Joe Turner’s Come and Gone Revives August Wilson

The revival opened on April 25 2024 at New York’s Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Debbie Allen directs, with Taraji P. Henson as Bertha Holly and Cedric the Entertainer as Seth Holly. The run is slated through July 26; understudies are Jasmine Batchelor, Rosalyn Coleman, Thomas Michael Hammond, Cayden McCoy and Kevyn Morrow.

Photos: JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE Cast Walks the Red Carpet on Opening Night

‘Joe Turner’s Come and Gone’ is the second play in Wilson’s American Century Cycle, a ten-play series that chronicles African-American life through each twentieth-century decade. First staged on Broadway in 1988, the drama follows Black travelers in a 1911 Pittsburgh boarding house, confronting the legacies of enslavement and the Great Migration.

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David Gallo designs an industrial set of smokestacks and steel. The cast includes Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Bynum Walker), Joshua Boone (Herald Loomis), Maya Boyd (Molly Cunningham), Savannah Commodore/Dominique Skye Turner (Zonia Loomis), Abigail Onwunali (Martha Loomis), Bradley Stryker (Rutherford Selig), Tripp Taylor (Jeremy Furlow), Christopher Woodley & Jackson Edward Davis (Reuben Scott), and Nimene Sierra Wureh (Mattie Campbell).

Photos: JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE Cast Walks the Red Carpet on Opening Night

Opening night drew a Black Hollywood crowd, including LL Cool J and Simone Smith, Tyler Perry, Meagan Good, Jonathan Majors, Eva Marcille, Kandi Burruss, Tiny Harris, Shamea Morton, Riley Burruss and Maya Boyd. Former First Lady Michelle Obama attended. Henson wore a brown leather Jagne dress; the Entertainer appeared in a gray double-breasted suit with a wide-brim hat.

Gallery: Black Hollywood Celebrates 'Joe Turner’s Come and Gone'

The revival ‘brings August Wilson’s classic back to the stage’ and stresses its ‘urgent, timeless relevance.’ Casting Henson and the Entertainer is presented as a draw for modern audiences; the production runs through late July.

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The AMNY review praises the set but cites a lack of cohesion as the flaw. It notes limited range for Henson’s Bertha Holly, muted depth in Boone’s Herald Loomis, and intrusive musical underscoring. The review highlights a gap between the production’s promotional emphasis on Debbie Allen’s award pedigree and her limited Broadway directing experience.

Photos: JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE Cast Takes Opening Night Bows

"The new Broadway revival of “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” gets a lot right." — AMNY reviewer

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"The production’s central problem is not any single misstep but a lack of cohesion." — AMNY reviewer

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"Cedric the Entertainer is the clear standout as Seth Holly, delivering a performance that is relaxed, funny, and fully lived-in." — AMNY reviewer

Gallery: Black Hollywood Celebrates 'Joe Turner’s Come and Gone'

"Taraji P. Henson lends warmth and ease to Bertha Holly, but the role itself offers limited dramatic range." — AMNY reviewer

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"The red carpet had fashion, cultural pride, and the kind of support we love seeing from Black Hollywood." — HelloBeautiful staff

Gallery: Black Hollywood Celebrates 'Joe Turner’s Come and Gone'

The revival continues at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre through July 26, with no announced extensions.

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