THE PIANO LESSON Will Return to Broadway With Samuel L. Jackson and Danielle Brooks

Broadway

Samuel L. Jackson and Danielle Brooks | Photo: Getty

By
Dan Meyer
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March 29, 2022 12:48 PM
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The first-ever Broadway revival of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson is going to be a star-studded affair. Treading the boards will be Samuel L. Jackson as Doaker Charles, John David Washington as Boy Willie, and Tony nominee Danielle Brooks as Berniece.

Previews will begin September 19 at the St. James Theatre with an opening night to be set later. Making her Broadway directorial debut will be Tony nominee LaTanya Richardson Jackson, who is also the first woman to helm a Wilson play on the Main Stem.

“August Wilson dedicated his life and devoted his talent to dramatizing our stories and our experience,” said the director. “In doing so, he forever changed what it means to be Black in America. His plays built empathy, created community, and showed us the power of representation. The Piano Lesson is one of his most enduring, profound, and consequential masterpieces, and I am reveling in this opportunity to present it to Broadway audiences for the first time since its premiere.”

The Pulitzer Prize-winning work is the fourth play in the American Century Cycle, set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1936, and follows two siblings as they fight over a piano that’s been in their family for decades. The Piano Lesson premiered at the Yale Repertory Theatre in 1987, starring Samuel L. Jackson as Boy Willie. It arrived on Broadway in 1990 with a new cast and was Tony-nominated for Best Play.

The design team for The Piano Lesson includes set designer Beowolf Boritt, costume designer Toni-Leslie James, lighting designer Japhy Weideman, sound designer Scott Lehrer, and wig designer Cookie Jordan with casting by Calleri, Jensen, Davis. Brian Anthony Moreland, Sonia Friedman, and Tom Kirdahy serve as lead producers. 

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Dan Meyer

After 4 years in the biz, Dan swapped out theatre for sports and is now a researcher at NBC Olympics. Spectacle remains a key passion and is dedicated to building bridges between different forms of entertainment. He has worked as a writer and editor at Theatrely and Playbill, covering Broadway and beyond. In addition, he has been published in Rolling Stone, Spy, and others.

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