Fashion Reverie Exclusive: “A Raisin in the Sun’s” Sean Patrick Thomas

Sean Patrick Thomas has been in the acting business long enough to have his own small tastes of stardom.  In addition to starring roles in “Save the Last Dance” in 2001 and “Barbershop” in 2002, Thomas has also been seen in the occasional television series.  He even had a small part in the 2008 film version of “A Raisin in the Sun.” From Ice Cube to Sara Michelle Gellar and Puffy, Thomas has worked with his share of big stars.

But Thomas said being a part of the current revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” that stars Denzel Washington, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Sophie Okonedo and Anika Noni Rose is on a whole other level.

The limited run production is scheduled to only run through June 15. The production is being performed at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, the theater where “Raisin” originally premiered in 1959.

“It’s been fantastic. As an actor you so rarely get to be around other actors that you respect and actors that make you better and every single one of them is like that,” Thomas said during an interview last week. “Being in this show is something I’ll never forget. I know it won’t happen too many times in my career—a cast where everybody is just outstanding across the board.”

“A Raisin in the Sun,” which originally debuted in 1959, is considered one of the most important works in theater for its honest depictions of black life. The play focuses on the Younger family which is grappling with a range of life altering decisions including what to do with $10,000 from a life insurance policy.

Thomas plays Joseph Asagai, the Nigerian student and boyfriend of the family’s college co-ed firebrand, Beneatha.

The revival earned five Tony Award nominations which were announced April 29: Best Revival of a Play, Best Director of a Play for director Kenny Leon, Best Actress for Richardson, and Best Actress in a Featured Role for Okonedo and Rose. The winners will be announced June 8 during a televised ceremony.

In a surprising development that had theater insiders buzzing, Washington did not receive a Tony nomination. But Thomas said it’s clear that Washington is the draw for many coming to see “Raisin.”

“You know that Denzel is going to attract a certain amount of attention. But what I didn’t fully anticipate were the reactions to him. He has lines before you actually see him and when people recognize his voice they just go nuts,” Thomas said. “I remember the first night that we performed and I heard that I was like ‘wow, that’s amazing.’ But it’s every night. He gets that kind of response every single night.”

Thomas said now that he’s used to it, the Washington adulation gets Thomas and the other actors more excited and, as Thomas put it, “hyped.”

“When the crowd responds that way to Denzel, that gives me that feeling—‘It’s show time!’—which I like,” Thomas said.

Adding to the backstage excitement has been a steady stream of VIP’s who stop by backstage after seeing the play, including the President of the United States and First Lady Michelle Obama.

“That was really a historic event—the first black President coming to watch us perform. That’s once in a lifetime stuff,” Thomas said. “The fact that he’s from Chicago and the play is set in Chicago and the play has a lot of racial themes, things that he obviously deals with, just made it very special to have the President there.

While his character isn’t part of the Younger family, Thomas’s role—Asagai—is a critical one. It is Asagai whose fresh perspective on survival and the meaning of freedom that pushes all the Younger’s to look at their lives differently.

“Asagai is a really pivotal character. The family has this major, major crisis that they’re going through and I think my character is the first time that anybody in the family hears that there are other ways of looking at life and at this event,” Thomas said. “The audience needs to see that there is a light at the end of this tunnel and the family needs to see that, too. My character starts that process.”

—Karyn D. Collins