Sean Combs, who has not returned to A Raisin in the Sun since he left mid-way through the June 12 matinee because of a stomach ailment, will resume performances in the revival on June 17. Understudy Billy Eugene Jones, who has been filling in, will perform the June 16 evening performance.
A Raisin in the Sun tells the story of three generations of a family living and struggling together under one roof. The Youngers--Mama 2004 Tony winner Phylicia Rashad, her children Beneatha Sanaa Lathan and Walter Lee Combs, and his wife Ruth four-time Tony winner Audra McDonald and their son Travis--live on Chicago's South Side in the 1950s. It is a place in which dreams, like the raisin in the Langston Hughes' poem from which the play takes its title, wither and die if nothing is done with them.
The show has been packing them in at the Royale since it began previews. Despite the fact that Combs, who many consider to be the production's big box-office draw, was out for two and a half performances last week, A Raisin in the Sun did not suffer at the box office. It was up $47,551 from its pre-Tony take to come in at $603,913.