Today in theatre history: On April 16, 1990 August Wilson's The Piano Lesson opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre.
Set in 1936, The Piano Lesson follows a brother and sister who are embroiled in a battle over a family heirloom piano carved with the faces of their ancestors. Boy Willie wants to sell the piano to buy the land his ancestors were enslaved on while his sister Berniece wants to keep the piano. The play was the fourth in Wilson's famed Century Cycle. The Piano Lesson premiered at Yale Repertory Theatre with a then-39-year-old Samuel L. Jackson as Boy Willie, before being staged at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, leading to the show's Broadway transfer.
Starring Charles S. Dutton as Boy Willie alongside S. Epatha Merkerson as Berniece, the original Broadway production was directed by Lloyd Richards, running for 320 performances. The play earned Wilson his second Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and received five Tony nominations, including Best Play. The cast also included Carl Gordon as Doaker Charles, Rocky Carroll as Lymon, LisaGay Hamilton as Grace, Lou Myers as Wining Boy, Tommy Hollis as Avery, and Apryl R. Foster as Maretha.
Each play in Wilson's Century Cycle documents African-American life throughout the 20th century with each play being set in a different decade鈥攊t begins with Gem of the Ocean, set in 1904 and ends with Radio Golf, set in 1997. The majority of Wilson's plays are set in the Pittsburgh Hill District where the playwright was born and raised. Wilson won the Tony Award for Fences, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Fences and The Piano Lesson. All of Wilson's plays were Tony-nominated for Best Play, with the exception of Jitney, which played Off-Broadway, and won an Olivier for its London production. Wilson was the first African-American playwright to have a Broadway theatre in his name. The playwright died of liver cancer in October 2005, shortly after finishing the Century Cycle.
The 1995 television film adaptation of The Piano Lesson (which aired on CBS) was also directed by Lloyd Richards. It starred Charles S. Dutton as Boy Willie, Alfre Woodard as Berniece Charles, Carl Gordon as Doaker, Tommy Hollis as Avery, Lou Myers as Wining Boy, Courtney B. Vance as Lymon, and Zelda Harris as Maretha. The broadcast earned a Peabody Award.
A revival of The Piano Lesson played Broadway in 2022, and was later turned into a film in 2024. The Broadway revival, which was directed by Tony nominee LaTanya Richardson Jackson (the first woman to direct an August Wilson play on Broadway), starred Samuel L. Jackson as Doaker Charles, John David Washington as Boy Willie, Danielle Brooks as Berniece, Trai Byers as Avery, Ray Fisher as Lymon, April Matthis as Grace, Michael Potts as Wining Boy, and Nadia Daniel and Jurnee Swan alternating in the role of Maretha. The revival received two Tony nominations, for Best Revival of a Play, and Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play for Samuel L. Jackson.
A second film version was released on Netflix in 2024. Along with Jackson as Doaker Charles, Washington as Boy Willie, Potts as Wining Boy, and Fisher as Lymon, the film cast featured Erykah Badu as Lucille, Skylar Aleece Smith as Maretha, Jerrika Hinton as Grace, Gail Bean as Dolly, Danielle Deadwyler as Berniece, and Corey Hawkins as Avery. Malcolm Washington made his directorial debut with the film.
Visit the 半岛体育 Vault to learn what other moments in theatre history occurred April 16.
Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington in The Piano Lesson
