The New McCree Theatre Opens Season With THE PIANO LESSON 9/29-10/15

The "New" McCree Theatre is opening its 2011-2012 Season with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play, The Piano Lesson, by August Wilson. Performances are September 29 - October 15, every Thursday and Friday at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Advance admission is $12.00 for adults and $7.00 for students and senior citizens. At the door admission prices are $15.00 and $10.00. Group rates and buy-the-house rates are available.

The Piano Lesson is a 1990 play by American playwright August Wilson. The Piano Lesson is the fifth play in Wilson's The Pittsburgh CyclE. Wilson began writing this play by playing with the various answers regarding the possibility of "acquiring a sense of self-worth by denying ones past". It received the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, marking the second Pulitzer for Wilson, who also received the award for Fences in 1987.

Inspired by a Romare Bearden painting titled The Piano Lesson, Wilson was inspired to write a play featuring a strong female character to confront African-American history, paralleling Troy in Fences. However, after finishing his play, Wilson found the ending to stray from the empowered female character as well as the question regarding one's self worth. The final question proposed by The Piano Lesson seems to ask, "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 follows the lives of the Sutter family in the Doaker Charles Household and an heirloom, the infamous piano. The play focuses on the arguments between a brother and a sister who have different ideas on what to do with the piano they own. The brother, Boy Willie, is a sharecropper who wants to sell the piano to buy the land that his ancestors had toiled on as slaves, while the sister, Berniece, remains emphatic about keeping it. The piano shows the carved faces of their ancestors during the days of their enslavement.

The McCree Theatre production of The Piano Lesson is directed by Faye Turner Johnson who returns to the theatre after a long absence. Cast members include former television personality Pat Scott, Henri Bates, Dennis Sykes, Stuart Elzy, and Cassandria Wilson. Produced in conjunction with EWE Productions.

Call (810) 787-2200 or go to www.thenewmccreetheatre.com  to purchase advance tickets.

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