Tony-nominated producer Brian Anthony Moreland is making history on Broadway

Brian Anthony Moreland is a Tony Award-nominated producer who has worked on numerous hit shows and joins a short list of Black producers working on Broadway.

He is home at the Barrymore Theatre, working on his third show as lead producer there. Last season's "Othello" starred Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, and in 2022, August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson" starred Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington and Danielle Brooks. 

Now, "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" is his newest show.

"You eat, sleep and breathe your show"

"We're going back and restoring this show back at its original theater, the Barrymore Theatre," Moreland said.

Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson will make her Broadway debut as "Bertha."

"Taraji was the first choice and the last choice because she said yes immediately," Moreland said. "It happened to be a play that she absolutely personally loves, and she also personally loves August Wilson."

Cedric the Entertainer will be her co-star as "Seth," and Debbie Allen will direct the revival.

But a key role in all of this is the lead producer.

"These are the ones that sign their name to the SEC. They are the ones that go and talk with the theater owners. They are ones that are really at the steering wheel on the day-to-day basis," Moreland said.

Lead producers also hire talent, have conversations with them, come up with a marketing strategy and "really raise all the capital for a production."

"You eat, sleep and breathe your show," he said.

Moreland said aside from his financial responsibilities, his "sole purpose is to simply create an environment where everyone else can be successful. That's it."

"I like to be entertained"

Moreland's successful run of productions stems from something simple, he says:  "I like to be entertained. I like a variety of entertainment."

His resume also includes "Thoughts of a Colored Man," the first play on Broadway written, directed, produced by and starring Black artists.

"'Thoughts of a Colored Man' was a journey that was very close to my heart. I wanted to be in that play when I first read it," he said.

Moreland said it took five years to bring the play to Broadway. In October of 2021, it was one of the shows that helped reopen Broadway after the pandemic, and came in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the nationwide protests in response to his killing.

"I had never read a story about seven Black men being discussed in this particular fashion, and that was a story I felt like, it must be seen, it has to be seen, and I have to do it," Moreland said. "I think about those seven men in that barbershop and I think about the fact that I still have never seen a story told like that."

In 2024, he produced a successful revival of the popular musical "The Wiz," which is still touring around the country. In 2025, "Othello" broke box office records as the top-grossing revival play in theater history.

"It had been 40 years since 'Othello' had been done on Broadway. Denzel Washington was only ... the third Black man to play that role in history," Moreland said.

Moreland's roots in theater

Moreland's passion for theater came at an early age. He said his third-grade teacher called his mother to ask if he could be in the school play. It snowballed from there.

"From that point on, if you wanted to talk to me about anything outside of theater, it just wasn't going to happen," Moreland said.

After starting out as an actor, he happily pivoted to working behind the scenes. 

He said he's grateful for the people who have influenced and inspired him.

"I stand on the shoulders of those previous producers who have been there," Moreland said.

In 1898, Robert Cole became the first Black producer on Broadway, casting Black performers. More than a century later, Moreland joins a short list.

He recalls a backstage conversation with former Vice President Kamala Harris after she saw "Othello."

"She says, 'I know that you're the only Black lead producer this season.' And I said, 'I am,'" Moreland said. "And she said to me, 'I want you to know that when you sit in those rooms, you sit for all of us.'"

Moreland called the audience's applause on opening night of a show "the most rewarding feeling in the world."

"Joe Turner's Come and Gone" hits the stage with previews beginning March 30.