August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork The Piano Lesson has returned to Broadway with rave reviews. It is the must-see play of the season and its run has been extended through January 29th by popular demand at the Ethel Barrymore Theater in New York City.
With stellar performances from an all-star cast including Academy Award winner Samuel L. Jackson as Doaker, Screen Actors Guild Award nominee John David Washington (son of Oscar winner Denzel Washington) as Boy Willie, along with Tony and Emmy nominee Danielle Brooks (Orange is The New Black and Broadway’s The Color Purple) as Berniece, The production is directed by Tony nominee LaTanya Richardson Jackson, also known as Mrs. Samuel L. Jackson.
The Piano Lesson follows the Charles family as tensions grow and sparks fly over who should have the family’s prized heirloom, a one of a kind Piano. The precious antique is adorned with beautiful hand-carved images that tell the Charles family’s history in pictures. On one side of the argument is a sister who will go to any length to keep the Piano at the family home and preserve the family’s history. On the other side, is a brother who only sees dollar signs. The piano represents to him, his only way out of poverty and his ticket to success. Standing in the center, between the the battling siblings, is their Uncle Doaker. But even he can’t hold back the ghosts of the past who let their intensions for the piano be known.
The Piano Lesson is about legacy. It reaches the souls of the present, while revealing the startling truths of the past – how we see it and how we define it.
The Piano Lesson also stars Trai Byers as Avery. Byers is best known for his role as Andre Lyons on Fox’s Empire, and Obie Award winner April Matthis as Grace. Michael Potts, known for The First Lady, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Broadway’s The Iceman Cometh, portrays Wining Boy, and Ray Fisher, ‘Victor Stone/Cyborg’ in DC Comic’s ‘Cyborg,’ plays Lymon.
Playwright, August Wilson (April 27, 1945-October 2, 2005) also authored Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II and Radio Golf.
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