''The Piano Lesson'' is a 1995 American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

directed by

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 Toron ...

and written by

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 ...

, based on his 1987 play of the same name. The film stars Charles S. Dutton and

Alfre Woodard Alfre Woodard (; born November 8, 1952) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including four Primetime Emmy Awards (tying the record for the most acting Emmys won by an African-American performer, along with Regina King ...

, and relies on most of its cast from the original Broadway production. The film originally aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

on February 5, 1995, as an episode of '' Hallmark Hall of Fame''.

Plot

In 1936, Boy Willie and his friend Lymon travel from

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, where he wishes his sister Berniece will give him the family's heirloom piano so that he can sell it to buy land from Mr. Sutter, a descendant of the family that once owned Willie's own ancestors as slaves. The piano itself had at one time belonged to the wife of the original Sutter, the white former owner of their family... and decades earlier, Berniece and Boy Willie's grandfather had, at the slave master's instructions, carved the black family's African tribal history and American slave history into the piano's surface. When Boy Willie arrives, his Uncle Doaker tells Willie that Berniece won't part with the piano. Berniece's boyfriend Avery and her Uncle Wining Boy also attempt for reasons of their own to get Berniece to sell. As selling the piano would be like turning her back on their people and their past, Berniece continues to refuse.

Cast

* Charles S. Dutton as Boy Willie *

as Berniece Charles * Carl Gordon as Doaker *

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 Littl ...

as Avery *

Lou Myers Lou Myers (1915 – November 20, 2005) was a cartoonist and short story writer. He was the first person since James Thurber to contribute both cartoons and articles to ''The New Yorker''. His work has also appeared in ''The New York Times'', '' ...

as Wining Boy *

Courtney B. Vance Courtney Bernard Vance (born March 12, 1960) is an American actor. Known for his commanding presence Vance started his career on stage before transitioning his career into film and television. He's received various accolades including a Tony Awa ...

as Lymon *

Zelda Harris Zelda Harris (born February 17, 1985) is an American actress. Harris was born in New York City to Karen and Philip Harris. She has a sister, Kenya. She attended Princeton University, where she was a member of the Class of 2007. She began actin ...

as Maretha * Tim Hartman as Sutter * Rosalyn Coleman as Grace * Tommy Lafitte as Ace * Lynne Innerst as Miss Ophelia * Harold Surratt as Papa Willie Boy * Elva Branson as Mama Berniece * Ben Tatar as Watermelon Man * Alice Eisner as Watermelon Lady * Bob Tracey as Nolander

Production

Filming took place in

Recognition

'' DVD Verdict'' wrote that the "excellent writing leaps off the screen." While noting that most TV films seem geared "towards the lowest common Nielsen family demographic", they write that "something crafted, filled with inordinate drama and rich, dimensional characters just blares across the airwaves, filling up your deepest, hungry cinematic aesthetic," and that this recognition is the case for the Hallmark Hall of Fame adaptation of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize winning play ''The Piano Lesson''. They noted that Wilson has been long known for "profound, deeply moving portraits of African Americans in the United States," and that he "understands the issues facing minorities better than most modern playwrights do." They called the film a "brilliant analog," and a "fable of magic realism." ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'' wrote that the film is "a wrenching but flawed cable adaptation of

's play," and that while the film was another Wilson "folk tale about the legacy of slavery," that "Sadly, this particular production fails to make any psychological or ectoplasmic ghosts come alive for the audience." They noted this was not because the film did not make the playwright's message clear, the problem was in "its obviousness" in that Wilson belabored his points.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Piano Lesson 1995 television films 1995 films 1995 drama films 1990s American films 1990s English-language films African-American drama films American drama television films American films based on plays CBS films Films about pianos and pianists Films directed by Lloyd Richards Films scored by Stephen James Taylor Films set in 1936 Films set in Pittsburgh Films shot in Pittsburgh Hallmark Hall of Fame episodes Peabody Award-winning broadcasts