President and Mrs. Obama Set to See Denzel Washington in A Raisin in the Sun

Hail to the Chief! Deadline reports that President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are set to attend the April 11 performance of A Raisin In The Sun at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. President Obama will be in New York earlier on Friday for official business.

Members of the First Family have attended a number of Broadway performances in the past, including Memphis, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and The Trip to Bountiful.

A Raisin In the Sun, starring Denzel Washington, tells the story of an African-American family in the late ‘50s in a south side Chicago apartment. After matriarch Lena (LaTanya Richardson Jackson) receives a hefty insurance check, she plans to buy a home in an all white neighborhood. Her son Walter (Washington) dreams of buying a liquor store and being his own man, and her daughter Beneatha (Anika Noni Rose) dreams of attending medical school. The tensions and prejudice they face create the drama in this beloved play. Kenny Leon directs the revival, which will play a limited engagement through June 15.