‘The Piano Lesson’ Broadway Revival Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Brooks And More Set For September Debut
Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, and Danielle Brooks are set to star in a revival of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama The Piano Lesson.
According to Deadline, LaTanya Richardson Jackson will make her Broadway directorial debut for the production, which will begin performances on Monday, September 19 at the St. James Theatre in New York.
A Tony-nominated actor, Richardson Jackson will be the first woman ever to direct an August Wilson play on Broadway.
“August Wilson dedicated his life and devoted his talent to dramatizing our stories and our experience,” said Richardson Jackson, who is married to Saumuel L. and most recently starred as Calpurnia in the Broadway production of To Kill A Mockingbird. “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 Piano Lesson is the fourth play in Wilson’s American Century Cycle, and premiered at the Yale Repertory Theatre in 1987 starring a then-39-year-old Jackson as Boy Willie, the role that will be played next season by Washington.
The revival will be produced by Brian Anthony Moreland, Sonia Friedman, and Tom Kirdahy, in a joint statement the producers said: “We are humbled and honored to return Mr. Wilson’s work to the Broadway stage under the inspirational LaTanya Richardson Jackson. After more than 30 years, The Piano Lesson is still adding to the ever-evolving conversation about family legacy. This production is coming back to Broadway at such an exciting time for our industry as we work to rebuild – and who better than Mr. Wilson to help us.”