A RAISIN in the SUN - A HIT
Brian Sands – Ambush
“…it's like watching the Juilliard String Quartet play a work by Beethoven or Mozart”

Just returned home from the Voices in the Dark/Ashe production of "A Raisin in the Sun" directed by Tommye Myrick.   If you care about theater in general and New Orleans theater in particular, get your tickets for it now. For, if you miss it, you will regret it for the rest of your life.

As Lena Younger, Carol Sutton is, in a word, extraordinary. It is a role she was born to play, and she plays it like Jascha Heifetz played the violin or Vladimir Horowitz the piano. Yes, she is THAT good.

Still, that should come as little surprise knowing Ms. Sutton's talents.

Astonishing, though, is the performance of Michael C. Forest as Lena's son in his STAGE DEBUT. One can only imagine, watching him convey all of Walter Lee's passions, that this is what it must have been like on March 11, 1959, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre when Sidney Poitier created the role.

Matching them in every way are Constance Thompson as Walter Lee's put upon wife Ruth and Ebony Duely Johnson as his strong-willed sister Beneatha. To return to a musical metaphor, when these four actors are together onstage, it's like watching the Juilliard String Quartet play a work by Beethoven or Mozart.

Equally fine are Martin Bats Bradford, Jim Holmes, Tracy Mann, Christopher Robinson and young Ellington Benoit.
Sixty years after its premiere, Lorraine Hansberry's words remain profound and moving. The production runs until March 31.