Replacement found for Carter role

Carol Dennis, who has appeared on Broadway in “Big River” and “Street Corner Symphony,” was named Friday to take over for Nell Carter as Mama in the production of “Raisin” that is scheduled to open in Long Beach on Feb. 7.

Carter, a Tony Award winner who had been in rehearsals for the International City Theatre production, was found dead in her Beverly Hills home Thursday. She was 54.

“Raisin,” the 1973 musical based on Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun,” will run through March 9 at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center.

Meanwhile, the funeral for Carter will be Monday at noon at Hillside Memorial Park, 6601 W. Centinela Ave., Culver City. The L.A. County coroner’s office said Friday that it would be four to six weeks before it could confirm the cause of death, pending completion of toxicology tests.

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Lee Margulies