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The Piano Lesson
''The Piano Lesson'' is a 1987 play by American playwright August Wilson. It is the fourth play in Wilson's ''The Pittsburgh Cycle''. Wilson began writing this play by playing with the various answers regarding the possibility of "acquir nga sense of self-worth by denying one's past".Bryer, Jackson R.; Hartig Mary C. ''Conversations with August Wilson'', p.25. ''The Piano Lesson'' received the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. A Romare Bearden painting, ''The Piano Lesson'', inspired Wilson to write a play featuring a strong female character to confront African-American history, paralleling Troy in earlier ''Fences''. However, on finishing his play, Wilson found the ending to stray from the empowered female character as well as from the question regarding self-worth. What ''The Piano Lesson'' finally seems to ask is: "What do you do with your legacy, and how do you best put it to use?" Set in 1936 Pittsburgh during the aftermath of the Great Depression, ''The Piano Lesson'' follow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
August Wilson
August Wilson ( Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of ten plays, collectively called ' (or ''The Century Cycle'')'','' which chronicle the experiences and heritage of the African-American community in the 20th century. Plays in the series include ''Fences'' (1987) and ''The Piano Lesson'' (1990), both of which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, as well as ''Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'' (1984) and ''Joe Turner's Come and Gone'' (1988). In 2006, Wilson was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. His works delve into the African-American experience as well as examinations of the human condition. Other themes range from the systemic and historical exploitation of African Americans, as well as race relations, identity, migration, and racial discrimination. Viola Davis said that Wilson's writing "captures our humor, our vulnera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John David Washington
John David Washington (born July 28, 1984) is an American actor and former professional football player. He played college football at Morehouse College and signed with the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2006. Professionally, Washington spent four years as the running back for the United Football League's Sacramento Mountain Lions. Washington shifted to an acting career like his father, Denzel Washington, and mother, Pauletta. He was part of the main cast of the HBO comedy series ''Ballers'' (2015–2019). His breakthrough came playing Ron Stallworth in Spike Lee's 2018 crime film ''BlacKkKlansman'', for which he received both Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. In 2020, he starred in Christopher Nolan's science fiction action-thriller film '' Tenet'', for which he won the Saturn Award for Best Actor. Early life and family Washington was born and raised in the Toluca Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. He is the oldest of four childr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christopher Akerlind
Christopher Akerlind (born May 1, 1962, in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American lighting designer for theatre, opera, and dance. He won the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design for ''Indecent''. He also won the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for '' Light in the Piazza'' and an Obie Award for sustained excellence for his work Off-Broadway. He attended Boston University College of Fine Arts (1985) and the Yale School of Drama, training with Jennifer Tipton. He was Head of Lighting Design and Director of the Design & Production Programs at the CalArts School of Theater. He has designed many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, working on both musicals and straight plays. He is noted for his work for director Lloyd Richards on the first productions of the plays of August Wilson, including ''The Piano Lesson'' (1990) and ''Seven Guitars'' (1996). He was the Resident Lighting Designer for twelve years at the Opera Theatre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constanza Romero
Constanza Romero (born March 8, 1958) is an American artist and costume designer. Romero's parents divorced in 1969. Her mother found a teaching job in Fresno, California, and moved there with Romero and her younger sister and two younger brothers. In 1972 her mother died of breast cancer, and the four children went to live with a maternal aunt and uncle near Fresno. Romero met playwright August Wilson in 1990 when her Yale School of Drama teachers assigned her to design costumes for his play, ''The Piano Lesson''. The couple married in 1994, and had one child, Azula Carmen Wilson. Her husband Wilson died in October 2005. Romero has twice been nominated for a Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ... for Best Costume Design of a Play (in 2005 and 2010, respecti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lloyd Richards
Lloyd George Richards (June 29, 1919 – June 29, 2006) was a Canadian-American theatre director, actor, and dean of the Yale School of Drama from 1979 to 1991, and Yale University professor emeritus. Biography Richards was born in Toronto, Ontario, but was in Detroit, Michigan. His father, a Jamaican carpenter turned auto-industry worker, died when Richards was nine years old. Soon after, his mother lost her eyesight, he and his brother Allan kept the family together. He later went on to study law at Wayne State University where instead he found his way in theatrical arts after a brief break during World War II while serving in the U.S. Army Air Force. Among Richards' accomplishments are his staging the original production of Lorraine Hansberry's ''A Raisin in the Sun'', debuting on Broadway to standing ovations on 11 March 1959, and in 1984 he introduced August Wilson to Broadway in ''Ma Rainey's Black Bottom''. As head of the National Playwrights Conference at the Eu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toni Morrison
Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' Song of Solomon'' (1977) brought her national attention and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 1988, Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize for ''Beloved'' (1987); she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. Born and raised in Lorain, Ohio, Morrison graduated from Howard University in 1953 with a B.A. in English. She earned a master's degree in American Literature from Cornell University in 1955. In 1957 she returned to Howard University, was married, and had two children before divorcing in 1964. Morrison became the first black female editor in fiction at Random House in New York City in the late 1960s. She developed her own reputation as an author in the 1970s and '80s. Her work ''Beloved'' was made into a film in 1998. Mor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eugene O'Neill Theater Center
The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater company founded in 1964 by George C. White. It is commonly referred to as The O'Neill. The center has received two Tony Awards, the 1979 Special Award and the 2010 Regional Theatre Award. President Obama presented the 2015 National Medal of Arts to The O'Neill on September 22, 2016. The O'Neill is a multi-disciplinary institution; it has had a transformative effect on American theater. The O'Neill pioneered play development and stage readings as a tool for new plays and musicals. It is home to the National Theater Institute (established 1970), an intensive study-away semester for undergraduates. Its major theater conferences include the National Playwrights Conference (est. 1965); the National Critics Conference (est. 1968), the National Musical Theater Conference (est. 1978), the National Puppetry Conference (est. 1990), and the Cabaret & Performance Conference (est. 2005). The Mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
LisaGay Hamilton
LisaGay Hamilton (born March 25, 1964) is an American actress who has portrayed roles in films, television, and on stage. She is best known for her role as secretary/lawyer Rebecca Washington on the ABC legal drama ''The Practice'' (1997–2003). She also portrayed Melissa Thoreau on the TNT comedy-drama ''Men of a Certain Age'' (2009-2011), Celia Jones on the Netflix series ''House of Cards'' (2016), Suzanne Simms on the Hulu series ''Chance'' (2016), and Kayla Price on the Hulu series ''The First'' (2018). Hamilton's film credits include roles in ''12 Monkeys'' (1995), ''Jackie Brown'' (1997), ''Beloved'' (1998), ''True Crime'' (1999), '' The Sum of All Fears'' (2002), ''The Soloist'' (2009), '' Beastly'' (2011), '' Beautiful Boy'' (2018), and ''Vice'' (2018). Her theater credits include ''Measure for Measure'' (Isabella), ''Henry IV Parts I & II'' (Lady Hotspur), Athol Fugard's, ''Valley Song'' and ''The Ohio State Murders''. Hamilton was also an original cast member in the Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Potts (actor)
Michael Potts (born September 21, 1962) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the roles of Brother Mouzone in ''The Wire'', Mafala Hatimbi in the musical ''The Book of Mormon'', and Slow Drag in '' Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom''. He also played Detective Gilbough in the first season of ''True Detective ''True Detective'' is an American anthology crime drama television series created and written by Nic Pizzolatto. The series, broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States, premiered on January 12, 2014. Each season of the ...''. Filmography Film Television Video games Theatre credits References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Potts, Michael 1962 births Living people American male television actors 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Place of birth missing (living people) American male film actors American male stage actors American male musical theatre actors Yale School of Dram ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lou Myers (actor)
Lou Myers (September 26, 1935 – February 19, 2013) was an American actor. Myers was born in Cabin Creek, West Virginia, the son of Dorothy Jeffries (née Brown). He was typically typecast as a grumpy old man, but he appeared in many movies, stage plays television sitcoms, and dramas. He got his first break as an understudy in the Broadway play, ''The First Breeze of Summer'' as Reverend Mosley. He is perhaps best known as the feisty Mr. Vernon Gaines in the sitcom ''A Different World''. Myers was also an accomplished pianist. Myers died at the Charleston Area Medical Center in West Virginia after battling pneumonia for several months. Filmography Awards Myers won an NAACP Image Award for his role as the Stool Pigeon in the August Wilson play, ''King Hedley II''. He also won the Off-Broadway AUDELCO AUDELCO, the Audience Development Committee, Inc., was established in 1973 by Vivian Robinson to honor excellence in African American theatre in New York City. AUDELCO prese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trai Byers
Trai Byers (born July 19, 1983) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Andre Lyon in the Fox television series ''Empire'' (2015–2020). Early life Trai Byers was born in Kansas City, Kansas. After a year of high school in Kansas City, he completed his high-school education in Georgia. Byers then graduated from Andrew College with an associate degree in Theater and graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor's degree in communications. He also attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles, and the Yale School of Drama. Career In 2011, Byers made his television debut with a recurring role on the ABC daytime soap opera, ''All My Children'', and the following year had a role in The CW teen soap, '' 90210''. He played civil rights activist James Forman in the 2014 historical epic film, ''Selma'' directed by Ava DuVernay. He plays Andre Lyon in Fox's 2015 music-industry primetime soap opera, ''Empire''. Personal life During the October 7, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tommy Hollis
Tommy Janor Hollis (March 22, 1954 – September 9, 2001) was an American film, television, and stage actor. A native of Jacksonville, Texas, his first major film appearance was in ''Ghostbusters'' as the mayor's aide (1984). He played Earl Little in the Spike Lee-directed movie ''Malcolm X'' (1992). Hollis died in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ... from complications of diabetes. He had no children. Filmography References External links * 1954 births 2001 deaths Male actors from Texas American male film actors African-American male actors 20th-century American male actors 20th-century African-American people Deaths from diabetes {{US-film-actor-1950s-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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