Steven Maler directs the 7 PM reading which continues the third annual "American Voices: Drama, Dialogue, Downtown" play reading series. A short question and answer session following the show.

Portraying the matriarch Lena Younger, Uggams will be joined in the cast by Jacqui Parker (as Ruth Younger), Vincent Siders (Bobo), Darius Williams (Joseph Asagi), Derek Jackson (Travis Younger) with John Thompson — of the recent Broadway revival of Julius Caesar as Walter Lee Younger.

Uggams earned her Tony Award as Best Actress in a Musical for her turn in Hallelujah, Baby! Other stage credits for the star include The Boy Friend, Blues in the Night, Jerry's Girls and King Hedley II — which earned her a Tony nomination. Since her own television show "The Leslie Uggams Show" and an Emmy-nominated turn in "Roots," she has appeared on such TV shows as "The Love Boat," "Magnum, P.I.," "Hotel," "The Cosby Show" and "All My Children."

Hansberry's Raisin in the Sun drama unfolds as a family dealing with the loss of their patriarch come into the fortune of his insurance money in the close quarters of their city home.

The "American Voices" series, which "showcases classic American works," will continue with a reading of Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana (March 13). Previous work read in the series launched in 2003 included Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf starring Denis O'Hare, August Wilson's Fences, David Mamet's American Buffalo, Sam Shepard's True West with Paul Rudd, Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker starring Charles Busch as Dolly Levi, Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour and Charles Fuller's A Soldier’s Play with Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Anthony Mackie. Tickets for the "American Voices: Drama, Dialogue, Downtown" series are available at The Shubert Theatre Box Office, 265 Tremont Street in Boston, MA or by calling (800) 447-7400. For more information, visit www.wangcenter.org.