Did You Know Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad Put Taraji P. Henson Through College?

Taraji P. Henson and Cedric the Entertainer paid a visit to The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon March 23, and it proved to be a reflective interview.

The stars of the upcoming Broadway revival of August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone talked about their extended professional history together, and the decisions throughout their lives that led them to this moment, with Henson sharing that "I was pregnant in college, and I didn't know how I was going to finish. And Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad started a scholarship in honor of their father. You had to sing, dance, and act, and me with my big old six-month-pregnant self, I did some choreography, I sang a song, and I did a monologue, and I won. I was able to finish school, and then cut to, I go to Hollywood, and she directs me in a sitcom. She played my lesbian mother when I did my first series regular on this show called The Division, on Lifetime. And then she now is directing me on Broadway, in my first Broadway show..." Well, full circle doesn't even begin to describe it. Check out their full interview below.

Directed by Golden Globe and four-time Emmy winner Allen, Joe Turner's Come and Gone will play Broadway’s Barrymore Theatre, the same theatre where the play premiered at in 1988. Previews will begin March 30, with an official opening night set for April 25, for a run through July 12.

As previously reported, the production will star Henson as Bertha Holly, Cedric the Entertainer as Seth Holly, Joshua Boone as Herald Loomis, and Ruben Santiago-Hudson as Bynum Walker. They will be joined onstage by Savannah Commodore and Dominique Skye Turner, who will share the role of Zonia Loomis; Bradley Stryker as Rutherford Selig; Tripp Taylor as Jeremy Furlow; and Christopher Woodley and Jackson Edward Davis, who will share the role of Reuben Scott. Jasmine Batchelor, Rosalyn Coleman, Thomas Michael Hammond, Cayden McCoy, and Kevyn Morrow will serve as understudies.

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Set in 1911, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone takes place in a Pittsburgh boarding house run by the steady Seth and the open-hearted Bertha Holly—a refuge for Black travelers navigating the upheaval of the Great Migration. Among them is Herald Loomis, a man searching for his lost wife—and for the self he lost during seven years of illegal enslavement under Joe Turner. The work is the second in Wilson's American Century Cycle.

Allen will lead a robust creative team, including Oscar, Emmy, and Tony winning costume designer Paul Tazewell, Tony winning scenic designer David Gallo, Drama Desk nominated lighting designer Stacey Derosier, Tony nominated lighting designer Justin Ellington, and Oscar, BAFTA, and Emmy winning hairstylist Mia Neal.

The original production premiered on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in March 1988, running for 105 performances. Under the direction of Lloyd Richards, the cast included Delroy Lindo and future film star Angela Bassett. The production earned Tony nominations for Best Play, Best Director, Best Featured Actor, and took the Best Featured Actress Tony Award for L. Scott Caldwell.

A revival came to Broadway in 2009 playing just 31 previews and 69 performances at the Belasco Theatre. Despite the brief run, the play was an awards season darling, with Roger Robinson winning the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Play and Brian MacDevitt winning the Tony for Best Lighting Design of a Play. The revival earned an additional four nominations, for Best Revival of a Play, Best Direction, Best Scenic Design, and Best Sound Design.

In 2024, Denzel Washington announced that, as a custodian on Wilson's legacy, Joe Turner's Come and Gone would be the fourth Wilson play adapted for the screen in his deal with Netflix. Existing films include Fences (2016), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020), and The Piano Lesson (2024). No further film details on Joe Turner's Come and Gone have been announced at this time. The film versions of Fences and The Piano Lessons were both preceded by Broadway stagings with much of the same cast.

Casting is by ARC Casting, and 101 Productions, Ltd. is serving as general manager. Brian Anthony Moreland is producing.