Denzel Washington Confirms Plans to Return to Broadway in A Raisin in the Sun

Tony and two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington is confirming previous reports that he will return to Broadway in spring 2014 as Walter Younger in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, according to the Associated Press. “We start previews in March,” Washington said on the red carpet at the New York premiere of his new action movie 2 Guns. No word on additional cast members for a revival that will reportedly be directed by Washington’s Fences collaborator Kenny Leon.

A Raisin in the Sun centers on an African-American family living in post- World War II Chicago. Patriarch Walter works as a limo driver and dreams of providing a better future for his family. When his mother receives an insurance check, she plans to buy a home in an all-white neighborhood. The play premiered on Broadway on March 11, 1959, and earned four Tony Award nominations including Best Play as well as acting nods for stars Sidney Poitier and Claudia McNeil. A 2004 revival, also directed by Leon, won Tonys for Phylicia Rashad and Audra McDonald. The production starred Sean Combs as Walter in his Broadway debut.

After helping launch 2 Guns (which co-stars Mark Wahlberg), Washington is headed to North Carolina to support his wife, Pauletta Pearson, in a production of Power Play at the National Black Theatre Festival. “I’m trying to keep up with my wife,” the star joked about his forthcoming Broadway return. “My wife has been doing a lot more theater than me.”