Prop piano from "The Piano Lesson" revival with Nord Piano keyboard: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

The prop piano from the 2022 Broadway revival of August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Prop is in the style of an upright piano and features relief panels depicting faces and figures of the Charles family's ancestors on the upper front board, upper front board side strips, lower front board, legs, and left side board. The figures are in the style of the ujamaa, Dimoongo, or "Tree of Life" tradition of the Makonde people, and they are shown variously "jumping the broom," embracing children, supporting each other, held in bondage, and being crushed underneath a wooden casket. The figures are 3D printed out of plastic polymer resin and painted to appear like ebony.

The prop houses a Nord Piano 5 keyboard with keys stained to appear like aged ivory. The keyboard sits in a tray in the prop piano.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2022
• Designed by: Beowulf Boritt, American
• Designed by: Romello D. Huins
• Designed by: LaTanya Richardson Jackson, American, born 1949
• Subject of: August Wilson, American, 1945 - 2005
• Subject of: Samuel L. Jackson, American, born 1948
• Subject of: Danielle Brooks, American, born 1989
• Subject of: John David Washington, American, born 1984
• Subject of: Ray Fisher, American, born 1987
• Type: keyboard instruments
• Type: upright pianos
• Type: props (object genres)
• Medium: plastic polymer resin, wood and metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 58 × 58 1/2 × 30 1/4 in. (147.3 × 148.6 × 76.8 cm)
• Place used: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Broadway Theatre
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Literature
• Topic: Motherhood
• Topic: Slavery
• Object number: 2023.23ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Director & Producers: LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Brian Anthony Moreland, Kandi Burruss, Todd Tucker, and Tom Kirdahy
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.