A Raisin in the Sun, is the groundbreaking 1959 play written by Lorraine Hansberry, the first black woman to have a play produced on Broadway. In 1961, a film version of A Raisin in the Sun was released featuring its original Broadway cast of Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, Ivan Dixon, Louis Gossett, Jr. and John Fiedler. Hansberry wrote the screenplay, and the film was directed by Daniel Petrie.

Tonight the stage goes to screen again as the cast of the 2004 Broadway production of a Raisin in the Sun (Sean Combs, Audra McDonald, Phylicia Rashad, and Sanaa Lathan) reprise their roles for the ABC TV adaptation. Check out this trailer ( and a little promo from Sean Combs aka P. Diddy)

The story is about the Youngers, a family hopping to achieve their American dream while living on Chicago’s South Side in the 1950s. When Lena (Rashad) gets a $10,000 life insurance check, the family must figure out how to best use the money. Walter Lee Jr. (Combs) wants to start a business, his wife Ruth (McDonald) wants a new home, and his sister Beneatha (Lathan) wants to finish up college so she can become a doctor.

John Stamos also stars in the production playing Mr. Linder, the neighborhood rep.

Although A Raisin in the Sun was written almost 50 years ago, the issues it addresses still reign true today.

Phylicia Rashad explains “it’s a human story, and we’re still human beings. There are still families that struggle for one reason or another with financial issues, with health issues. There are families every day that sustain the loss of a mother or a father and have to keep going. There are families all over this country that experience generational divide, and how do you hold your family together.”

Sean Combs added “racism doesn’t exist in the same intensity as it did before,” says Combs, addressing the film’s relevance today. But success has its own pitfalls: “Whether it’s a Michael Vick or even a Barry Bonds, as African-Americans we all know that if we slip up, they’re going to come gunning for us.”

A Raisin In The Sun airs tonight, 8pm on ABC.