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.

Broadway Black covers the artists, stories, and cultural moments shaping Black theatre. Follow us for all the latest on this extraordinary revival.

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.

The Warner Bros. movie adaptation of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, which is an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, will also star recording artist H.E.R. as Squeak, and Corey Hawkins (“In The Heights,” “The Tragedy of Macbeth”) as Harpo.

This casting is right on the heels of The Golden Globe-winner and Howard University theatre major graduate proving she’s got what it takes to star in a musical as she recently portrayed Miss. Hannigan in NBC’s “Annie Live!.” She is nominated for the NAACP Image Award for outstanding actress in a television movie, limited series, or dramatic special for that role; Henson has won 9 NAACP honors, including entertainer of the year in 2015.

Marcus Gardley (The House That Will Not Stand, “The Chi”) wrote the screenplay, based on Alice Walker’s novel, the stage musical (book by Marsha Norman and Brenda Russell, and score by Allee Willis and Stephen Bray), and the 1985 Warner Oscar-nominated film.

Taraji follows in the footsteps of Margaret Avery from the 1985 original film version as well as talents such as Jennifer Holiday, Jennifer Hudson, Michelle Williams, Heather Headley, & Elisabeth Withers from the Broadway musical.

Revisit our recent interview with the star during her press run for Annie Live! below.

The post Taraji P. Henson Will Star as Shug Avery in The Color Purple Musical Film appeared first on Broadway Black.

The post First Look: Taraji P. Henson & Celina Smith in “ANNIE LIVE!” appeared first on Broadway Black.

We have to start by sending a MAJOR congratulations to Broadway Black’s newest sweetheart Shanice Williams, the teen who beat out hundreds of young ladies for the role of a lifetime and made herself a household name with her stunning portrayal as Dorothy in “The Wiz! Live.”  At just 19 years old and in her first major role, Williams has earned a Critics Choice nomination for Actress In A Movie Made For Television or Limited Series.  I can only assume this will be the first of many nominations for the budding star.

“The Wiz! Live” racked up a bevy of nominations for its rating-smashing premiere including Movie Made for TV or Limited Series, a nomination for both veteran David Alan Grier and musical theater newcomer Neyo in the Actor In A Movie Made for Television or Limited Series category, and a surprising (yet much deserved) nomination for Mary J. Blige‘s impressive performance as Evilene.

While Queen Latifah didn’t receive recognition for her portrayal of “The Wiz” in the NBC special, the Queen did garner Golden Globe and SAG nominations for her captivating work in the HBO biopic “Bessie,” based on the true story of jazz legend Bessie Smith.

Another “Wiz” alum, Uzo Aduba also gained SAG and Golden Globe love for her Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series as “Crazy Eyes” in the Netflix phenomenon “Orange is the New Black.”

Black luminaries Viola Davis and Taraji P. Henson are going head to head AGAIN as the adorably supportive friends were both awarded Golden Globe and SAG noms for Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series.  Davis leads the poll with a Critics Choice nom as well.

And just in case Hollywood doesn’t get it right (which we know they’re good for), the NAACP Image Awards nominations always make sure that works of color are getting their fair due.  In addition to recognizing “The Wiz! Live,” the awards have also doled out nominations to Misty Copeland (On The Town) for Entertainer of the Year and Julliard Alum Corey Hawkins (Romeo & Juliet) for Best Actor in the critically acclaimed hip-hop film “Straight Outta Compton.”

David Alan Grier racked up NAACP nominations for his work in “The Wiz” as well as his NBC comedy “The Carmichael Show,” alongside his costar Loretta Divine (Dreamgirls) who was also recognized for her work in the sitcom.  Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple) received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her charming portrayal of Taystee on “OITNB.”

Beautiful Broadway ladies are taking over the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture category as Angela Bassett (The Mountaintop) and Jennifer Hudson (The Color Purple) earned nominations for their roles in “Chi-Raq,” while Phylicia Rashad (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) and Tessa Thompson (Smart People) both got noms for the new box-office hit “Creed.”

Broadway Black would like to send a HUGE congratulations to all of the nominees!  We’ll be glued to our screens on awards day providing you with all the glamorous details.  Now, who do YOU want to win?

The post Award Season: The Nominations Are IN! appeared first on Broadway Black.

Howard University

Taraji Henson, Anthony Anderson, Marlon Wayans and Phylicia Rashad are just a few of the distinguished alumni from Howard University. The Department of Theatre Arts offers several major areas of concentrated study which lead to a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre Arts. Areas of concentration in Theatre Arts include the Performing Arts; Acting, Musical Theatre, and Dance; Theatre Arts Administration and Theatre Technology. Minors in Theatre Arts, Dance Arts, Theatre Arts Administration, Technical Theatre, and Playwriting are also available to non-Theatre Arts students. According to the website,

“Howard University’s Department of Theatre Arts is an internationally acclaimed leader and producer of artistic merit. Each season the Department of Theatre Arts presents classical and contemporary plays in its two-theatre complex. These plays offer not only entertainment, but also a forum for ideas and discussion.”

Spelman and Morehouse College

Spelman and Morehouse Colleges share a spot on this list because Morehouse students can obtain their BA in Drama, with an optional concentration in Dance, by attending classes at Spelman. Additionally, one of the highlights for Drama students this year includes Spelman hosting a 90-minute distance learning opportunity with the Broadway Theatre League. According to the department website,

“The drama and dance curriculum is designed to offer a challenging theater arts program that encourages discovery, creativity and scholarship for those students whose special interests and talents lead them to the department of drama and dance; to impart to all majors the formal preparation necessary for advanced academic or professional study; to offer the Spelman student experiences in theater arts, giving her broad-based exposure to the various aspects of drama and dance; and to contribute to the cultural enrichment of Spelman College, the AU Center, and the community at large.”

Hampton University

In Hampton University’s School of Liberal Arts, theatre students may choose from a Bachelor of Arts degree in either Performance or Technical Theatre. According to the department’s website,

“The area of Theatre Arts exists to provide the best available preparation for those students who wish to pursue the craft of theatre. Enrollment in the Theatre Arts area is designed to give students experience and training in theatre management, production, and organization. Those students with interests and abilities in acting, directing, designing, construction, management and playwriting will find opportunities for expression and growth…In the department’s production organization, the Hampton Players and Company, students gain experience in every aspect of theatre, from box office operations to set construction. The faculty and students in the theatre program hold memberships in, and attend meetings at the Southeastern Theatre Conference, the National Association for Dramatics and Speech Arts, the Virginia Theatre Association, the American Theatre in Higher Education, and the United States Institute for Technical Theatre.”

North Carolina A&T State University

In 2015, North Carolina A&T State University ranked as the best HBCU in North Carolina for Theatre Arts according to http://hbcu-colleges.com/. Located in Greensboro, North Carolina NCAT offers prospective theatre students

“an outstanding Bachelor of Fine Arts program that is dedicated to professionally training a student in his or her chosen area of either acting or technology. Our students have won numerous regional and national awards at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. We have been invited to Region IV KCACTF competitions sixteen times and twice to the national festival held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. of Theatre.”

NCAT’s program is one of only two HBCUs in the United States that offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre with an accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Theatre. Students may choose a concentration in the area of either Acting or Theatre Technology.

Florida A&M University

Since the 1930’s, theatre at Florida A&M University or FAMU has had a rich and storied legacy. A succession of passionate and committed educators has built a theatre program that currently offers two degree options, the Bachelor of Arts and the Bachelor of Science for those students who concentrate in Technical Theatre or Theatre Management. Additionally, students may elect concentrations in either Performance, Design/Technical Production, or Management. According to the website, the department ascribes to

“The belief that theatre students profit most by a basic understanding of the totality of theatre before pursuing specializations … The program in theatre offers pre-professional undergraduate preparation by combining acting, directing, designing and production with literary, historical, managerial and creative study of drama.”

While this list is far from comprehensive, the HBCUs listed have a wealth of history, educational resources and dedicated support designed to ensure the success of Black students attempting to obtain degrees in Theatre.

Honorable Mentions

Fayetteville State University

Morgan State University

North Carolina Central University

The post School’s in Session: Top 5 Theatre Programs Designed For Black Students appeared first on Broadway Black.

Leading the way is Broadway veteran and Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning actress Viola Davis who was nominated for lead actress in a drama for her role as “Annalise Keating” in ABC’s “How to Get Away With Murder”. Davis won Tony and Drama Desk Awards for her role as “Rose” in August Wilson’s Fences in 2010 and Tonya in Wilson’s King Hedley II in 2001. Davis also won another Drama Desk Award for her work in the 2004 off-Broadway production of Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage.

Davis wasn’t the only actress from “How to Get Away With Murder” who received an Emmy nomination.

Stage and film heavyweight Cicely Tyson received a nomination for guest actress in a drama for her appearance as Davis’ mother. Tyson is no stranger to theatre, having appeared in more than a dozen stage plays beginning with 1957’s Dark of the Moon. In 2013, she won a Tony Award for her spectacular portrayal of “Miss Carrie Watts” in The Trip to Bountiful. She also won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for the role.

Theater mainstay and Broadway star Titus Burgess was nominated for supporting actor in a comedy series for his role as “Titus Andromedon” in the Netflix hit “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”. Burgess was widely acclaimed for his role as “Sebastian” in The Little Mermaid and “Nicely-Nicely Johnson” in the 2009 revival of Guys and Dolls.

Other notable African-American Broadway veterans who received Emmy nominations include:

Reg E. Cathey

Cathey nominated for guest actor in a drama for his role in the Netflix political drama “House of Cards”, has appeared in several Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. In 2002, he won an Obie Award for Ensemble Performance for Talk.

Andre Braugher

Braugher who’s appeared in productions of The Whipping Man in 2011 and Hamlet in 2008, was nominated as a supporting actor in a comedy for “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”.

Angela Bassett

Bassett made her Broadway debut in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone in 1988. After a successful film career, she returned to Broadway opposite Samuel L. Jackson in The Mountaintop in 2012. Bassett received a supporting actress in a limited series/movie Emmy nomination for her role in “American Horror Story: Freak Show”. 

Khandi Alexander

Alexander, who appeared in the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls, was nominated as guest actress in a drama for her role as “Maya Pope” in “Scandal”.

Also, Taraji P. Henson who was a Musical Theatre Major in college will make history alongside Viola Davis. The ladies will be the first African-American best actress, drama category nominees to be nominated at the same time.

We can’t forget Queen Latifah for her countless roles in musical movies (Hairspray, Chicago, & now Bessie) or Uzo Aduba who, before OITNB, appeared on Broadway in the musical Godspell and the play Coram Boy.

The Complete list for the 18 black nominees for the 67th Annual Emmy Awards:

1. Viola Davis, How To Get Away With Murder (lead actress drama)
2. Taraji P. Henson, Empire (lead actress drama)
3. David Oyelowo,Nightingale (lead actor limited series/movie)
4. Queen Latifah, Bessie (lead actress limited series/movie)
5.  Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine (supporting actor comedy)
6. Anthony Anderson, black-ish (lead actor, comedy series)
7. Don Cheadle, House of Lies (lead actor, comedy series)
8. Uzo Aduba, Orange Is The New Black (supporting actress, drama series)
9. Reg. E. Cathey, House of Cards (guest actor in a drama series)
10. Cicely Tyson, How To Get Away With Murder (guest actress, drama)
11. Khandi Alexander, Scandal (guest actress, drama)
12. Keegan-Michael Kay, Key & Peele (supporting actor, comedy series)
13. Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (supporting actor, comedy series)
14. Niecy Nash, Getting On (supporting actress, comedy series)
15. Michael Kenneth Williams, Bessie (supporting actor, limited series/movie)
16. Regina King, American Crime (supporting actress, limited series/movie)
17. Angela Bassett, American Horror Story: Freak Show (supporting actress, limited series/movie)
18. Mo’Nique, Bessie (supporting actress, limited series/movie)

The post Broadway’s Black Actors Receive Record Breaking Emmy Nominations appeared first on Broadway Black.

Being an actor or performer of color was difficult in the 1960s; just ask Harry Belafonte or Lena Horne, and even in 2015 there are still actors of color that face discrimination in this business (Um. Hello? #OscarSoWhite). Take for example Hollywood’s famous roundtable discussions, talks that bring actors from different backgrounds together to engage in candid dialogue. They touch on pressing issues such as racism, sexism, ageism that effect them while navigating the business.

On Aug. 28, 1963 –the same day as Mr. Luther King Jr.’s I Have A Dream speech–Harry Belafonte, Charlton Heston, Sidney Poitier, David Schoenburn, Joseph Manckiewicz, Marlon Brando, and James Baldwin sat down to discuss the meaning of civil rights after have attending the march.

Harry on whether or not he believes America can achieve the dream Martin Luther King Jr. talks about;

“I am not so certain it will be achieved without violence. Because the negro people have conducted themselves non-violently. The 200,000 people that were there today; there were many predictions that one could take book on whether there would be a display of violence by all the extreme factions and whatnot. But the truth of the matter is that the people who came to that gathering today were people in great anguish who come from the Birminghams and come from the Jackson, Mississippi’s and they came there with anguish and with hurt and with dignity and with integrity and it was one of the most orderly displays I’ve ever seen of 200,000 people. If the Bull Conners continue to release the bull dogs on the people as an answer to their legitimate cries, if they continue to use cattle rods to prod them, if they continue to use hoses to whip them through the streets, the human heart, and human body can only contain so much. There must come a point, if  they’re pushed to it, for retaliation. So once again I put the emphasis on who it is that will precipitate it. Because the Negro community, I think I can speak for most of the 20 million Negros are committed to this thing being done non-violently.”

Sidney on his involvement in the movement and the “negro question”;

“Well, yes I am forced to participate because it is my conviction that my country has to successfully negotiate the “negro question.” It is to me not a problem, it’s the question of the negro. The unsettled question of the negro in America, we must as a country successfully negotiate that before we can, with any degree of honesty, try to become eligible for participation in the future. We must negotiate other great questions that face us today. The stamina, the texture, of our endeavor, to solve the negro question will exemplify for me the kind of interest the country as a whole has in doing the things that are necessary for us to be entitled to a future.”

More recently, The Hollywood Reporter released their annul Emmy Roundtable Dramatic Actresses: Viola Davis, Taraji P. Henson, Jessica Lange, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Lizzie Caplan. This particular discussion dealt more with what they faced in Hollywood as black women, where they draw inspiration from and what roles they wanted to take on next. (Someone go ahead and bring a production of Hedda Gabler to Broadway with Viola as Hedda and Taraji as Thea please!!!)

Taraji on what motivates her to take on roles and the iconic Cookie Lyon;

“That’s how I was trained. It’s never been about the money for me. I mean, I went from being an Oscar nominee [forThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button] to No. 10 on the call sheet. I’ve never once thought, “I’m now part of some elite group of actors; I’m never going to do theatre again or do an indie again.” If I fall in love with the role, I don’t care if it’s outside in the parking lot.

Cookie scared the hell out of me. Just before I got the role, I’d said, “F— it all, I’m going back to theatre.” I felt lazy and like I needed to sharpen the tools. So I did theatre at The Pasadena Playhouse. Then my manager said,”You have to read this script.” I’m like, “Hip-hop? Oh my God, what are they trying to do? Fox is going to pick this up? This isn’t HBO?” And then I got nervous and started pacing the floor. “Oh my God, Cookie is bigger than life. You will love her or hate her.” Empire has forced people to have conversations that they were afraid to have. And that is what art is supposed to do. I just didn’t know it was going to shake things up this much!”

Viola what drew her to Annalise Keating and what she would like to do next;

“There was absolutely no precedent for it. I had never seen a 49-year-old, dark-skinned woman who is not a size 2 be a sexualized role in TV or film. I’m a sexual woman, but nothing in my career has ever identified me as a sexualized woman. I was the prototype of the “mommified” role. Then all of a sudden, this part came, and fear would be an understatement. When I saw myself for the first time in the pilot episode, I was mortified. I saw the fake eyelashes and, “Are you kidding me? Who is going to believe this?” And then I thought: “OK, this is your moment to not typecast yourself, to play a woman who is sexualized and do your investigative work to find out who this woman is and put a real woman on TV who’s smack-dab in the midst of this pop fiction.

I’d like to go back to Broadway and revisit [Henrik Ibsen’s] Hedda Gabler at some point. But I mostly want what [actress] Lynn Redgrave said to me once. I did a reading of Agnes of God with her right before she died. She told me she’d left L.A. many years ago, and I asked her why. She said one thing she felt after many years in the business was that her past hadn’t counted for anything. I want to feel like my past has counted for something. I’ve been doing this for 27 years. I’ve performed in basements, churches, off-Broadway. I want the work to reflect my level of gifts and talent. I don’t want it to reflect my color, my sex or my age. That’s what I want most.”

It’s important that these roundtables exist and even more important that people of color are represented in them, letting their voices be heard. We’ve been silenced for so long, it’s extremely inspiring to hear when actors/actresses are using their platform to share their experiences and speak out against injustice. Whether it be in their field or in relation to the current state of America. After all, they are people too, they navigate through this world just the same as we do. Even though they have a bit more glitz and glamor, underneath it all they use their art to inspire and cultivate minds just like art should.

The post Hollywood Roundtable Then & Now: Social Justice & Creating Art appeared first on Broadway Black.

One series that gained huge popularity last year was Variety and PBS SoCaL’s “Actors on Actors,” which will have a second installment on June 14 and 21. The first installment of “Actors on Actors” was nominated for an Emmy in the entertainment programming category.

The series features one-on-one conversations between actors including Queen Latifah with Taraji P. Henson, Jane Fonda with Tony Award Winner Viola Davis, Claire Danes with Don Cheadle, Gina Rodriguez with Uzo Aduba, and several others. The conversations cover subjects that pertain to the craft of acting and the industry itself such as: their process, why they chose to move to television, fighting for roles, and playing complex women in television.

“After the great success from our initial partnership with Variety, PBS SoCal is excited to once again bring these intimate conversations to our esteemed viewers,” said Andy Russell, PBS SoCaL COO. “Variety Studios: Actors on Actors” gives the PBS audience an informative and in-depth look at the behind-the-scenes workings of the entertainment industry similar to the extraordinary journalism that Variety provides on a daily basis.”

“Variety Studio: Actors on Actors” is presented by Autograph Collection Hotels, Marriott International’s distinctive portfolio of hotels. The series is sponsored by Caesarstone.

In addition to the premiere on PBS, the Variety YouTube account has already began uploading some of the interviews, including those of Taraji P. Henson/Queen Latifah and Viola Davis/Jane Fonda.

Check out some of the interviews below!

The post Viola Davis, Queen Latifah, & More In Variety’s 2nd Actors on Actors Series appeared first on Broadway Black.

Henson joins the list of notable Howard Alum in the same program such as Phylicia Rashad, Debbie Allen, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Chadwick Boseman, Isaiah Washington and Anthony Anderson (whom she attended Howard with at the same time!)

Henson always knew she wanted to go into acting she just had to find her moment. After getting rejected from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington DC, she thought it meant her calling wasn’t acting and upon graduation enrolled at North Carolina A&T to major in Electrical Engineering. However, after failing Pre-Calc she realized that acting was where she needed to be, she told Vanity Fair;

Well, I was always a ham. I didn’t really get serious about [acting] until college. I auditioned for a performing arts high school, didn’t get accepted, and I thought that meant I couldn’t act. So I never acted again until I failed Pre-Calc in college. I decided I was going to try Electrical Engineering. That sounded good, it just sounded good! So I failed, and thank God I did because it forced me to study what I really wanted to, and that was acting.

She transferred to Howard University to major in Musical Theatre and we’re so grateful we didn’t lose her to the sciences. During her college days she was student by day, cruise singer by night.

Yes. I put myself through college. I worked at the Pentagon during the early part of the day, the middle part of the day I went to school full-time, and at night I was a singing-dancing waitress on this small dinner cruise called the Spirit of Washington.

A young Taraji P. Henson and her mother, Bernice Gordon.

Henson has been one of my favorite actresses for a long time (and not just because she also hails from the DMV, like myself). Her hustle and dedication to the business is just amazing, and I just love watching her get all the attention and love that she deserves. While she is most known for her film and TV roles such as Baby Boy, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (which earned her an Oscar nod), Hustle & Flow, and now the cult hit Empire–Henson is no stranger to the stage; after all she majored in Theatre. In 2013, she was apart of the August Wilson‘s American Century Cycle readings at The Greene Space in NYC. Making her Wilson debut as Molly Cunningham in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone directed by Phylicia Rashad.

She was last seen in Pasadena Playhouse’s Above The Fold last winter, to which she received great reviews.

From the Pasadena Playhouse website:

Jane, an African-American newspaper reporter from New York, flies to a Southern university where three white fraternity members have been accused of raping a young African-American woman. Taking place amidst the shift from print to digital journalism, ABOVE THE FOLD asks tough questions about the exploitation of tragedy, the cost of success and the dangers that come when ambition collides with truth.

Did I also mention she sings and the woman has got some serious pipes on her. You saw Hustle & Flow, right? That was Henson providing vocals, which lead to her performing the Oscar winning song “It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp.” live at the Oscars. One of the greatest performances in Oscar history, in my opinion. Personally, I think Henson should just appease me by making her way over to the Great White Way in a revival of something, anything that allows her to show-off those pipes.

Check out Henson’s singing skills below and sound off in the comments.

The post Did You Know: Taraji P. Henson Was A Musical Theatre Major appeared first on Broadway Black.

On today: we celebrate the 70th birthday of the “distiller of the Black experience,” #AugustWilson. #AllAUGUSTAllDay. pic.twitter.com/lcWXEGfIrF

— Broadway Black (@BroadwayBlack) April 27, 2015

Our followers jumped at the opportunity to join in the praise…

 

“All of human life is universal…it is theatre that illuminates the ability to speak for all man” #AllAUGUSTAllDaypic.twitter.com/3JKP18WfW8

— Mind Bar (@by_Meghan) April 27, 2015

#AugustWilson wrote the Black voice for all decades… You think “outchea” would be included in a cycle for today? #AllAUGUSTAllDay — Congo Square Theater (@congosquareCHI) April 27, 2015

Cherished memory. The cast of 7Guitars @CENTERSTAGE_MD with The Man. Happy Birthday #AugustWilson #AllAUGUSTAllDay pic.twitter.com/IBRKsNC4aQ

— Linda Powell (@lindapnyc) April 28, 2015

#AugustWilson #quotes #AllAugustAllDay https://t.co/eMWT2IAT9w

— Goodman Theatre (@GoodmanTheatre) April 27, 2015

Happy Monday! Loving this #AllAUGUSTAllDay in celebration of August Wilson.

— ReBecca Theodore (@FilmFatale_NYC) April 27, 2015

4/27/45 — Frederick August Kittel is born. The world grew to know and love him as #AugustWilson. #AllAUGUSTAllDay. pic.twitter.com/HOzTAU1pDR

— Broadway Black (@BroadwayBlack) April 27, 2015

August Wilson was an American playwright who did the unheard of- penning ten plays. One for each decade of the twentieth century for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. The Century Cycle gave a glimpse into American history through the lens of the Black experience. It included: Fences, Jitney, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Gem of the Ocean, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Two Trains Running, Radio Golf, and King Hedley II. What made Wilson’s work so incredible is that he did not write the plays sequentially. In fact, the last play he wrote and staged, Gem of the Ocean, is actually the first in the cycle.

Many of today’s most successful black actors and actresses have been a part of August Wilson’s work. Talents like Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, James Earl Jones, Taraji P. Henson, Courtney B. Vance, Phylicia Rashad and too many others to list have all had the opportunity to live in Wilson’s worlds and obtain great success.

“I think the play offers (white Americans) a different way to look at black Americans… For instance, in ‘Fences’ they see a garbageman, a person they don’t really look at, although they see a garbageman every day. By looking at Troy’s life, white people find out that the content of this black garbageman’s life is affected by the same things- love, honor, beauty, betrayal, duty. Recognizing that these things are as much part of his life as theirs can affect how they think about and deal with black people in their lives.”

-“August Wilson, Theater’s Poet of Black America, Is Dead at 60” The New York Times, October 3, 2005.

August Wilson understood the power of the theatre and used it to its full potential by inserting honesty and realism into every play. The lines read like poetry- exuding love, pain, tragedy, joy, slight, and pride. There is a resounding truth in all of Wilson’s work. It connects us, not only to the Black experience, but to the human experience.

To Mr. Wilson we say thank you for loving our people as a whole. For not censoring our lives, but articulating the meanings to help us better understand ourselves. Thank you for your integrity and empowerment. For allowing your characters to be vivid, complex, angry, happy, confused, arrogant, and gracious. Thank you for creating substantial and sustainable work that is constantly giving to every generation until the end of time… Much love, sir.

The post All Hail King August Wilson! appeared first on Broadway Black.