Broadway's expanding palette

The latest round of plays does, however, mean that African-American actors, sometimes scarce on Broadway, are getting more work. And in many cases, the same principle guiding everything from "The Producers" to "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" - that star power sells tickets - may be responsible for them making it onto a Broadway marquee at all. Emmy winner Alfre Woodard is starring as the matriarch in "Drowning Crow," which opens next week. Actress Audra McDonald is slated to appear opposite Sean "P. Diddy" Combs in the revival of "Raisin," scheduled for an April opening. And Phylicia Rashad ("The Cosby Show") recently starred in an Off-Broadway play written by a young black playwright.

Even those who question the acting chops of Mr. Combs, a rapper, say that casting him is probably a good way to bring people into the theater.

"Like anyone in the theater, [I have] somewhat mixed feelings, because he's not someone that you think of as a stage actor," says Mr. Preisser. But "I don't think he's fooling around, and so I'm just going to tip my hat to him, because maybe the production wouldn't even be happening otherwise."

In defense of his star, producer David Binder told Newsday that Combs - who has previously acted in films, including "Monster's Ball" - impressed those in charge of casting.

Casting rappers isn't the only gutsy move relating to the new plays. "Drowning Crow" director Marion McClinton says staging a play like his is also a step away from the norm. "Broadway's not known for doing dramas with huge casts, [and] they're definitely not known for doing dramas with huge African-American casts," he says, noting there are 13 actors in the play.

Contrary to what French says about "Crow" lacking modern relevance, Mr. McClinton says it's important for this play to be done now. "There's a lot of talk right now in the national circuit about values, about morality, and I think this play raises these issues in a very honest and straightforward manner: What's it like to be young now? What do you owe the generation before you, what do you owe the generation behind you?"

There are parallels to that play and the revival of "Raisin," scheduled to open mid-April. Lorraine Hansberry's play about the class struggles of a Chicago family debuted on Broadway in 1959 and was the first to be written, directed, and acted by African-Americans. French calls "Raisin" a brilliant work, but a "safe" choice. Interestingly, in "Drowning Crow," Ms. Taylor gives the young man at the heart of the play a line about "Raisin" as it relates to his mother's work: "All I see in her theater is the same o' same o' ... When they've crammed the same old thing down my throat for the thousandth time - The same old 'Raisin in the Sun' over and over again, then see this black boy run."

"Caroline, or Change," also deals with black history. Written by Tony Kushner ("Angels in America"), it's moving to Broadway after a successful off-Broadway run. The story of a black maid trying to make ends meet while working for a Jewish family in 1960s New Orleans includes milestones like President Kennedy's death. "It's an American play, but it's not particularly black," says James Hatch, coauthor of "A History of African American Theatre." But, he adds, it is unique in at least one way. "It's an integrated play, and we don't get too many of those."

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