A Raisin in the Sun was revised as the musical Raisin and ran on Broadway from October 1973 until December 1975 for 847 performances. It won the Tony and Grammy Awards as Best Musical, and it toured 50 cities. Raisin was so well received that the mayors of the cities and the governors of the states in which it toured often proclaimed the show's arrival as "Lorraine Hansberry Day."
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF ORIGINAL CAST
Ruth Younger Ruby Dee
Travis Younger Glynn Turman
Walter Lee Younger ("Brother") Sidney Poitier
Beneatha Younger Diana Sands
Mama Claudia McNeil
Joseph Asagai Ivan Dixon
George Murchison Louis Gossett
Karl Lindner John Fiedler
Bobo Lonne Elder III
Moving Men Ed Hall, Douglas Turner
Directed by Lloyd Richards
Some of the above actors went on to make their marks in the American theater while others of this group made a lasting impression in Hollywood. All the members of the original cast of A Raisin in the Sun became successful actors, although nearly all of them were unknown when the play opened in 1959.
