Taraji P. Henson to Make Broadway Debut in August Wilson Play
The production — the play's third on Broadway since 1988 — will be directed by Debbie Allen.
'Joe Turner's Come and Gone' is a part of Wilson's Century Cycle, which chronicles Black life in America with one play set in each decade of the 20th century. 'Joe Turner' is set in 1911; like most of the plays, it takes place in Pittsburgh.
The drama is set in a boardinghouse peopled by migrants from the rural South who are searching, suffering and spiritual. Henson and Cedric will play the couple, Bertha and Seth Holly, who run the boardinghouse.
Henson studied theater at Howard University, but her career has been spent in film ('The Curious Case of Benjamin Button') and television ('Empire'). This will be her Broadway debut as an actor; she was credited as among the producers of a 2023 Broadway play, 'Jaja's African Hair Braiding.'
Cedric, a comedian who has also worked on television ('The Neighborhood'), has one previous Broadway credit; he starred in a very short-lived 2008 revival of David Mamet's 'American Buffalo.'
Allen, best known as a performer and choreographer, has one previous directing credit on Broadway — she directed a 2008 revival of 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.' The 'Joe Turner' revival is being produced by Brian Moreland, who previously produced a 2022 revival of Wilson's 'The Piano Lesson,' as well as last season's production of 'Othello.'
Moreland said in a statement that the show would open next spring at an unspecified Shubert theater; the rest of the cast has not yet been announced.
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