this is "nightline." >> tonight, a once in on generation-storm creating a holiday travel nightmare. >> when i was going to check my bags, it got canceled. >> what could be the coldest christmas in decades as millions hit the roads and skies. >> the airport was complete chaos. >> right now it's terrible. long lines, waiting everywhere. lots of people everywhere. >> as already frigid temperatures plunge even deeper, the threat of a bomb cyclone looms. will travelers make it home in time? >> we've been waiting with bated breath. "the piano lesson." ♪ when you marry a railroad man ♪ >> behind the scenes with the

all-star cast led by samuel l. jackson, directed by his wife latonya. >> does he take notes well? >> he found a way to receive the notes well. he had to find a way to do that, though. i helped him. >> how the play changed jackson's life after he first appeared in it decades ago. >> i got to go somewhere and fix my life in a way that i didn't realize it needed fixing. restless nights fogging up your day? tonight, try new zzzquil pure zzzs sleep plus next day energy with melatonin to help you fall asleep naturally... plus extended-release b-vitamins. wake up feeling refreshed. pure zzzs. sleep better. wake up your best.

♪ good evening. thank you for joining us. a historic christmas storm is moving across the country, crippling holiday travel, the time accompanying not be worse. 45 states under weather alerts with blustery winds, icy roads, whiteout conditions, freezing temperatures. as millions brave the weather on land and in the air what will it take to get them to their destinations? here's abc's transportation correspondent gio benitez. >> reporter: it's just days before christmas, and desperate, worn-down travelers are trying to reach their destinations. >> we booked new flights last night, and then they were canceled on our way to the airport this morning. >> reporter: with the bomb cyclone, deadly winds, and blinding snow all around, a once-in-a-generation christmas

cold blast is wreaking havoc on holiday plans. >> travel plans, we wrapped them. we were going to chicago but that's out now. >> we've been waiting with bated breath, looking at our phones, making sure it's not going to get changed. >> i got her early to make sure i got on my flight, flight got canceled, my other flight on frontier canceled. >> the storm is wreaking havoc every way you could imagine. >> reporter: the timing could not be worse. people hoping to be with family after years of pandemic shutdowns facing treacherous conditions. >> as we go into the next days approaching christmas, we're unfortunately going to be expecting a large number of weather-related disruptions. >> reporter: the weather impacting 200 million americans from the mountains to the midwest to the east coast. president biden urging caution. >> please take this storm extremely seriously. >> it's going to be really cold. dangerously cold. >> reporter: at least seven governors nationwide have declared states of emergency, from georgia to oklahoma to new york.

>> i want everyone to be safe. this is going to be a storm for the ages. >> reporter: while other states like missouri and colorado have activated the national guard and emergency response operations. today more than 2,000 flights canceled as the storm barreled through the midwest and the great lakes. >> the flights were disappearing on my computer as we were rebooking. a little stressful. >> reporter: experts warning that even if it's not a white christmas, it will be a frigid one. 45 states from washington to florida under snow, windchill, high wind, blizzard, flood, and hard freeze alerts. my colleague, meteorologist rob marci marciano, is in tarrytown, new york. >> rapid intensification, bombing out, that's expanding the wind field. we're going to see 50 to 60-mile-per-hour winds across a wig swath of the country. that's going to lead to power outages in the cold and warm sectors both. on top of that flooding rains. if you don't get snow, you could

get a flash freeze, the temperatures dropping so rapidly that any water on the road will freeze and ice up quickly. >> reporter: denver plummeting, a record-breaking 30 degrees down in 15 minutes yesterday. temperatures dropping to a bone-chilling 24 below zero. >> the airport was complete chaos. >> reporter: will lake was one of thousands stranded by denver's sudden cold front last night. >> i was standing in line for about an hour just to drop my bag before security. once i got to security, it was another hour wait. >> reporter: after missing christmas with his family last year because of covid, he was determined to make it home to milwaukee. but never made it out. >> i ditched my bag and left it at the airport after i'd already been there close to seven hours. my sister thankfully booked me a flight at 4:00 p.m. today. i'm hoping to make it back to the airport within the next hour or so. >> hoping to catch my flight to denver, denver-bound flights

have been among the most canceled and most delayed. >> reporter: my colleague, mola lenghi, flying san francisco to denver, meeting people struggling to make flights. >> right now it's terrible. it's been awful. yeah. haven't been able to talk to a real person. long lines. waiting everywhere. and lots of people everywhere. >> reporter: with airlines reducing flights plus crushing holiday demand, flights are 95% full, making rebooking a challenge if not an impossibility. and already more than 1,500 flights have been canceled tomorrow. >> the reality is that airports can keep up with snowfall only to a certain extent. when they begin to run behind, airports have to close runways, you're going to have quite an impact on the schedule. >> reporter: for families across the nation, it's that catch-22 that's crippled holiday plans. secretary of transportation pete buttigieg says airlines are taking steps to improve service in even the worst circumstances. >> the airlines thinned out

their staff, and what it meant was, when there was an issue, a weather issue, maybe an issue with crews, people calling in sick, it could have a ripple effect. we've really pressed the airlines to step up their hiring, to improve their way so hiring goes better, and to have more realistic schedules. >> reporter: it's not only air travel expected to be hit hard by the storm. more than 100 million americans taking to the roads this holiday season crowding highways with the storm creating dangerous conditions. kerry crutcher and her children spent hours trying to find alternate flights from denver to louisville after their original one was canceled. they eventually gave up this afternoon after they were told the airline had no more flights until after christmas. they are now driving instead. a trip that takes 16 to 17 hours on an average day. carrie's current eta, hard to guess. some parts of the country already getting piles of snow,

endangering drivers. my colleague alex perez unless chicago. >> the deep freeze is moving into the chicago area. the temperature here tonight will feel like 30 below zero. this is one of the city's many salt piles. crews are trying to get it on the streets. across the country on the roads we're seeing a lot of problems and snow squalls on i-25 near wellington, colorado, bringing traffic to a standstill. on i-90 near rapid city, south dakota, over 100 motorists had to be rescued. a 200-mile stretch of that highway is shut down for now. >> let's face it, the traffic is going to be heavy. they're going to have to leave early. and be prepared. >> reporter: aaa senior vice president paula twydale says winter crashes can be hard to avoid. >> take extra precautions, not only for yourself, watch out for other people around you. because sometimes you could be subjected to other people really not paying attention and going a little too fast and suddenly they're hydroplaning in water or

they're skating on ice and they have no control of their vehicle. >> reporter: the severe weather impacting train travel as well. amtrak canceling major routes in the midwest, northeast, and nationwide from now through christmas. the dangerous conditions leave many without good options. >> thought about taking my car home. it would have been a 14-hour drive from denver to milwaukee without traffic or any complications with weather. i also looked into taking a train home, which was with stops, around 20 hours, 21 hours. flying definitely seems to be the best bet. >> you must pack your patience. frontline employees have had a really tough year. >> point sky founder brian kelly's advice is to follow the golden rule. >> if you're really nice to the agents at the airport, the chances of them helping you increase dramatically. if you can't even get to an agent, you're waiting in line at the airport, go online.

dm airlines on twitter. you can always call the airl airline's international phone number. the wait times are dramatically lower and all those agents speak english. >> i'm on the way to the airport. >> reporter: back in denver, will lake's christmas plans finally came through. after more hours of flight delays, he finally made it home. >> oh, bud! i love you. >> i'm so glad you made it. you're so lucky. >> our thanks to gio. up next, "the piano lesson." behind the scenes with the all-star cast of the hit broadway revival. ♪ oh lord gah ♪ raise 'em up higher let it drop on down ♪ hey guys, detect this: living with hiv,

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♪ august wilson's "the piano lesson" is one of the hottest tickets on broadway now. the revival of the pulitzer prize-winning drama star samuel l. jackson as directed by his wife, latonya rich a right side son jackson. the play is making history again. abc's robin roberts sat down with the cast. >> reporter: it's a return the new broadway revival. of revered playwright august wilson's pulitzer prize-winning "the piano lesson." >> i came from florida to see this play. >> i hope it's just the first of

several august wilson plays that i'll see live. >> to get the opportunity to see these actors, really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. >> here we are. this beautiful theater. broadway's first revival of august wilson's "the piano lesson." how do you bring it to life? >> august brought it to life by the words he put on the paper. and so it was just up to me to see how i could reimagine it and amplify everything that he did. >> reporter: latonya richardson jackson directs the show centered on the charles family in 1936 pittsburgh. >> i know what he was thinking! >> reporter: at the heart of the play is a haunting family drama over a battle for this family heirloom. >> i cannot believe they did that. >> reporter: a piano with a tangled history, carrying carvings of the family's enslaved ancestors. the star-studded cast includes john david washington as boy

willie, danielle brooks as sister bernese, and samuel l. jackson stepping into the role of uncle charles for the first time. ♪ when you marry, marry a railroad man ♪ ♪ when you marry, marry a railroad man oh-ha ♪ >> does he take notes well? >> oh, man. >> he found a way to receive the notes well. he had to find a way to do that, though. i -- i helped him. >> now, that's something simple. you think anybody would be able to understand that. >> reporter: for jackson, it's a play he remembers well. you, my friend, have a longtime history with this production. i mean, you -- the original boy willie, '87, yale. okay, the understudy for the

broadway debut. >> it was life-altering in a lot of different ways. my life changed because what was happening when i was the understudy. drug-addled at the time and wondering, why not me? i got to go somewhere and fix my life in a way i didn't realize my life needed fixing. my life changed exponentially, you know, when i got out of rehab, because of it. >> reporter: the play pivotal for jackson, who has gone on to become one of hollywood's highest-grossing actors, with films like "pulp fiction." >> you know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in france? >> reporter: and marvel's "the avengers." >> is that really a priority? >> until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on. >> reporter: john david washington, who broke through in "blackkklansman." >> hello, this is ron stallworth calling. >> reporter: now making his broadway debut. >> if you have a piece of land, you'll find everything else fall in place. stand up to the white man and talk about the price of cotton,

the weather. >> reporter: embracing the weight of the role of boy willie, following in the footsteps of his famous father, denzel. your father also part of the august wilson legacy with "fences." your mama, another fine actor, paule paulette, said she'd seen it at least 13 times. >> when was the last time you taught to her? i think it's 20 now. >> how did they prepare you for broadway? >> my whole life, teaching me to pray. understanding what faith means. how i insert faith and prayer into everything i do. i've been preparing my whole life for this, because of those lessons. >> do you see some of his mom and dad? >> i try to tell him to embrace that dna, because it's not bad dna. i'm like, "boy, cut out of that cloth and be proud of it." so yeah, i see a lot of both of them in him. >> let me talk to this danielle here. let me talk to you.

berniece. >> everybody got all kind of questions, everybody telling me i can't be a woman unless i got a man. >> reporter: danielle brooks first received critical acclaim for her work on "orange is the new black." >> this is my home and i'm going to fight for it. >> reporter: her latest turn on broadway, a full-circle moment. >> i use the monologue of berniece to get into juilliard at 17. that's my foundation, you know. these words really started my career in a lot of ways, you know. that was the first time someone had said yes to me and said there was a place for me in this theater world. so i have a lot of gratitude to august wilson. >> reporter: this moment more poignant now than ever. la tanya at the directorial helm, the first woman to direct an august wilson play on broadway. what is it like having her as a director? >> it's the best because i'm cut from the same cloth as her. this is a black woman who was raised by a black woman who

birthed a black woman. to me, there's so much conversation that we don't have to have because we just understand each other. another layer to that is, i'm so inspired by her. because i feel like i can do it. like, i will one day be able to direct whatever i want to direct because she was able to do it. i'm very glad that she brought me into the fold. >> i can see the emotion. >> i'm always emotional. >> that's true. that is true. >> one word from each of you to get somebody to come sit in that seat right there and watch "the piano lesson." >> ghosts. >> fun. >> magical. >> family. >> y'all are good. y'all are good. [ cheers and applause ] and the people agree. >> revelatory. >> inspiring. >> phenomenal. >> breathtaking. >> is this everything that you envisioned? everything that you had hoped?

>> it's beyond everything that i had hoped and prayed for. this crew, these actors, what they do up here every night, every day and every night, i thank god for it. i am grateful because the dream made manifest lies here. >> our thanks to robin. we'll be right back. every flush spews harmful bacteria onto surfaces. that when touched, can quickly spread throughout your home. help stop the spread with microban24. with it's long lasting shield, it's the only leading brand proven to keep killing 99.99% of bacteria on surfaces for up to 24 hours. so, no matter what your family touches, be confident you're protecting them with microban24. don't just sanitize it, microban it. bye, bye cough. later chest congestion. hello 12 hours of relief. 12 hours!! not coughing? hashtag still not coughing?! mucinex dm gives you 12 hours of relief from chest congestion and any type of cough, day or night.

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