Producer Brian Anthony Moreland has officially announced that Golden Globe winner and multi-award-nominated Taraji P. Henson and six-time NAACP Image Award winner Cedric the Entertainer will headline this new Broadway staging of August Wilson’s seminal play. Directed by the illustrious Debbie Allen, the production is set for a Shubert Theatre opening in Spring 2026.

This marks Taraji P. Henson’s Broadway acting debut, although she previously made waves on Broadway as a producer of the Tony-nominated Jaja’s African Hair Braiding. She will portray Bertha Holly, alongside Cedric, who returns to Broadway as Seth Holly following his debut in American Buffalo (2008).

Producer Brian Anthony Moreland—who recently brought us The Piano Lesson starring Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, and Danielle Brooks, and last season’s star-caliber Othello featuring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal—described the revival as:

“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone is Wilson’s seminal masterpiece—an unflinching exploration of pain, identity, and hope. With Debbie Allen’s visionary direction and this extraordinary cast, the entire company will present a performance that resonates deeply and lingers in the hearts and minds of all who experience it.”

A Legacy of Black Excellence

Debbie Allen, a pioneering figure in Black performance, made her Broadway debut in Purlie in 1970 and has dazzled audiences in Raisin, West Side Story, and Sweet Charity. She directed the all-Black 2008 production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and is set to receive an honorary Oscar at the 2025 Governors Awards.

Taraji P. Henson brings a critical lens and wide-ranging acclaim—from her breakout in Hustle & Flow and Oscar nomination in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, to standout roles in Hidden Figures, The Color Purple, and Empire. In television, her guest turn on Abbott Elementary earned her an Emmy nomination. Her off-stage impact is equally powerful: she spearheaded mental health advocacy through the Boris L. Henson Foundation and champions Black wellness and inclusion. As a producer, she earned a Tony nomination for Jaja’s African Hair Braiding.

Cedric the Entertainer returns to Broadway after his debut in American Buffalo. The comedian, actor, and author currently stars in CBS’s The Neighborhood, now entering its eighth season, and co-created the Hulu series Kings of BBQ. His debut novel, Flipping Boxcars, weaves familial lore into a crime narrative, while his philanthropic efforts continue through The Kyles Family Foundation, supporting organizations such as Boys & Girls Clubs and St. Jude’s.

A Story of Spiritual Rediscovery

Set in 1911, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone unfolds in a Pittsburgh boarding house owned by Seth and Bertha Holly—a steadfast husband and his warm, nurturing wife. Their home becomes a sanctuary for Black folks on the move, seeking stability in the wake of the Great Migration. But when a mysterious man named Herald Loomis arrives, the house is shaken by more than just passing footsteps. Loomis is searching—not just for the wife he lost, but for the pieces of himself stolen during seven years of illegal enslavement under the haunting grip of Joe Turner.

As buried trauma rises and ancestral spirits stir, Loomis’s path becomes one of spiritual reckoning, identity reclamation, and hard-won healing. Around him, others navigate their own quests for love, livelihood, and liberation—each of them trying to shape a future not defined by sorrow, but by possibility.

The second play in August Wilson’s American Century Cycle, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone is a deeply poetic portrait of Black resilience—one that wrestles with memory, community, and the ever-burning hope of a freedom that goes beyond escape.

Stay tuned for additional casting and theatre details, coming soon. For more information, visit www.JoeTurnerBway.com.

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The post Taraji P. Henson and Cedric the Entertainer to Star in August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone on Broadway, Directed by Debbie Allen appeared first on Broadway Black.

Photo Courtesy of thoughtsofacoloredman.com

The play will be directed by Steve H. Broadnax III and produced by Brian Moreland, Ron Simons, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Samira Wiley, Diana DiMenna, and Scott himself. The play will be making history as one of the few productions on Broadway to be written by a Black man, directed by a Black man, produced by a predominately Black team, and focusing on the narratives of the Black male experience. The event will feature a panel of the creative team reading excerpts that “will share their personal narratives, what has inspired them, and how they hope to inspire others through Thoughts of a Colored Man. 

Words to dream by, from the playwright. pic.twitter.com/JvM6CDdQvW

— Thoughts Of A Colored Man (@coloredmanplay) November 24, 2020

The play, which fuses the artistic mediums of spoken word, slam poetry, and rhythm, intertwine to present a new voice in American theater. The “thoughts of a colored man” are told over the course of a single day, where seven men vulnerably retell their own stories and echo the sentiments of their friends and brothers beyond the traditional settings of basketball courts and barbershops that typically represent the Black male aesthetic. BPRS – NY President and CEO, Tracey Wood Mendelsohn said, “The lens of ‘Black Inspiration’ allows us to explore all aspects of our historic and ongoing role in contributing to society, and there is no better place to start than the arts.”

Photo Courtesy of thoughtsofacoloredman.com

The program will take place on Tuesday, February 23, 2021 at 7:00 pm EST. To RSVP for this free event, please go HERE

Thoughts of a Colored Man is slated for the 2021-2022 Broadway season. To learn more about the production and any updates, please visit thoughtsofacoloredman.com.

The post Broadway-bound <em>Thoughts of a Colored Man</em> Attracts Audiences with “Black Inspiration” Dialogue Series appeared first on Broadway Black.