Netflix’s ‘The Piano Lesson’ premiered at the 51st Telluride Film Festival, and Dallas-born Erykah Badu makes an appearance.
DALLAS — Dallas’ Erykah Badu will star in a Netflix adaptation of an iconic American play.
Badu will play a musical role in the new film adaptation of ‘The Piano Lesson’. Her character is named Lucille, a role that is not featured in the original play.
This is not Badu’s first film credit; her first movie role was in ‘Blues Brothers 2000’ in 1998. She also played a supporting role in 1999’s ‘The Cider House Rules’ starring Michael Caine, Tobey Maguire and Charlize Theron.
The film debuted at the 51st Telluride Film Festival on Aug. 31, and Netflix released a trailer on Aug. 21.
‘The Piano Lesson’ was originally a play written by August Wilson. The play is set in the aftermath of the Great Depression as a brother and sister argue about whether to sell or keep their family heirloom—a piano decorated with carvings by their enslaved ancestor.
Wilson was a legendary playwright best known for his compilation of 10 plays, including ‘The Piano Lesson’, known as the Century Cycle or the Pittsburgh Cycle. All 10 of the plays take place in Pittsburgh and depict the Black experience across the 10 decades that comprised the 20th century.
Netflix’s adaptation was produced by Denzel Washington, who directed and starred in the film adaptation of Wilson’s play ‘Fences’ in 2016. All four of Washington’s children were involved in making the film. His son Malcolm wrote and directed the movie, and his other three children, John David, Olivia and Paulette, all star in the film.
John David Washington and Samuel L. Jackson are also no strangers to their roles. Both are reprising their roles from a 2022 Broadway revival of the play. Jackson has starred in productions of the play as far back as the original 1990 Broadway production.
‘The Piano Lesson’ has been adapted into film before. The first iteration came in 1995 as a made-for-TV movie for Hallmark. That adaptation was nominated for nine primetime Emmys and won a Peabody Award.
It releases in select theaters on Nov. 8 and will stream on Netflix on Nov. 22.