Taraji P. Henson and Cedric the Entertainer to Star in Broadway Revival of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

 

Debbie Allen headshot (Marvin Joseph at Washington Post).jpg

Taraji P. Henson and Cedric the Entertainer to Star in Broadway Revival of August Wilson’s 

Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Taraji P. Henson will make her Broadway debut and Cedric the Entertainer will return to the stage in a new production of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, scheduled to open in spring 2026 at a Shubert Theater to be announced.

The revival will be directed by Debbie Allen, the Golden Globe and four-time Emmy Award winner, marking her first Broadway directing project since her 2008 production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The upcoming staging is being produced by Brian Anthony Moreland, whose previous Broadway work includes The Piano Lesson and Othello.

Henson and Cedric will portray Bertha and Seth Holly, the married couple who run a Pittsburgh boarding house in 1911, a way station for Black travelers during the upheaval of the Great Migration. Wilson’s play centers on Herald Loomis, a man searching for his wife and for the self he lost during seven years of illegal enslavement under the titular Joe Turner. The production is part of Wilson’s ten-play American Century Cycle, a landmark body of work chronicling Black life across decades of the 20th century.

“This play is Wilson’s seminal masterpiece—an unflinching exploration of pain, identity, and hope,” Moreland said in a statement. “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.”

Henson, a Golden Globe winner and multiple Emmy and Oscar nominee, has had a banner year, starring in Tyler Perry’s Straw for Netflix, which debuted as the platform’s most-watched film globally in 2025. She also earned critical acclaim for her role in The Color Purple and her producing work on Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, which was nominated for a Tony Award earlier this year. Her role as Cookie Lyon in Fox’s Empire made her a household name and earned her multiple awards and nominations.

Cedric the Entertainer, who last appeared on Broadway in American Buffalo (2008), currently stars in and executive produces The Neighborhood, one of broadcast television’s most-watched comedies. He received a 2023 NAACP Image Award for his performance and has a wide-ranging resume spanning film, television, literature, and voice acting.

Allen, whose Broadway roots date back to her 1970 debut in Purlie, has also appeared in West Side Story, Sweet Charity, and Ain’t Misbehavin’. She has directed high-profile television episodes and specials, including Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy, and multiple Academy Awards telecasts. In addition to her work on stage and screen, Allen was recently announced as an honoree at the 2025 Governors Awards, where she will receive an honorary Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Joe Turner’s Come and Gone was first produced at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in 1988 and received a Broadway revival in 2009, earning Tony Awards for both Roger Robinson and Brian MacDevitt. Wilson, who died in 2005, remains one of the most influential playwrights of the modern American stage.

Additional casting will be announced at a later date. General management is by 101 Productions, Ltd., with casting by ARC. For more information or to sign up for updates, visit JoeTurnerBway.com.