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2 Pianos 4 Hands

Two Pianos and Four Hands is a Canadian musical comedy written and performed by Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt.

The plot is loosely based on their lives but is a lighthearted version with some cool music and pianos (as the title suggests).

The play first premiered at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto in 1996. It became famous and has been performed on five continents since. It has also gained fame as one of the highly successful Canadian plays.

The musical starts with Dykstra and Greenblatt as young boys with aspirations to become world-famous pianists. Their journey is filled with push parents, endless hours of practice sessions, eccentric teachers, and stage fright.

They became friends and competed while auditioning for different music festivals and concerts. At this stage, they also realize the thin line between being a good pianist and a great one.

The young Dykstra and Greenblatt alternatively perform solo through the initial part of the show. One performs the solo while the other handles the side characters.

Toward the end, the older Dykstra and Greenblatt perform together. The duo manages the entire musical from start to finish.

The Backstory and Original Production

Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt first met in 1993 while working on So You Think You're Mozart. They realized their musical journeys were similar and came up with an idea for a play.

The associate artistic director of Tarragon Theatre, Andy McKim, encouraged the duo to get together and create a musical.

The duo established a production company called Talking Fingers in 1994. They continued to work on the idea for the play. The initial play was just 25 minutes long. But after subsequent revisions and changes, it was extended to 90 minutes.

Once ready, the musical Two Pianos and Four Hands was added to the Tarragon Theatre's program list for the 1995-96 season.

David Mirvish, a Canadian art collector and theater producer, saw the performance and asked the duo to produce the musical play commercially. The play was further extended to a full two-hour show after the season ended and went on a Canadian tour.

The duo continued to perform over the years. Though the duo handled all roles in the first few years, they had to hire more actors for other roles as the performances grew.

There was an off-Broadway revival version of the musical in 1998. Check out our site for more details about the musical.