Joe Turner’s Come and Gone Starts Tonight on Broadway With Taraji P. Henson and Cedric The Entertainer
August Wilson’s drama begins its 16-week limited engagement at the Barrymore Theatre under the direction of Debbie Allen
What to Know
- Joe Turner’s Come and Gone begins performances March 30 at Broadway’s Barrymore Theatre, with an official opening set for April 25; the August Wilson revival runs for a 16-week limited engagement through July 19
- Taraji P. Henson and Cedric The Entertainer lead the cast, alongside Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Joshua Boone, with Debbie Allen returning to Broadway directing after nearly two decades
- Set in 1911 and part of Wilson’s American Century Cycle, the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama follows Herald Loomis’ search for identity and redemption during the Great Migration
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, the drama by Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson, begins performances at Broadway's Barrymore Theatre on March 30. Its official opening is set for April 25. The 16-week limited engagement is scheduled to run through July 19. Debbie Allen directs, making a return to Broadway directing after almost two decades.
The cast features Taraji P. Henson as Bertha Holly, Cedric The Entertainer as Seth Holly, Ruben Santiago-Hudson as Bynum Walker, Joshua Boone as Herald Loomis, Bradley Stryker as Rutherford Selig, Tripp Taylor as Jeremy Furlow, Maya Boyd as Molly Cunningham, Abigail C. Onwunali as Martha Pentecost and Nimene Sierra Wureh as Mattie Campbell. Savannah Commodore and Dominique Sky Turner share the role of Zonia Loomis; Jackson Edward Davis and Christopher Woodley share the role of Reuben Scott. Jasmine Batchelor, Rosalyn Coleman, Thomas Michael Hammond, Cayden McCoy and Kevyn Morrow serve as understudies.
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone is lead produced by Brian Anthony Moreland and features costume design by two-time Tony winner Paul Tazewell, set design by Tony winner David Gallo, lighting design by Stacey Derosier, sound design by Justin Ellington and hair by Mia Neal.
Set in 1911, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone unfolds in a Pittsburgh boarding house run by the steadfast Seth and warm-hearted Bertha Holly. Their home offers refuge to Black travelers navigating the upheaval of the Great Migration. Among them is Herald Loomis, a man on a quest to reunite with his lost wife—and to reclaim the self he was forced to abandon during seven years of forced labor under Joe Turner. As buried traumas surface and spiritual forces awaken, Loomis’ journey becomes one of profound self-discovery. Around him, others seek connection, direction and healing from a past marked by pain. Through poetic dialogue and vivid, deeply human characters, Wilson crafts a powerful meditation on identity, resilience and renewal.
Premiering on Broadway at the Barrymore Theatre in 1988, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone is the second installment in Wilson’s 10-part American Century Cycle chronicling the African American experience over the 20th century.
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