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Trai Byersisn’t the only one excited about his latest project.
The actor, who starred alongsidenow-wife Grace Gealeyon the television seriesEmpire, tells PEOPLE the actress is “stoked about” him making his Broadway debut inAugust Wilson’sThe Piano LessonalongsideSamuel L. Jackson.
Byers, 39, plays Avery in theBroadwayrevival, which opened earlier this month at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. He says that after his time on the television seriesEmpire, new opportunities presented themselves, but nothing felt right — until this one.
“They weren’t for me,” he explains, adding that when he read the script forPiano Lesson, however, “it just floored me.”
He adds, “It felt like God was talking to me through the words, seeing me through the page. And I felt like I didn’t have a choice, which was great.”
Julieta Cervantes
Byers and Gealy, 38, also announced on the red carpet that they’reexpecting their first childtogether.
“She’s the best. I love her so very much,” Byers tells PEOPLE of his wife, calling Gealy “such a rock” and “such an anchor.”
One of the rewards of doingThe Piano Lessonis that Gealy, who has a Master’s of Fine Arts in acting from the University of California, Irvine, has a “deep love for August Wilson and the theater.”
Of his opening-night performance, Byers adds, “She loved it. She loves the play. She loves the artists that I’m working with, loves [director] Ms.LaTanya [Richardson Jackson]. And she loved my work. And that’s good.”
Still, he says, “She could be critical about some things, and rightly so. I wouldn’t want her to lie to me. She always has notes. She’s my wife. She runs it. So I take them — what works — you know, chew the meat and spit out the bones. That’s our house.”
Though he says he is “super excited” for his journey into parenthood with Gealy, he also explains that he wants to keep their special moment “private,” adding: “It’s fantastic. But that’s mine.”
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For now, he’s also enjoying time with his second family over atThe Piano Lesson. “I love sitting backstage,” says Byers. “The first laugh that I hear — when I hear the room kind of fill with the sound of joy — it’s like, ‘Oh, wow. I get to go out there and join that.’ "
The Piano Lessoncurrently plays at Broadway’s Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
source: people.com
