Pitt-Greensburg Admissions Counselor wins lead in "Raisin"

     Chad Smith, a 2008 alumnus of the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, has won the lead role of Walter Lee Younger in the Kuntu Repertory Theatre’s production of “Raisin.” “Raisin” is a musical based on the classic play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry.

     Tickets purchased for Friday, February 5, and Saturday, February 6, will be honored at the performance on Wednesday, February 17, at 7 p.m. in the Seventh-floor Auditorium of Alumni Hall at the University of Pittsburgh (4227 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh). For information about the Wednesday, February 17 performance, please call Kuntu Repertory Theater at 412-624-7298.

    A special performance at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg originally scheduled for Tuesday, February 9, has been rescheduled for Wednesday, February 17, at 7 p.m. in the Mary Lou Campana Chapel and Lecture Hall. Tickets are not needed for the performance at Pitt-Greensburg.

     This is Smith’s biggest role to date. While a student at Pitt-Greensburg, he was active in the theatre department, participating in musicals, one-act plays, and comedic plays. In addition to pursuing an interest in the theatre, Smith serves as an admissions counselor at Pitt-Greensburg. He is a native of Washington, DC, and currently resides in Greensburg.

     This season, Kuntu Repertory Theatre is presenting productions by playwrights who influenced the late Rob Penny, Kuntu’s playwright-in-residence for many years and an associate professor of Africana Studies at Pitt.

     A fiercely moving portrait of people whose hopes and dreams are always deferred, “Raisin” focuses on five members of the Younger family who live together in a one-bedroom apartment on Chicago’s South Side. As family members mature and make life decisions, they must deal with the sting of racism. “Raisin” premiered on Broadway in 1973 and ran for two years. It was adapted as a musical by Robert Nemiroff and Charlotte Zaltzberg, with music by Judd Woldin and lyrics by Robert Brittain. Kuntu’s “Raisin” is directed by Ernest McCarty.

     Admission is $20 for adults; $14 for Pitt faculty and staff; $13 for senior citizens, students, and children ages 4-18; and $5 for Pitt students with a valid ID. Groups of 10 or more receive a discount. Tickets are available  at the box office of the William Pitt Union (359 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh); through ProArts at 412-394-3353 or www.proartstickets.org; or at Dorsey’s Record Shop (7614 Frankstown Ave., Homewood). For more information about the play, call 412-624-7298 or visit www.kuntu.org.