"The Piano Lesson"

As some of you might know, Mark Christopher Lawrence, our favorite Buy More manager extraordinaire, has been busy performing in “The Piano Lesson” this whole month of February. The play involves a brother and sister who argue about whether or not to sell their family piano. The brother, Boy Willie (played by MCL), wants to sell the piano to buy the land that his family worked on as slaves. On the other hand, his sister Berniece insists on keeping the musical instrument for she feels that it is more than just an heirloom. I attended the matinee performance today and this is a quick rundown of what happened.

The production is being held at the Cygnet Theatre, the only Theatre in beautiful Old Town, San Diego. I personally haven’t been to the place before, but it was quite easy to find. Parking, on the other hand, —eh, not so much. I walked up to the box office with the $30 in hand for the ticket, but low and behold, I only had to pay $15 because I was a student. SCORE! With the ticket in hand and a big smile on my face (you’d have one too if you had an extra $15 that you didn’t think you’d have), I went inside. It’s a nice little theatre—inviting and intimate.

My tweet pic of the stage before the play began.

My friends were too cheap to accompany me but it turned out for the best. To my left and to my right were two very nice people who had no clue about our favorite show. I told them that the main reason I was watching the play was to support Mark Christopher Lawrence, fellow San Diegan and character on the best show on tv (yes, I said that), Chuck. I didn’t have time to explain the concept of the show for the play began but I got that chance during intermission. I don’t want to say that I’ve converted two more people to the show but what I can say is that they promised to check it out.

Now on to my impressions of the play. I’m no critic but I thought the play was great. I mean, any play that can make you feel sadness and warmth and make you laugh all at the same has to be A-okay in anyone’s book. Mark Christopher Lawrence was phenomenal. He’s awesome as Big Mike on Chuck but his role in this play took his acting skills to a whole different level. He brought it—from his intense, visceral facial expressions to his surprisingly AWESOME singing voice, he done gone and brought it. At the end of the play, as I was standing there clapping and shouting as Mark stepped up to bow, all I can think to myself was, “Chuck is lucky to have Mark Christopher Lawrence on the show.”