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April 27, 2004

Sean Combs’s shadow precedes him at the Royale Theater. That’s literally as well as figuratively. In the moment before Mr. Combs makes his hotly awaited entrance in the seriously off-center revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s ”Raisin in the Sun,” which opened last night, his wavering shadow is cast from offstage, heralding his arrival like a soft, urgent fanfare. Audra McDonald, the first-rate actress playing his wife, calls his character’s name — ”Walter Lee, it’s time for you to get up!” — and you can feel the audience drawing a collective breath.

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