The Tamesis
When Taraji P. Henson reprises her role in 2026’s The Coming and Going of Joe Turnershe received a long and warm applause. Makes her happy every time.
“It brought tears to my eyes,” Hanson said. “It’s really overwhelming because this isn’t a movie theater. Broadway is a destination. It’s not ‘Oh, I’m going to the AMC in Sherman Oaks’ or ‘I’m going to meet my girls at the AMC in Beverly Hills.’ You have to come to New York.” People came — they flew, they rode buses, they drove in RVs to see little old me, this girl from Southeast Washington, D.C., who had just had a dream. “
At the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Henson will make her Broadway debut as Bertha Holly, a woman who runs a cozy boarding house with her husband Seth (actor Cedric) in Pittsburgh during the Great Migration of 1911. There, lost souls like the mysterious pioneer Loomis (Joshua Boone) seek refuge and contemplate their complicated pasts.
Hansen describes Bertha as the “glue” of the operation: although she had no children, she was a devoted mother figure to the boarders, doing everything she could to make them feel at home – whether that was cooking them affectionate home-cooked meals or listening without judgment.
“Bertha was the moral compass and north star,” Hansen said. “She talked about love and laughter during a very dark time. The Great Migration was full of hope, but many people didn’t make it. Coming north wasn’t easy. People were searching for lost family members, reconnecting with their spirit and identity, and trying to find some sense of freedom. There was a lot going on, but when you came to Holly House, you were fed. You continued to be loved.”
This role came at the perfect time. Debbie Allen, the show’s director, called Henson and said, “I said yes right away.” She had been approached about Broadway roles before, including in “Shug Avery.” Purple— but other projects have been getting in the way. “I’m either empire Or make a movie,” she explained. “So this time, it was perfect. That’s why I think this show found me. In a way, mentally, I feel like I should do that. “
In fact, Hansen quickly adapted to the pace and rigor of live performance. “If you get emotional or tell a joke on stage, you know right away if the audience is feeling it. In film, you have to wait until they call cut, so it’s a delayed reaction. And you have no control. You can put fire in a can, baby, but they can go into the editing room and chop your performance. But when I’m on that stage? There’s no editor.”
