Danielle Brooks Out of THE PIANO LESSON Due to COVID-19

Danielle Brooks revealed that she will be out of The Piano Lesson through October 23 after testing positive for COVID-19.

"Getting to take the Bway stage as Berniece Charles is a daily confirmation that I am in my purpose, but sometimes your purpose isn't only about you," she wrote on Instagram. "I am so happy for [Shirine Babb] making her debut as Berniece until Oct 23rd. My body has spoken and has forced me to Go Lay Down. Yes the Covid Monster got me."

She went on to promote mask-wearing in the theatre. "Even though masks are not required in theaters I would encourage you to still take precautions and wear your mask. Can't wait to return stronger and better than ever."

Read her full post below:

The Piano Lesson is directed by Tony Award nominee LaTanya Richardson Jackson and stars Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, and Danielle Brooks. The cast also features Trai Byers as Avery, Ray Fisher as Lymon, April Matthis as Grace, Michael Potts as Wining Boy, and Nadia Daniel and Jurnee Swan as Maretha at alternating performances.

The Piano Lesson is set in Pittsburgh's Hill District in 1936. A brother and sister are locked in a war over the fate of a family heirloom: a piano carved with the faces of their ancestors. The Piano Lesson, wrote Frank Rich in The New York Times, "has its own spacious poetry, its own sharp angle on a nation's history, its own metaphorical idea of drama and its own palpable ghosts that roar right through the upstairs window of the household where the action unfolds. Like other Wilson plays, The Piano Lesson seems to sing even when it is talking."

The design team for The Piano Lesson includes Tony Award winner Beowulf Boritt (Set Design), Tony Award nominee Toni-Leslie James (Costume Design), Tony Award nominee Japhy Weideman (Lighting Design), Tony Award winner Scott Lehrer (Sound Design), Drama Desk Award nominee Cookie Jordan (Wig Design), Tony Award nominee Jeff Sugg (Projection Design), Alvin Hough Jr. (Music & Music Direction), Otis Sallid (Choreographer). Casting is by Calleri, Jensen, Davis. General Management is by Foresight Theatrical.

The play is now running at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.