Grammy award-winning singer, Erykah Badu, is set to join the star-studded cast for Netflix’s feature adaptation of The Piano Lesson, which was originally play written by August Wilson. Badu is expected to make a cameo appearance in this project through musical performances.
According to Deadline, the ensemble will be led by John David Washington and Samuel L. Jackson, who will both be reprising their respective roles of Boy Willie and Doaker Charles from the 2022 Broadway revival of the play. This specific run of the show was recently nominated for multiple Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Play and Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play (Jackson).
Set in Pittsburgh in 1936, The Piano Lesson follows the Charles family and the happenings that take place in Doaker Charle’s household. The house is defined by the family piano which acts as a staple heirloom particularly due to the carved depictions of some of their ancestors during their days of enslavement. Conflicts arise between two siblings of the household with Boy Willie wanting to sell the piano for land and Bernice who refuses to let go of the artifact. The play acts as part of Wilson’s 10-play project known as his Pittsburgh Cycle, a compilation of projects set in varying decades written to highlight the Black experience in 20th-century America.
Malcolm Washington is set to make his feature directorial debut with this adaptation using screenplay co-written alongside Virgil Williams.
Badu has previously embarked on multiple acting projects, most notably in films such as The Cider House Rules and What Men Want.
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