Erykah Badu features in ‘The Piano Lesson’ cameo with Samuel L. Jackson
Acclaimed musician Erykah Badu has joined the cast of the Netflix adaptation of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson. The star singer-songwriter will feature in a cameo in the film, which also boasts Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington.
Badu will deliver “her soulful sound and eclectic style” with a number of musical performances in the movie. The Piano Lesson sees Jackson and Washington take on their respective roles from the widely heralded Broadway revival of Wilson’s original play.
The Broadway performance was on the receiving end of two Tony Award nominations, ‘Best Revival of a Play’ and ‘Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play’ for Jackson.
The Piano Lesson is set in Pittsburgh in 1936, shortly after the Great Depression. It focuses on the Charles family, led by Jackson’s Doaker Charles, and their heirloom piano, which had been decorated with carvings by a slave ancestor.
Washington, meanwhile, plays Boy Willie, Doaker’s nephew, a role that had once been played by Jackson in a 1987 production. The adaption by Netflix is being directed by Malcolm Washington from a Virgil Williams-written screenplay. It also stars Ray Fisher, Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Potts and Corey Hawkins.
Potts and Fisher have already starred alongside Washington and Jackson in the stage version, which ended up being the best-grossing play revival on Broadway and the best-selling version of an August Wilson play on Broadway too.
Denzel Washington is producing the movie, as is Todd Black. Constanza Romero, Jennifer Roth and Katia Washington are all serving as executive producers.
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