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FOR RELEASE ON MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2025

GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD^® WINNER AND ACADEMY AWARD^®,
TONY AWARD^®, SAG AWARD^®
& EMMY AWARD^® NOMINEE
TARAJI P. HENSON &
SIX-TIME NAACP IMAGE AWARDS^® WINNER
CEDRIC “THE ENTERTAINER”
TO STAR IN
AUGUST WILSON’S
“JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE”

DIRECTED BY
GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD AND FOUR-TIME EMMY AWARD WINNER
DEBBIE ALLEN

ON BROADWAY

SPRING 2026

New York, NY (June 30, 2025) – Producer Brian Anthony Moreland announced today that Golden Globe Award^® winner and Academy Award^®, Tony Award^®, SAG Award^®, and Emmy Award^® nominee Taraji P. Henson and six-time NAACP Image Award^® winner Cedric “The Entertainer” will star in a new production of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone on Broadway. Directed by Golden Globe Award and four-time Emmy Award winner Debbie Allen, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone will open in Spring 2026 at a Shubert Theatre to-be-announced.

Having previously served as a producer on the Tony Award nominated Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, this production marks Ms. Henson’s Broadway debut. Cedric “The Entertainer” returns to the stage after making his debut in 2008 in American Buffalo. They will portray wife and husband ‘Bertha Holly’ and ‘Seth Holly,’ respectively.

Mr. Moreland returns to Broadway following his record-setting productions of Mr. Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, starring Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington and Danielle Brooks, directed by LaTanya Richardson Jackson; and last season’s Othello, starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, directed by Kenny Leon.

Mr. Moreland shared, “We are truly honored to return to August Wilson’s legacy. 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.”

Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

Set in 1911, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone takes place in a Pittsburgh boarding house run by the steady Seth and the open-hearted Bertha Holly—a refuge for Black travelers navigating the upheaval of the Great Migration. Among them is Herald Loomis, a man searching for his lost wife—and for the self he lost during seven years of illegal enslavement under Joe Turner.

As old wounds surface and spiritual forces awaken, Loomis’s journey becomes a powerful quest for identity, belonging, and healing. Around him, others seek connection, purpose, and a future shaped by more than pain. Through poetic dialogue and deeply human characters, August Wilson crafts a story of resilience and rebirth.

The second play in Wilson’s American Century Cycle, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone is a moving meditation on memory, community, and the enduring hope of freedom reclaimed.

Ms. Allen made her Broadway debut in 1970 in Purlie and has since starred in Raisin, Ain’t Misbehavin’, West Side Story, and Sweet Charity. She made her Broadway directorial debut in 2008 with Cat on a Hot Tin Roof starring Terrence Howard, James Earl Jones, and Phylicia Rashad. It was recently announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that Ms. Allen will receive an honorary Oscar at the 2025 Governors Awards later this year.

Casting is by ARC Casting and 101 Productions, Ltd. are serving as general managers.

To sign up for more information, visit www.JoeTurnerBway.com.

BIOGRAPHIES

Debbie Allen (Director), a BFA graduate of Howard University in Theater and Classical Greek Studies, holds five honorary Doctorate degrees, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, was named a Kennedy Center honoree, and is an award-winning director/choreographer who has choreographed the Academy Awards a record ten times. She has directed and choreographed for legendary artists such as Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Gwen Verdon, Lena Horne, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dolly Parton, Savion Glover, and most recently Tyler Perry’s A Jazzman’s Blues.

Ms. Allen received the Golden Globe for her role as Lydia Grant in the 1980s hit series Fame, the Drama Desk Award for her portrayal of Anita in West Side Story, and is a four-time Emmy Award winner in Choreography for Fame (twice), The Motown 25th, and Christmas on the Square. She has also received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Movie Made for Television as Executive Producer of Christmas on the Square, and the Governors Award at the 73rd Emmys. Awarded ten Image Awards as director, actress, choreographer and producer for Fame, A Different World, Motown 25th, The Academy Awards, The Debbie Allen Special and Amistad, she has also directed the best that TV offers, including Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder, Jane The Virgin, Empire, Insecure, Ms. Pat, and Samuel L. Jackson’s The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey. She currently serves as Executive Producing Director of Grey’s Anatomy, where she recurs as Dr. Catherine Fox. She is the daughter of poet Vivian Ayers and Dr. Andrew Allen, wife to NBA All-Star Norman Nixon, sister to Phylicia Rashad, Tex Allen and Hugh Allen, mother of Vivian and Thump, and grandmother of four.

Taraji P. Henson (Bertha Holly) is an Academy Award-nominated actor, producer, #1 New York Times Best Selling author, mental health advocate, and entrepreneur with a globally celebrated career that extends beyond the screen.

In June 2025, Henson starred in Tyler Perry’s “Straw” for Netflix, which debuted as the #1 film globally on Netflix with over 25 million views in its debut week, followed by an additional 48.9 million in its second week, making it both the biggest week this year for a movie and the biggest week for a 2025 launch on Netflix. The film, which also includes performances by Sherri Shepherd and Teyana Taylor, follows a single mother (Henson) who faces a series of unfortunate events that lead her down an unexpected path. Additional projects this year include Apple TV+’s “Number One on the Call Sheet,” a two-part documentary that celebrates the achievements of Black actors in Hollywood, and CNN’s latest travel series “My Happy Place.”

Most recently, Henson starred in Peacock’s limited series, “Fight Night,” which launched as the most watched premiere in Peacock history and the #1 original drama. The show earned the NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Limited Television (Series, Special or Movie), and Henson took home the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Television (Series, Special or Movie).

She quickly rose to fame with her breakout role in Hustle & Flow, earning a Screen Actors Guild nomination and a BET Award for Best Actress. She was most recently seen in the award-winning musical adaptation of The Color Purple, winning an NAACP Image Award and receiving a Screen Actors Guild ensemble nomination. Other film highlights include Hidden Figures, Acrimony, Proud Mary, Think Like A Man and Think Like A Man Too, Smokin’ Aces, No Good Deed, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

On television, she has garnered multiple Primetime Emmy Award nominations, most recently for her guest turn on “Abbott Elementary.” Previously, Henson won a Golden Globe Award, received multiple Emmy nominations, and became the first Black woman to win a Critics Choice Television Award in the Best Actress in a Drama Series category for her portrayal of ‘Cookie Lyon’ on the smash hit series, “Empire.” Her producorial efforts on the play, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Play in 2024.

In June 2024, she released her #1 NY Times Best Selling, and NAACP Image Award Winning children’s book, You Can Be a Good Friend (No Matter What!). Henson also released her New York Times bestselling novel Around the Way Girl in October 2016.

In 2018, Henson created the Boris L. Henson Foundation, which exists to both normalize and improve access to mental health services for Black communities in hopes of eradicating the stigma around seeking help and support. Furthering her passion for creating and uplifting her community and beyond, Henson founded TPH by Taraji in 2020, an award-winning brand of inclusive, spa-inspired products. In 2024, Henson further expanded her business portfolio as the strategic advisor and creative collaborator for Seven Daughters Moscato. For Taraji, this collaboration is about more than wine; it’s about creating opportunities for magical moments of connection and lasting memories.

Cedric “The Entertainer” (Seth Holly). Cedric Antonio Kyles, known to audiences around the world as Cedric the Entertainer, is a multi-hyphenate creative force: executive producer, director, actor, comedian, and author. With a career spanning over three decades, Cedric has become one of the most celebrated and versatile figures in entertainment.

Cedric currently stars in and executive produces the hit CBS comedy “The Neighborhood,” recently renewed for its 8^th and final season which will premiere fall 2025. A consistent ratings winner, the series remains one of the top three most-watched comedies on broadcast television. His performance earned him a 2023 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series – his sixth nomination in the category.

In 2023, Cedric co-created and starred in “Kings of BBQ,” a docu-series on Hulu that celebrated his shared love of food and culture with longtime friend Anthony Anderson. The series helped pave the way for their joint lifestyle brand, AC Barbeque, which opened its first brick-and-mortar location in May 2025 at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles.

Cedric made his debut as a novelist with Flipping Boxcars (Amistad/HarperCollins), a literary noir in collaboration with Alan Eisenstock. Inspired by stories from his own family, the book offers a fast-paced fictional crime caper rooted in legacy and cultural history.

On stage, he teamed up with Toni Braxton for Love & Laughter, a music and comedy residency at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. He also reprised his role as ‘Uncle Bobby’ in Disney+s revival of “The Proud Family,” “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.”

Cedric’s past credits span television (“The Steve Harvey Show,” “Cedric the Entertainer Presents,” “The Last O.G.,” “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”) and film, with standout roles in the Barbershop franchise, The Original Kings of Comedy, and Paul Schrader’s First Reformed. His voice work includes major animated hits such as Madagascar, Ice Age, Dr. Dolittle 2, and Planes.

He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019 and remains deeply committed to philanthropy through his foundation, The Kyles Family Foundation, which supports organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club of America, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, The Brotherhood Crusade, and others.

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