Mixed reception to P Diddy play

Combs looked relieved at the curtain call

Hip-hop star Sean "P Diddy" Combs has received mixed reviews from US theatre critics after he made his Broadway debut on Monday.

The rap artist plays the part of a man trying to hold his family together in 1950s Chicago in Lorraine Hansbury's play A Raisin in the Sun.

The New York Post said Combs was "pretty damn good" in the role made famous by Sidney Poitier.

But the Hollywood Reporter said his performance was "too amateurish".

The USA Today newspaper felt Combs was overshadowed by the other actors on stage.

"Combs clearly did not slack off in preparing for his latest challenge. But projecting is not the same thing as acting, and the finely textured work of Combs' accomplished co-stars makes his own lack of experience and depth all too apparent," it said.

The New York Times said Combs looked "appealingly tousled and sleepy-eyed" when he made his stage entrance.

Sean Combs' mother Janice attended the first night

"Mr Combs seems at first to have made a daring actor's choice that he just might pull off," it said.

But it continued: "Clearly, Mr Combs has left lots of space for Walter to grow. Unfortunately, that space is never filled."

The New York Post said that while "Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and Samuel L Jackson need not shake in their boots... Combs exceeded expectations as the petulant, truculent and brooding young hero."

Combs has appeared in films Monster's Ball and Made, but has no previous theatre experience.

The rapper had several auditions for the part of Walter Lee, said the show's producer David Binder when Combs was cast in December.

"We were all incredibly impressed - he's focused on the work," the producer said.