*In a highly anticipated Broadway revival, Taraji P. Henson and Cedric The Entertainer will take the stage as Bertha and Seth Holly in August Wilson’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” set to open in spring 2026 at a yet-to-be-named Shubert theater.
As Deadline reports, producer Brian Anthony Moreland announced the production, which will be helmed by acclaimed director and Broadway veteran Debbie Allen. “We are truly honored to return to August Wilson’s legacy,” Moreland stated, calling the play “Wilson’s seminal masterpiece — an unflinching exploration of pain, identity, and hope.”
The revival marks Henson’s Broadway acting debut, while Cedric debuted on Broadway in 2008’s “American Buffalo.” Set in 1911 Pittsburgh, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” follows Black travelers during the Great Migration, centering on Herald Loomis, a man searching for his wife and his identity after seven years of unlawful enslavement.
Here’s the synopsis: 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.
Moreland said, “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.”
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Meanwhile, you can catch Henson in one of her most emotionally charged roles yet in “Straw,” Tyler Perry’s new Netflix thriller that follows a single mother caught in an escalating storm of injustice, desperation, and impossible choices.
Henson plays Janiyah, a woman trying to get through another day while caring for her sick daughter. But what begins as a routine errand to cash a check spirals into a catastrophic ordeal when she’s wrongly accused of attempting a bank robbery.
“All she’s trying to do is cash her check and pay for her daughter’s lunch,” Henson told Entertainment Weekly. “If you’re a struggling single mother, you can’t always afford that regular lunch… and kids start teasing your kid. As parents, we feel our children’s pain deeper than them.”
The official synopsis sets the tone for the emotional and societal weight of the story: A single mother’s world unravels in chaos as her day goes from bad to worse to catastrophic while she struggles to care for her ill daughter. Pushed to the brink by a world that seems indifferent to her existence, she’s forced to confront impossible choices in a society that offers her no safety net.
Filmed in just four days, the production matched the intensity of the narrative. Henson managed to juggle this demanding shoot while still working on her Peacock limited series, “Fight Night.”
“That’s what I like about Tyler Perry, he’s fast, and I can be fast too,” she said. “He knew he had a limited amount of time with me. He used it wisely.”
The cast of “Straw” is a powerhouse ensemble featuring Sherri Shepherd, Teyana Taylor, Glynn Turman, Sinbad, and Rockmond Dunbar.
“This one is a thriller, and I’ve never done a thriller with Tyler,” Henson said. “There’s a twist that happens that you don’t see coming — a whodunnit, in a sense. I can’t give away too much, so I’m trying to talk around it, but there’s some crazy twists and turns in there that’ll take you by surprise, that absolutely take the character by surprise.”
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