Broadway

The family's all here! Take a first look at [*Mother Play*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/31354-mother-play-on-broadway) on Broadway, a new [family drama](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/learn-about-all-the-family-dramas-on-broadway-this-season) starring [Jessica Lange](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/all-the-times-jessica-lange-did-theatre), [Jim...

See photos of Jessica Lange, Jim Parsons, Celia Keenan-Bolger in 'Mother Play'

1 mother play-1200x600-NYTG

The world-premiere family drama by Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel is currently playing on Broadway at the Hayes Theater for a limited run through June 16.

Oh, Broadway! Following its critically acclaimed, extended run off Broadway this spring, [Cole Escola](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/cole-escola)’s [*Oh, Mary!*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/37743-oh-mary) will play a limited Broadway engagement this summer. Performances will run at the [Lyceum Theatre](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/lyceum-theatre-ny) from June 26 to September 15, with opening night on July 11.

*Oh, Mary!* is a wacky, largely...

‘Oh, Mary!’ to transfer to Broadway this summer

oh mary review-1200x600-NYTG

The critically acclaimed play, written by and starring comedian Cole Escola, puts a humorous spin on the story of former First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln.

Every rom-com needs a great song list. In the Huey Lewis and the News jukebox musical [*The Heart of Rock and Roll*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/36584-the-heart-of-rock-and-roll), the band's hit songs from the '80s are seamlessly threaded into the lighthearted love story of coworkers Bobby (Corey Cott) and Cassandra (McKenzie Kurtz), who team up to make their dreams of success come true.

“The Power of Love,” “Stuck With You,” “If This Is It,” and more fan-favorite ear candy appears...

All the Huey Lewis songs in 'The Heart of Rock and Roll' on Broadway

4 heart of rock and roll-1200x600-NYTG

The critically acclaimed jukebox musical rom-com rocks with dozens of Huey Lewis and the News hits including "The Power of Love" and "Stuck With You."

April 23 is World Book Day, and Broadway is a feast for book lovers this season. There are numerous [new play and musical adaptations of novels](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/from-page-to-stage-how-bestselling-books-became-broadway-blockbusters) on stage this season: [*The Wiz*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/27115-the-wiz-tickets), [*The Great Gatsby*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/38749-the-great-gatsby-on-broadway), [*Water for...

Broadway shows to see based on your favorite book

9 mary jane-1200x600-NYTG

We're celebrating World Book Day by providing play and musical recommendations for fans of hot new bestsellers, classic novels, and popular authors.

Nominees for the 2024 Outer Critics Circle Awards have been announced. The annual awards ceremony honors the best of both Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre, with both types of shows competing against each other in many categories.

The Off-Broadway musical *Dead Outlaw* received the most nominations with nine. Tied for second, with seven awards each, are the Off-Broadway musical *The Connector* and the currently running Broadway play...

2024 Outer Critics Circle nominations announced

Outer Critics Circle

The annual awards honor the best of both Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre from the previous years, and numerous currently running shows were recognized.

Step right up and see [*Water for Elephants*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/34684-water-for-elephants-on-broadway) on Broadway! Circus and theatre meet in the stage adaptation of Sara Gruen's bestselling historical romance novel, which captivated audiences on the page and screen and now does so live.

*The Flash*'s [Grant Gustin](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/grant-gustin) stars as Jacob Jankowski, who runs away with the Benzini Bros. Circus and falls in love with...

Everything you need to know about 'Water for Elephants' on Broadway

w4e first look-1200x600-NYTG

Grant Gustin and Isabelle McCalla currently star in the critically acclaimed musical adaptation of Sara Gruen's bestselling circus-themed novel from 2006.

The circus is staying in town! *Water for Elephants* on Broadway has released a new block of tickets for performances through February 2, 2025 at the [Imperial Theatre](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/imperial-theatre). Get [*Water for Elephants* tickets](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/34684-water-for-elephants-on-broadway) now.

Adapted from the [bestselling 2006 book by Sara...

'Water for Elephants' tickets now on sale through February 2025

3 water for elephants-1200x600-NYTG

The critically acclaimed, circus-themed Broadway musical, which stars *The Flash*'s Grant Gustin, is based on the bestselling 2006 novel by Sara Gruen.

Take a first look at [Rachel McAdams](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/stars-on-stage/rachel-mcadams) on Broadway! The Oscar-nominated actress known for films like [*The Notebook*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/33744-the-notebook-the-musical), *Mean Girls*, and *Spotlight* is making her Broadway debut in the title role of [*Mary Jane*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/6955-mary-jane-tickets), playing at the [Samuel J. Friedman...

See photos of Rachel McAdams and the cast of 'Mary Jane' on Broadway

8 mary jane-1200x600-NYTG

The Academy Award nominee makes her Broadway debut in the title role in Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award nominee Amy Herzog's drama about a single mother.

Discover where [Alicia Keys](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/all-the-times-alicia-keys-did-theatre)'s own dreams were made. The 16-time Grammy Award-winning musician has been working on the new Broadway musical [*Hell's Kitchen*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/37579-hells-kitchen-broadway) for over a decade, but its origins reach back to the '90s.

[Loosely inspired by her formative...

How 'Hell's Kitchen' reflects and differs from Alicia Keys' life

hells kitchen bway-1200x600-NYTG

Keys's song catalog makes up this new musical about a young girl coming of age in Manhattan — a story inspired by, but not identical to, Keys's own upbringing.

Rock on! And on! And on! Broadway currently sports three very different shows featuring rock music, a diverse and exciting genre that never gets old. Not to mention, the shows feature rock legends like Pete Townshend, Huey Lewis, and (sort of) Fleetwood Mac.

These shows include the new musical [*The Heart of Rock and Roll*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/36584-the-heart-of-rock-and-roll) at the [James Earl Jones...

Rock music takes the stage in three Broadway shows this spring

rock music-1200x600-NYTG

Songs by rock bands The Who and Huey Lewis and The News appear in high-energy musicals alongside a new play with music inspired by the 1970s rock scene.

The acclaimed Broadway revival of [*The Piano Lesson*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24256-the-piano-lesson-tickets) will offer rush and lottery tickets for the remainder of its run. August Wilson's play is in performances through January 22 at the [Barrymore Theatre](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/barrymore-theatre).

Rush tickets will be available in person at the box office beginning at 10 a.m. each performance day. Each person can purchase up to two tickets, at $35 each, for that day's performance, and rush tickets are subject to availability.

*The Piano Lesson* also offers a digital lottery for $57 tickets. The lottery is open from midnight to 3 p.m. the day before each performance. Winners are drawn at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. for tickets to the following day's performance. Each person can request up to two tickets.

Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Brooks, and John David Washington lead the first revival of the Pulitzer-winning play about honoring one's family history. In *The Piano Lesson*, siblings Berniece (Brooks) and Boy Willie (Washington) debate whether to sell or keep a family heirloom (the title piano), with their uncle Doaker (Jackson) caught in the middle.

[Get *The Piano Lesson* tickets now.](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24256-the-piano-lesson-tickets)

*Photo credit: Samuel L. Jackson and Ray Fisher in The Piano Lesson. (Photo by Julieta Cervantes)*

'The Piano Lesson' to offer Broadway rush and lottery tickets

piano lesson review-1584x644-NYTG

Children under 4 are not permitted in the theatre.

The Piano Lesson starring Samuel L. Jackson on Broadway - NYC

Genre: Play

The Piano Lesson starring Samuel L. Jackson on Broadway

The Piano Lesson starring Samuel L. Jackson on Broadway - Hero

The Piano Lesson starring Samuel L. Jackson on Broadway - NYC Product Media

1542 Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington in THE PIANO LESSON photo by Julieta Cervantes

TPL 1

TPL 2 

TPL 3

TPL 4

TPL 5

TPL 6

TPL 7

Piano Lesson Poster

August Wilson’s *The Piano Lesson* is being revived on Broadway with a star-studded cast in 2022. Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, and Danielle Brooks lead the cast of *The Piano Lesson*, playing at the Barrymore Theatre for 17 weeks only. Get *The Piano Lesson* tickets on New York Theatre Guide now.

*The Piano Lesson* is a play about family history and heritage, and how best to honor that heritage. It's 1936, and the two adult siblings of the Charles family cannot agree on what to do with a family heirloom: a piano that is hand-carved with the faces of their enslaved ancestors. Berneice (Brooks) insists on keeping the piano as a reminder of her ancestors and their hardships. But Willie (Washington), a sharecropper, wants to sell the piano and use the money to buy the land where their ancestors worked as slaves, believing the best way to honor them is to take back the land that their ancestors couldn't own in their own lifetime.

The already difficult decision gets further complicated when it appears that familial ghosts appear to haunt the Charles household. The siblings' living uncle, Doaker (Jackson), is on hand throughout the play as the storyteller. As an older family member, he possesses the most knowledge of the piano's — and the family's — storied history, which his niece and nephew are not always quick to share.

LaTanya Richardson Jackson directs the 2022 production, which is the play's first Broadway revival. The premiere production of *The Piano Lesson* on Broadway was in 1987 at Yale Repertory Theatre, with a younger Jackson playing Boy Willie alongside Carl Gordon as Doaker and Starletta DuPois as Berneice. After playing a second engagement at Huntington Theatre Company in Boston (with Charles S. Dutton in place of Jackson), that production moved to Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre in 1990 and played there for nine months.

Though the show lost out on the Best Play Tony Award, it did win the 1990 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play and New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play. *The Piano Lesson* also won the Peabody Award and earned Wilson his second Pulitzer Prize for Drama, after *Fences* in 1987.

## Who is August Wilson?

August Wilson was a playwright who lived from 1945 to 2005. Shortly after his death, he got a [Broadway theatre named for him](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/august-wilson-theatre) and was the first Black person to do so. He is best known for the Pittsburgh Cycle, a collection of 10 plays about Black American life that each take place in a different decade of the 20th century.

All the plays in the cycle feature strong female characters (inspired by the values of Wilson's own mother) and are written in Black vernacular, and many include supernatural elements. *The Piano Lesson* is one of these plays.

## How long is the *Piano Lesson* play?

*The Piano Lesson* runs 2 hours and 45 minutes, including an intermission.

Tickets to *The Piano Lesson* are available now.

The Piano Lesson - NYC - New York Theatre Guide

Find dates and book tickets to see Samuel L. Jackson in the show The Piano Lesson on Broadway at the Barrymore Theatre from New York Theatre Guide.

The Piano Lesson on Broadway Tickets | Barrymore Theatre | New York Theatre Guide

Starring Academy Award winner Samuel L. Jackson, Emmy and Tony nominee Danielle Brooks, and Golden Globe nominee John David Washington, *The Piano Lesson* is a Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork by August Wilson. The Charles family argues over whether to sell their heirloom piano to invest in their future or keep the piano to preserve their past. See a moving story about the meaning of family legacy by getting tickets to *The Piano Lesson*.

August Wilson wrote *The Piano Lesson* as the fourth play in his Pittsburgh Cycle. The Cycle is a collection of 10 plays, each set during a different decade of the 20th century, exploring Black life in the titular Pennsylvania city.

*The Piano Lesson* premiered in 1987 at Yale Repertory Theatre in Connecticut, followed by productions at Boston's Huntington Theatre Company and Chicago's Goodman Theatre. The cast from the Chicago production stayed on for the premiere of *The Piano Lesson* on Broadway in 1990. That year, the show received five Tony nominations, including Best Play, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The play was revived off Broadway in 2012, directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson and starring Chuck Cooper and Brandon J. Dirden. That production won four Lucille Lortel Awards and two Obie Awards.

Ten years later, a celebrity cast heads up the first *Piano Lesson* Broadway revival. Samuel L. Jackson, now making his third Broadway appearance, is best known for his onscreen roles in *Pulp Fiction*, *Do the Right Thing*, *Django Unchained*, *The Hateful Eight*, the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, and many more. His career earned him the Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement.

Danielle Brooks is a Tony nominee for *The Color Purple* musical and star of Netflix's *Orange Is the New Black* as Taystee, and The Piano Lesson marks her return to Broadway. John David Washington is a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominee for his role in Spike Lee's *BlacKkKlansmen* and makes his Broadway debut in the production.

Set an alert for tickets to *The Piano Lesson* in New York on TodayTix.

## What to Watch For

- Samuel L. Jackson made his Broadway debut as an understudy for Boy Willie and Lymon in the original Broadway production of *The Piano Lesson*.
- A love of Wilson's work runs in the family! John David Washington is the son of multi-award-winning actor Denzel Washington, who won the Tony Award for starring in Wilson's *Fences* and also directed, produced, and starred in the four-time Oscar-nominated film adaptation. Denzel Washington also produced the 2020 film adaptation of Wilson's *Ma Rainey's Black Bottom*.
- There's another family affair related to this *Piano Lesson* revival, too. Director LaTanya Richardson Jackson, a Tony-nominated actor, is Samuel L. Jackson's wife of more than 40 years.
- With this revival, LaTanya Richardson Jackson makes her Broadway directorial debut and becomes the first woman to direct an August Wilson play on Broadway.
- *The Piano Lesson* is playing Broadway's Barrymore Theatre. A different Broadway theatre bears August Wilson's name, but none of his plays have appeared there since the venue was named for him in 2005 (one of his plays, *King Hedley II*, played there in 2001). Maybe his next revival will!

The Piano Lesson - NYC - TodayTix

Get the best prices on theatre tickets for The Piano Lesson starring Samuel L. Jackson on Broadway - New York on TodayTix. Find the best deals, show information & more.

The Piano Lesson starring Samuel L. Jackson on Broadway Tickets | New York | TodayTix

[*The Piano Lesson*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24256-the-piano-lesson-tickets) at the [Barrymore Theatre](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/barrymore-theatre) has been tuned to perfection. Under the deft guidance of LaTanya Richardson Jackson, who makes her Broadway directing debut, August Wilson’s stirring story filled with richly drawn characters, family drama, humor, and beyond-this-world mystery (cue the ghost!) comes vividly to life.

Bluesy poetry and musicality are hallmarks of Wilson’s scripts. It’s easy to see – and hear – that here. Over the course of 2 3/4 hours, bits of boogie-woogie, spirituals, and chants toll. Some lines are said so often they ring like refrains. History also looms large in Wilson's works, and that’s true of this 1990 Pulitzer Prize-winning chapter in his decade-by-decade deep dive into Black lives in the 20th century. 

The setting is 1936 in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, where self-sufficient single mom Berniece Charles (Danielle Brooks) and her young daughter Maretha (Jurnee Swan) live with her uncle Doaker (Samuel L. Jackson). It’s a modest home – well-kept, nothing fancy. Except for one furnishing: an extravagantly carved upright piano that stands in full view in the living room. It has 88 keys and holds painful history.

The ornate instrument becomes the source of conflict when Berniece’s impetuous brother Boy Willie (John David Washington) arrives from Mississippi with his pal Lymon (Ray Fisher) and a truckload of watermelons. Boy Willie plans to sell the fruit and the piano in order to buy a stretch of land of his own.

But anyone who knows Berniece is aware that she won’t part with the piano – no way, no how. “You can’t sell your soul for money,” she tells her brother. He already knows where she stands, like everybody else, including Wining Boy (Michael Potts), Doaker’s brother; and Avery, (Trai Byers), the preacher Berniece has dated since her husband died. The piano is carved with images of enslaved ancestors and is a reminder of what the siblings’ father endured to get it. 

Besides the piano, the past bleeds into the present in another way. The ghost of Sutter, a white man whose ancestors enslaved the Charleses, haunts the house. Berniece asks Avery to bless the residence to get rid of the spirit, but finally comes to realize that tapping into with her family’s past, not shunning it, is what it takes for an exorcism.

The cast is uniformly wonderful. The three leads blend and harmonize, while adding individual grace notes. Brooks speaks volumes with just a glance, Washington adds spirited bluster, and Jackson’s distinct voice was made for Wilson’s words. I lost count of how many times Doaker deadpans, “Berniece ain’t gonna sell that piano” – but he made it fresh each time. (Jackson understudied Boy Willie in the 1990 Broadway run.)

In their supporting roles, Fisher makes dim Lymon lovable, while Potts radiates gleeful charisma. Watching Wining Boy sell Lymon an absurdly ill-fitting suit is like taking a whiff of theatrical laughing gas. As Grace, a wise-to-the-world woman Boy Willie and Lymon try to romance, April Matthis gives a lesson in how to make a big impact with a small role.

The production team also delivers. Beowulf Boritt’s set leaves room for an eerie showdown enhanced by Jeff Sugg’s projections, Toni-Leslie James’s costumes evoke mid-1930s style, and Japhy Weideman's lighting lends warmth and chill as needed. 

Wilson’s works sometimes take on mystical dimensions. *The Piano Lesson* eventually leads to a supernatural confrontation that creeps close to being fright-night over-the-top. Considering what’s at stake, though, the final moments strike just the right chord.

[*The Piano Lesson* is at the Barrymore Theatre until January 22. Get *The Piano Lesson* tickets on New York Theatre Guide.](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/24256-the-piano-lesson-tickets)

*Photo credit: Samuel L. Jackson and Ray Fisher in The Piano Lesson. (Photo by Julieta Cervantes)*

'The Piano Lesson' review — Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Brooks, and John David Washington strike all the right chords

Ages 14+. Children under 4 are not permitted in the theater.

Patriots on Broadway - NYC [38891]

Patriots on Broadway

The Ethel Barrymore Theatre was built in 1928 and designed by Herbert J. Krapp. It is the only surviving theatre that Lee and J.J. Shubert built for the purpose of staging productions starring an individual artist affiliated with them.

Ethel Barrymore achieved stardom under the management of producer Charles Frohman. The Shuberts offered to build her a theatre and commission a play for her to premiere in her namesake house. The play, *The Kingdom of God*  opened on December 20, 1928. Other plays she performed there include *The Love Duel*, *Scarlet Sister Mary*, *The School for Scandal*, and *An International Incident*.

## How to get to the Barrymore Theatre on Broadway

Audiences can take the C, E, or 1 subway line to 50th St. and walk three blocks to the theatre on 47th St. and Broadway. By bus, the Barrymore Theatre is closest to the 8th Ave/W 46th St. on the M20 line.

'The Piano Lesson' to offer Broadway rush and lottery tickets

Subscribe to our newsletter to unlock exclusive New York theatre updates!