boyd’s choreography is rousing, particularly the stirring “African Dance”, and his hard-working ensemble of dancers handle his moves nimbly. Raisin’s Grammy award-winning cast album combines traditional Broadway ballads with jazz, groove-centric funk and gospel. When set against today’s well-worn musical trends, this score’s pronounced 1970s flavor, under the tight musical direction of Jermaine Manor, is gladly received, and warmly nostalgic.

Walter Lee Younger (Duane Martin Foster),
Ruth Younger (Adrianna Jones) and
Beneatha Younger (Andrea Mouton).
Photos by Keshon Campbell.
Courtesy of The Black Rep.

It’s been over 50 years since Raisin premiered on Broadway, but its themes of poverty, dignity and racism remain relevant. But what also persists right alongside is a stoic determination to move forward and the uplifting devotion of familial ties -- making it impossible not to root for the Youngers. Now is the perfect opportunity to catch this rarely staged musical. It’s at the Edison Theatre until the 21st.

RAISIN

Book by Robert B. Nemiroff and Charlotte Zaltzberg

Music by Judd Woldin

Lyrics by Robert Brittan

Adapted from Lorraine Hansberry

Directed by Ron Himes**

Edison Theatre, 6465 Forsyth Blvd.

through Sept. 21 | tickets: $46.55 - $51.55

Performances Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:00pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm, Sundays at 3:00pm.

Cast of Raisin
Photos by Keshon Campbell.
Courtesy of The Black Rep.

Cast

Walter Lee Younger: Duane Martin Foster*

Lena Younger: Anita Michelle Jackson*

Ruth Younger: Adrianna Jones

Beneatha Younger: Andrea Mouton

Travis Younger: Jaron Bentley

Joseph Asagai/Ensemble: Robert McNichols*

Karl Lindner: Will Bonfiglio

Mrs. Johnson: De-Rance Blaylock 

Ensemble/Dance Captain: Jorrell Lawyer-Jefferson

Ensemble: Demetrius Malik Lee 

Willie Harris/Ensemble: Dwayne Moss III 

Bobo/Ensemble: Adrian Rice 

Althea/Ensemble: Aaliyah Weston

Ensemble: Tia René Williams

Ensemble: Damari Padilla

Lena Younger (Understudy): Denise Thimes

Travis Younger (Jaron Bentley) and
Ruth Younger (Adrianna Jones).
Photos by Keshon Campbell.
Courtesy of The Black Rep.

Creative

Musical Director: Jermaine Manor

Choreographer: Kirven Douthit-Boyd

Scenic Design: Tim Jones

Lighting Design: Tony Anselmo

Costume Design: Gregory Horton

Sound Design: Kareem Deanes

Stage Manager: Tracy Holliway-Wiggins*

Assistant Stage Manager: J. Samuel Davis*

Technical Director: Christian Kitchens

Props Designer: Mikhail Lynn

Costume Assistant: Joyous Celestine

Sound Board Operator: Vic Seay

Light Board Operator: Mondis Doyle

Carpenters: Christian Kitchens, Mondis Doyle, Vic Seay, Alan Phillips, Caleb Long

Teen Techs: Amorie Johnson, Jariagh Tucker

** SDC, The Director is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, Inc. an independent national labor union.

* Denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

Musicians

Keys: Jermaine Manor

Bass: Willem Von Hombract

Percussion: James Belk

Drums: Des Jones

Trumpet: Mary Weber, Brady Lewis

Reed: Stan Coleman

Viola: Monet Royal; Adrian Walker

Guitar: David Glenn