Vineyard Theatre has announced the first production of its 2026-2027 season, and it is coming in with a lot of energy. Wayne Brady will star in Ms. Blakk For President, with performances beginning October 15, 2026 and opening night set for November 1. The production runs for six weeks.
The show is co-written by Tina Landau and Tarell Alvin McCraney, with Landau also directing. It is described as part campaign rally, part nightclub performance, part confessional — and all party.
The story is inspired by the true life of Terence Alan Smith, a drag performer and activist who ran for president as Joan Jett Blakk, the first and only Black drag queen candidate for President of the United States. Set in the early 1990s at the height of the AIDS epidemic, the production follows Joan and the newly formed Queer Nation Chicago as they set out to bring queer politics into the national conversation, culminating in a push onto the floor of the Democratic National Convention. Brady will play both Terence and Joan.
An earlier version of the show was staged at Steppenwolf Theatre in 2019, and a planned Vineyard production in 2020 did not move forward. This marks the show’s return with a new script and a new creative team behind it.
Brady brings a deep theater résumé to the role. On Broadway, he has appeared in Moulin Rouge! The Musical, The Wiz, Chicago, Kinky Boots, and Freestyle Love Supreme. He is also widely known for his Emmy Award-winning work on Whose Line Is It Anyway? and his long run as host of Let’s Make a Deal.
McCraney is one of the most significant voices in American theater and film. His script In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue became the basis for the Oscar-winning film Moonlight, for which he and Barry Jenkins won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He also created the Peabody Award-winning OWN drama David Makes Man, executive produced by Oprah Winfrey and Michael B. Jordan, and wrote High Flying Bird, which premiered on Netflix and was directed by Steven Soderbergh. He currently serves as Artistic Director of Geffen Playhouse.
Landau’s recent Broadway work includes Redwood starring Idina Menzel, Floyd Collins, and The SpongeBob Musical, for which she served as conceiver and director.
Vineyard Theatre, located in New York City’s Union Square, has a track record of developing work that moves to Broadway, including Dana H., Is This a Room, Indecent, and The Lyons. Ms. Blakk For President is the first of three productions planned for the upcoming season. Additional cast, creative team, and public ticketing information will be announced at a later date. Vineyard memberships for the 2026-2027 season are on sale now.