Broadway just added another heavyweight to its producing roster. Tyler Perry has officially joined the producing team of August Wilson’s revival of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, starring Taraji P. Henson and Cedric the Entertainer, ahead of its April 25 opening night at Broadway’s Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
The announcement was made by lead producer Brian Anthony Moreland, who confirmed Perry will step into a hands-on co-producer role—contributing financially while also participating in co-producer meetings and creative decision-making, similar to fellow co-producer Kandi Burruss.
While celebrity producing credits can sometimes be symbolic, Perry is expected to be actively involved in the production’s development.
In a statement, Perry shared his excitement about joining the team:
“August Wilson’s work is a beautiful cornerstone of the Black experience… Audiences are truly in for a treat, and I can’t wait for them to experience what this team has created.”
He also highlighted his personal connections to the production, noting collaborations with cast members including Taraji P. Henson and Joshua Boone, as well as director Debbie Allen.
Debbie Allen—a multi-hyphenate legend in her own right—is helming the revival, bringing Wilson’s work back to Broadway with a powerhouse creative vision.
A major cultural revival returns to Broadway
Written by Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone is the second play in his iconic American Century Cycle. Set in 1911, the story unfolds in a Pittsburgh boarding house run by Seth and Bertha Holly, where Black travelers navigate identity, trauma, and renewal during the Great Migration.
The central journey follows Herald Loomis, played by Joshua Boone, a man searching for his lost wife—and himself—after years of forced labor under Joe Turner.
The production features a large ensemble cast, including:
- Taraji P. Henson as Bertha Holly
- Cedric the Entertainer as Seth Holly
- Ruben Santiago-Hudson as Bynum Walker
- Joshua Boone as Herald Loomis
- Maya Boyd as Molly Cunningham
- Savannah Commodore and Dominique Skye Turner as Zonia Loomis (shared role)
- Abigail Onwunali as Martha Loomis
- Bradley Stryker as Rutherford Selig
- Tripp Taylor as Jeremy Furlow
- Christopher Woodley and Jackson Edward Davis as Reuben Scott (shared role)
- Nimene Sierra Wureh as Mattie Campbell
Understudies include: Jasmine Batchelor, Rosalyn Coleman, Thomas Michael Hammond, Cayden McCoy, and Kevyn Morrow.
This revival isn’t just another Broadway run—it’s a return of one of Wilson’s most spiritually resonant works, staged in the same Broadway home where it has appeared in past decades. With Perry joining the producing team, the production gains another major voice in Black storytelling and entertainment ownership on Broadway.
The production brings Wilson’s second play in his American Century Cycle back to Broadway, continuing the legacy of one of the most important chroniclers of Black life in American theatre.
As Perry joins the producing team, the revival gains additional industry weight behind an already star-driven creative lineup led by Debbie Allen and anchored in Wilson’s enduring text.
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone is currently in previews and opens April 25 at the Barrymore Theatre.